The Madison Dodgers wrestling team fell to the Hanover Park Hornets, 53-23, on Wednesday night at Hanover Park High School in East Hanover.
On a night where there weren't many bright spots for Dodger fans, 171-pounder Ed Carr, who started Tuesday's match against Scotch Plains-Fanwood with a third period pin at 189 pounds, went into the third period losing 6-2 but was able to catch his opponent, John Franciosa in a headlock for a repeat performance from the night before.
Hanover Park though, didn't hesitate to grab the advantage as Jack Anzul (189) was pinned by Mike Lomio, just 43 seconds into the first period. Following the pin, Thomas Tracy (215) lost a 3-0 decision, and just like that, the Dodgers fell behind 9-6.
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Madison's 285-pounder Michael Boardman continued his solid wrestling, getting a pin with just 14 seconds remaining in the first period.
After Madison gave up a forfeit at 103 pounds, sophomore Patsy Davis (112) recorded a technical fall (16-0) over Kyle Robertson and gave Madison a 17-15 lead.
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But the lead wouldn't last long as Hanover Park went on to win the next five matches, three of which would come by pin.
At 145 pounds, Ryan Colwell won easily, recording a first period pin and 152-pounder Christian Mazzocchi would battle, but lose 4-3 in a match that some may consider the most exciting of the night.
The night ended with Ryan Costa getting pinned in the first period and Hanover Park would walk away with what ended up being an easy win.
"We knew that they were a better team coming in," head coach Steve Healey said. "Our goal was to be competitive, to keep it close, which I think we did for a while. I told our kids before the match, we're not going to lay down to them. They had some better wrestlers than us in some spots but every kid went out there and did their best."
"That's the class of our conference, Hanover Park, and it's a good measuring stick for us. We need to work to get better and that's just the way it goes. We just got beat by a better team," Healy added.
