After an inconsistent start to the season, the wrestling team got the chance to host a quad meet on Saturday with the hope of coming away with some big wins.
The result turned out to be exactly what the Raiders wanted.
Hillsborough went 3-0 as a team on the day, and Andrew Roessner continued his early-season dominance to move to 8-0 on the season as the Raiders dominated teams from Bridgewater-Raritan, Ridge and Weequahic high schools.
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“We’re pleased,” Hillsborough coach Steve Molinaro said. “We still have a lot of things to work on, but things are starting to come together a little more each week, so we can’t complain.”
Hillsborough started the day against Weequahic, winning 40-6 and suffered its only loss as the result of a forfeit in the heavyweight class.
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The Raiders then took on Bridgewater-Raritan after the Panthers had downed Ridge in its first match of the day. In the end, wins from Roessner, Adam La Bracio, Mackie Reese, Tyler Workman and Matt McLaughlin in his return from surgery helped the Raiders secure a 52-6 victory where only Matt Nobler and Brian Faure notched minor point victories for the Panthers.
“We’ve got a lot of youth in the upper weights and less experience, varsity-wise, that matched up a little better with some of the other teams, so that kind of helped,” Molinaro said.
Roessner, a senior who wrestles primarily at 220 pounds for the Raiders, is coming of age this season after an up-and-down first three years.
“There’s not really a whole lot to say. I started as a freshman, didn’t do so well for three years, and now I’m doing all right,” Roessner said. “I guess I’m putting everything together. That’s the thing.”
The three years of experience, according to Molinaro, has helped Roessner to succeed this season.
“He’s come a long way,” Molinaro said. “He’s one of our more experienced guys in the upper weights.”
The Raiders finished the day against Ridge, where, despite suffering a loss to the Red Devils’ Kolton Nelder (160 pounds), dominated the rest of the match from start to finish on their way to another 52-6 victory.
Despite their dominant performance, the Raiders still have plenty of work ahead of them. Over the next two weeks, Hillsborough has to face Belvidere, North Warren, Watchung Hills and Hunterdon Central—teams with a combined record of 26-6 on the season.
“We have a little tougher road coming up, so we’ll see what we can do,” Molinaro said.
