In what may have been their gutsiest performance of the season, the Madison High School wrestling team earned an upset win, 36-32, at Pequannock Tuesday night.

The victory gives the Dodgers a share of the conference lead with Parsippany High, whom the Dodgers are slated to host in a match tentatively rescheduled for Feb. 1, in what now looms as a high-stakes showdown for the conference title.

While Madison headed into this one seemingly outmatched by a Pequannock team ranked in the top three in Morris County, the Dodgers got off to a scorching start, recording wins in four of their first five matches.

“It’s a win that we didn’t expect,” Madison head coach Steve Healey said. “We certainly wrestled our best against a team that’s ranked second or third in the county. We wrestled great and the kids that needed to stay off their backs, stayed off their backs and the kids that needed to win and get pins, won and got pins.”

In the opening match, senior Ed Carr used a headlock to stop Luke Foukas early in the first period at 160 pounds, staking Madison to a 6-0 lead.

“We’re feeling great,” Carr said after his match. “We came in with the right mindset and everyone did what they had to do, especially Max [Gotsch]. Just a great effort staying off his back.”

After a loss at 171 pounds, the Dodgers rattled off three straight wins as Jack Anzul (189) won a 6-0 decision before Tom Tracy (215) and Mike Boardman (285) recorded pins, stretching the Dodger lead to 21-3.

“This is the first time we’ve beaten Pequannock since I’ve been in high school, so it feels good,” said Boardman, who recorded a third-period pin in the night's fifth match. “We thought we were going to split seven matches each, but I guess we just outwrestled them. We got the bonus points when it mattered, pins in the upper weights and a pin from Patsy [Davis]. When we won, we won by pins and that’s what we needed to do to win the match.”

 After a Dodger forfeit at 103 pounds, Madison Doug Capuder recorded the fourth pin of the night at 112 pounds, stopping Erik Horowitz in the second period for a 27-9 lead.
 
Junior Patsy Davis (119 pounds) would continue his regular-season tear, stopping Chaz Coppa with a first-period pin, and pushing the Dodger lead to 32-9.

“It’s a huge win,” said Davis, who is now 16-2 on the season. “Everyone on the team is happy. We weren’t expected to even come close to [beating] them, and now we have a shot at winning the conference.”

After John Costa kept the Dodgers rolling with a 5-0 decision at 125 pounds, Madison just needed to avoid pins at 130 and 135 pounds to seal the victory.

Max Gotsch and Conor Stark dropped their individual matches but clawed and fought to avoid pins, giving Madison its most important win of the season.

“That’s what they were told to do and they did a great job of taking one for the team and not giving up,” Healey explained. “They were against some top quality wrestlers that were clearly out there trying to get pins. They took a little beating in doing that, but it’s a team sport and someone will take it for them somewhere down the road where they have to get the pin.”