2nd-Place Finish Sends Boardman to Atlantic City

An impressive second-place finish at the Region 3 Tournament at Union High School on Saturday for 's Mike Boardman cemented a few things for the senior heavyweight, most importantly, that he will be competing at the New Jersey State High School Wrestling Championships the weekend of March 4 for the first time in his career.

Boardman's road to the state championships also included a taste of redemption as he stopped Linden's Austin Frank, the man responsible for ending Boardman's season last year in the very same tournament.
 
Boardman, who this time faced Frank in Saturday’s semifinal round, battled to a 2-1 decision win, placing him in the Region 3 finals while simultaneously guaranteeing him a spot in Atlantic City.

“[Frank] beat me last year and I went out there and I had to beat him and make it to the finals,” Boardman explained. “I didn’t want to wrestle two more matches today, so I did it the easier way and I went all out. It feels great.”

In the finals, Boardman fell to New Providence’s Zach Troutman, the top seed at 285 pounds, as he was pinned in the second period.

Patsy Davis, who wrestled in Saturday’s consolation wrestleback round after Friday’s 3-2 loss to Nick Anderson of Delbarton, dropped his second straight match, eliminating him from the tournament.

Davis again lost a heartbreaker on Saturday, this time a 7-6 decision to Governor Livingston’s Anthony DeFranco in a match that the Madison junior led late in the third period.

Davis’ junior campaign ends with an impressive 34-5 record.