Washington Township knocks off No. 3 Kingsway, but Minutemen aren’t satisfied

WASHINGTON TWP. – Knocking off the No. 3-ranked team in South Jersey would have sent shockwaves through the stands for the Washington Township High School wrestling team in most years.

Not Wednesday.

Instead, the Minutemen kept their celebration pretty low key for the achievement. And head coach Eric Ring certainly noticed.

“I was pretty excited how the guys reacted afterwards, they didn’t act like they had just won the Super Bowl,” Ring said. “They know there’s more to it now. It’s a fun dual meet, but as we saw last year, things can change come playoff time.”

More: Two new teams wrestle their way into the latest South Jersey Mean 15 rankings for Jan. 9

Sixth-ranked Washington Township won seven bouts, including a pair of pins and two more with one-point decisions, en route to a 31-27 victory over previously unbeaten Kingsway in a Tri-County Conference Royal Division meet.

If the scenario sounds familiar to the Minutemen, it’s because they’ve traveled the same territory before. Washington Township delivered a 38-32 statement win over Kingsway last winter, but suffered a 39-22 setback against Kingsway in the South Jersey Group 5 playoffs.

Sophomore Colton Hagerty said Wednesday’s victory felt good, but there’re a bigger goal in a few weeks.

“There’s more things we have to take care of this year,” Hagerty said. “We have more plans for the postseason. We will likely have to beat them again. We want to make it to (defending sectional champion) Southern this year.”

What it means

There’s a very good possibility that the two squads meet again when the team tournament begins on Feb. 5.

Ring knows things can change over the course of four weeks, but he’s thinks the Minutemen (5-0) will be focused on the challenge ahead.

“We’re a different team this year,” Ring said. “We were very senior-driven last year. But from the start of this season to now, we’ve definitely made some gains and that’s the plan, just to get better every day.

“I really liked our effort (Wednesday). We won some of those 50-50 situations when it comes down to grit.”

Kingsway (5-1) appeared to take the loss in stride. The Dragons know better days are ahead.

“We’re disappointed, we don’t like losing this one, but knowing there’s a high likelihood that we’ll see them again, it takes a little of the sting out of the loss,” Kingsway head coach Mike Barikian said.

Kingsway will certainly be a different team in a few weeks.

The Dragons are expected to welcome back senior Luke Van Brill at this weekend’s Buc Classic. A district champ and fifth-place finisher at Region 8 last year, Van Brill had to sit 30 days following his transfer back to Kingsway. He played football during the fall at Roman Catholic in Philadelphia.

Senior Nathan Taylor is working his way back from an ACL injury. The three-time district and three-time region champion should be in the lineup when the Dragons line up against Delsea on Jan. 24.

“Nate’s in the room Nate working out and looks pretty good right now,” Barikian said.

Meet notes

Township’s Michael Horn delivered a clutch pin at 138, putting the Minutemen in prime position to lock up the meet.

Senior Jackson Hoopes rolled his right ankle during his bout at 150, but fought through the injury for a 6-5 decision over Sean Kirwin to clinch the win for the Minutemen.

Township freshman Gabe Palaganas won for the third time in his last four bouts with a 6-3 decision at 190 while Kingsway freshman Aston Ford scored a late takedown at 126 for a victory.

Kingsway’s Joe Leone, who weighed in at 175, bumped all the way up to 215 and earned an impressive 11-5 decision. The junior was down 4-0 after the first period before battling back.

The Results

Washington Township 31, Kingsway 27

165: Ben Dryden, K, p. Jacob Gledhill, 4:26; 175: Cole DeNick, K, tech. fall Piotr Bochenski, 19-4, 5:46; 190: Gabe Palaganas, WT, d. Cristian Davis, 6-3; 215: Joe Leone, K, d. Andrew Osborn, 11-5; 285: Mitchell Lando, WT, d. John McEntee, 2-1; 106: Dylan Hetzel, WT, forfeit; 113: Colton Hagerty, WT, md. Jason Meola, 14-3; 120: Christian Hoopes, WT, p. Tyler Capra, 4:35; 126: Ashton Ford, K, d. Mark Simmons, 6-4; 132: Ramon Alfonso Arroyo, md. Aiden Hardy, 12-1; 138: Michael Horn, WT, p. Nicholas Markizon, 3:24; 144: Tommy DiPietro, K, md. Chaz Melton, 10-0; 150: Jackson Hoopes, WT, d. Sean Kirwin, 6-5; 157: Chase Helder, K, d. Raymond McFall, 7-3.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports reporter for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.