SUSSEX COUNTY, NJ (November 23, 2024) – The Sussex County Community College Skylanders opened up the home portion of their 2024-25 season, finishing with a 1-1 split.
The squad wrestled tough against the Camden County Cougars but lost a close one 27-22. They rebounded in their second match taking down the Union County College Owls 28-24.
The Skylanders were effectively starting down 12-0 each match due to not having wrestlers for 197 or 285. That didnt stop them from jumping out to a quick 15-0 after three bouts against Camden.
It all started with Roman Citro winning his match against Lucas Stinger by decision 7-1, before Chris Casale and Michael VanderMeulen both wasted no time in pinning their opponents early in the first period. The momentum of the dual swung to Camden’s side at 149 when Nathan Eife took advantage of a bad Carlos Delgado shot and pinned him to cut into the lead.
Thaylor Sibblies got the Skylanders back on track with an 11-5 decision win over Thomas Kaliamouris to make it 18-6, but back-to-back losses for Aidan Hallowich by fall and Jose Alvarenga Giron by an 8-2 decision made it 18-15 Sussex.
Sussex County’s Shawn Pawlowski won by major decision 17-5 over William Chrysler at 184 that extended the lead to 22-15, but the short-handed Skylanders had to forfeit the last two matches, giving Camden 12 total points and the win 27-22.
“The message after the match was simple, ‘Camden’s over,’” Pawlowski said after the defeat. We’re moving on and it’s behind us. We get to go down there in February to take it back and win the trophy again. We just need to clean up a few things.”
Next up was Union County College. The Skylanders jumped out to an early 6-0 as Citro received a forfeit.
Casale added to that lead with a 15-9 decision win over Salvatore Randazzo to make it 9-0, but Union notched their first points at 141 as Joshua Baeza pinned VanderMeulen early in the second period.
Shaking off his earlier loss, Delgado bounced back to take a 14-10 decision win over Braulio Villafana Jr. and the Sibblies followed with a :41 pin of Jack Higuera Justo, extending the Sussex lead to 18-6 with four matches remaining.
The final stretch didn’t start great as Aidan Hallowich was pinned at 165, but Alvarenga Giron and Pawlowski stepped up with huge victories, each by tech fall 15-0 and 17-1, to put Sussex ahead for good 28-12.
“I think I wrestled my best today,” Pawlowski said. “The tech fall win at the end was crucial for us against Union, but I tried my best to get the pin. However, I still think my performance overall today was pretty good.”
Mason Mericle decided to wrestle against Christian Matos in the 197lbs match but he lost by fall after just 54 seconds before Sussex once again forfeited the 285 bout, bringing it to the final score of 28-24.
The Skylanders now will take a weekend off before going back on the road to Centenary University for the Bob Quade Open on Sunday Dec. 8. The event will begin at 9 a.m.
Photo Credit: Alex Hare
