Going into Friday night's match against the Jackson Memorial Jaguars, the Howell Rebels knew they were going to have their hands full in the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group IV championships.
With a trip to the finals this weekend at the Poland Springs Arena in Toms River on the line, Howell gave a strong effort, only to lose, 36-21.
The news was not all bad for the Rebels as Ben Esposito picked up a second period pin over Peter Rinaldi at 112 and Zach Bohm got a hard fought 7-5 win over James Opdyke at 152. Other Rebels picking up wins included Cody Kirk, with a 5-3 decision over Dylan Harrington at 160, and Matthew Sulkowski getting a 5-4 win over Robert Hennings at 171.
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John Hlava also got six points for his team at 215 when he pinned Max Sunder midway through the second period.
There were key losses that went against the Rebels: Mike Shaughnessy took a 9-6 loss to Randy Royle at 140 in one of the biggest upsets of the night and Dylan McLaughlin beat Cole Cameron 6-2 in sudden victory at 135.
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The next big test for the Rebels will come on Friday when they will head to Manalapan for the District 21 Tournament.
Howell should be in good position to send several members of the team to the Region 6 Tournament.
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