State Sectional Wrestling Berth Unlikely After Dodger Loss

The wrestling team's loss to Pequannock on Tuesday night in Madison was significant not only because the two teams are bitter division rivals, but because the loss also may have put an end to the Dodgers hopes of a state sectional berth this season.

Unlike 2010, when the Dodgers upset Pequannock in its home gym, Madison fell behind early, earning just one win in the first five bouts, a 4-2 victory from Donovan Mantone.

"Obviously it’s not what we wanted, to lose to a team that we beat last year," senior Matt Allen said after the match. "It’s getting towards the end of the season where we could have qualified for sectionals and I think we’re going to fall short of that this year, so that’s really disappointing."

Patsy Davis took home one of only four Madison wins on the night, stopping Jay Tindall, 5-3, in a 126-pound match-up. Davis had been anticipating a test against Pequannock's Chaz Coppa, a state place winner in 2010. But Coppa failed to make weight at 120 pounds on Tuesday night.

"I was supposed to wrestle Chaz Coppa, an eighth-place state finisher, but they were scared and they bumped him away from me," Davis said after the match. "He missed weight at 120 [pounds], so he figured he’d wrestle 126 against me, they told [Madison head coach Steve] Healey he was going to, then they bumped him away from me."

While Davis walked away with the win, he clearly wasn't pleased with his performance.

"I didn’t wrestle my best, I should have pinned that kid," the Madison senior captain said. "[Not wrestling Coppa] got in my head and I didn’t wrestle my best. I was more worried about trying to embarrass [Tindall] and I embarrassed myself by not winning by more than two [points]."

John Costa ended up wrestling Coppa, but shortly after the start of the match Costa was slammed to the mat. After being looked at by trainers, the Madison junior was taken to the lockerroom and Coppa was awarded the win by injury default. There were no immediate details on Costa's injury.

Despite the match being decided, the three remaining Dodger grapplers continued to battle, with two earning wins including a second-period pin from Max Gotsch (145 pounds), and a 9-3 win from Allen at 160 pounds.

"We didn’t get started off the way we wanted to," said senior Peter Willis, who dropped a 3-1 decision, "but nonetheless I think a couple of the guys rallied back and despite the mood that we knew we were going to lose, they just went out and wrestled for themselves. Myself, Matt [Allen] and Max [Gotsch] all battled through our matches. You just try to win a match that you’re not supposed to."

With a state sectional berth now unlikely, Healey's group gears up for this weekend's Morris County Tournament and the District 10 Tournament in a few weeks.

"Counties are coming Friday and Saturday so it’s time to start rolling now," Davis said. "Time to kick it up and make everything happen that I want to."