The Phillipsburg High School wrestling team dominated in the annual John & Betty Vogeding Tournament at Paulsboro High School on Saturday.
The Stateliners won a title in seven of the 14 total weight classes, respectively.
126: Dawson McWilliams, 132: Gavin Geleta, 144: Luke Geleta, 150: Gavin Hawk, 175: Liam Packer, 190: Derek Stone, and 285: John Wargo, all brought home gold for Phillipsburg.
Phillipsburg dominated in the Vogeding Tournament at Paulsboro.
It was the Stateliners first tournament or dual meet with Paulsboro since 2014.
The rivalry may very well be back.
(Pictured: Luke Geleta, Gavin Geleta, & Liam Packer each placed #1 today.)@PBurgHSWrestlin pic.twitter.com/LDERdjd5na
— Brian Tortella (@tortreports) December 17, 2023
It was quite the statement performance for the Stateliners, whom haven't wrestled a tournament or dual match with the host, Paulsboro, since 2014.
“It’s huge. Paulsboro has been a fantastic rivalry. Coach (Paul) Morina and I talked at states for the past few years and we both wanted it to come back. The hospitality of the coach and the administration was amazing. It was a clean slate for us to get started up all over again.” - Phillipsburg Head Coach Tim Longacre said.
Longacre, in his first season as the head coach of the Stateliners, was impressed with his team’s performance against the perennial state powers such as Paulsboro, Howell, and Kingsway.
“I thought we performed well for the very first outing of the season. We did well and found out some things we needed to work on. We had some kids that overcame adversity and that’s fantastic for building growth for the rest of the year.” -Longacre said.
Phillipsburg’s brother duo Gavin & Luke Geleta each finished first place at 132/144 pounds today.@PBurgHSWrestlin pic.twitter.com/tF1DoXV6yN
— Brian Tortella (@tortreports) December 17, 2023
Phillipsburg finished the night with a 40.5 point team win over second-place Paulsboro. Kingsway finished third, while Cherry Hill West finished fourth.
VOGEDING TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS:
106: Kingsway’s Jason Meola
113: Paulsboro’s Hayden Holmes
120: Paulsboro’s Aundre Hill
126: Phillipsburg’s Dawson McWilliams
132: Phillipsburg’s Gavin Geleta
138: Cherry Hill West’s Josiah Canales
144: Phillipsburg’s Luke Geleta
— Brian Tortella (@tortreports) December 16, 2023
Both Phillipsburg and Paulsboro look to make deep runs in the Group 5 and Group 1 state tournaments this season after falling to Southern and Delaware Valley in the final rounds last year, respectively.
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