High School Wrestling:
Early Lead Propels Woodstown Into Semifinals

Tuesday, February 16, 1999

By Art Redd
SJSports Staff Writer

The South Jersey Group 2 wrestling quarterfinals began with the Delran Bears going up against the Woodstown Wolverines Tuesday evening at Sterling High School. The winner would advance to the semifinals against top rated Sterling. Delran started out quickly taking an 11-0 advantage when Tom Prarie won on a technical fall over Warren Mabey (19-2), and Matt Vorineger won by forfeit in the 103 and 112 matches respectively. The Wolverines cruised through the next six matches to put away Delran early with a 38-35 victory. Coach Joe Frassenei rested his last 3 wrestlers to prepare them for the semifinal match.

Shane Rice got Woodstown on the scoreboard with a 9-1 decision over Lou Favorito in the 119 match. This was the start of an impressive run by the Wolverines. Brian Wertman (125 match) and Andy Romano (145 match) highlighted the run with pins to propel Woodstown to a 26-11 lead. Delran's Steve Thurman ended the Wolverines run by pinning Paul Hughes in the second period. But that just gave Woodstown a wake up call to finally put the match away.

Charlie Vitale and Richie Ware had little problem pinning their opponents to give them a lead that allowwd Coach Frassenei to forfeit the 189, 215 and heavyweight matches. The Wolverines used the time to get ready for the second match of the night. The score made it look as if this was a close match, but Woodstown had little problem advancing.

Photos by Art Redd