Eight Dodgers Advance at District Wrestling Tournament

The Madison High School wrestling team came into the first round of the district tournament at Millburn High on Friday evening believing that they had a chance to see a good number of wrestlers advance.

They left feeling reassured, as eight Dodgers advanced to Saturday's second round of wrestling.

"Eight going into tomorrow is good, I'm happy with that," Madison head coach Steve Healey said.

In fact, Madison looked so impressive that five of the eight who advanced recorded first-period falls.

The most shocking of all Madison wins came from 130-pounder Peter Willis. Willis was matched up against second-seeded Nick Longo of Roselle Park High School.

In a blink, Willis surprised Longo with a headlock from their feet, recording a crowd pumping first period fall.

"It never gets old," Healey said of his team's unusual success with the headlock this season.

Joining in on the first-period pin party were first seeds Patsy Davis (103) and Ed Carr (171), along with second-seeded Christian Mazzocchi (152), and 140-pounder Eamon Epstein.

Also advanceing was 160-pounder Anthony Costa, who won a 5-0 match over Millburn's Gabe Gordon and heavyweight Mike Boardman, who recorded a second period pin over Chatham's Mack Cosgrove.

"I think we had a pretty good round," Healey said. "I came in thinking that we could win another match or two, but we won a few that we weren't supposed to."

"You have to win one of your two matches tomorrow to continue your season, so that's the plan."

Also advancing was first seeded senior Ryan Colwell (145) who received a first-round bye.

The tournament will continue at Millburn High School Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.