Easton vs. Absegami high school matchup to highlight pre-All-Star Meet duals

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Pat Tocci (NWCA)
02/03/2003


Two of the nation*s Top 10 teams, No. 6 Absecon, N.J. Absegami High and No. 7 Easton, Pa. High, will square off in the feature match as six high school teams square off Monday (TODAY) at 5 p.m. prior to the Cape Cod Potato Chips/NWCA All-Star Meet at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del.    It will be a classic battle of one of the top teams in Pennsylvania against the team that is favored to repeat as the No. 1 team in New Jersey.    The other two matches will be rivalry matches between four of Delaware*s top teams. Wilmington St. Mark*s High and New Castle William Penn High meet in their annual rivalry match, as do southern Delaware powers Camden Wyoming Caesar Rodney High and Georgetown Sussex Central High.    Absegami finished fourth in the Beast of the East Tournament in the very same arena Dec. 21-22, placing six wrestlers in the top eight. Coached by Gene Barber, the Braves return senior state champions Ryan Bridge (130), ranked No. 6 nationally, and Jeff Black (No. 4 at 189), who is committed to Rider. Black won the title at the Beast of the East, with Bridge finishing second. Junior Ryan Goodman (No. 8 at 171), a state runnerup last year, also was the runnerup at the Beast of the East. Nick Bridge (119) finished sixth at the Beast of the East and Bob Flegel (135) and Zach Hammond (heavyweight) seventh.    Easton has six nationally ranked wrestlers, led by junior state champion Mike Rogers, ranked No. 1 nationally at 140. Bryan Hart, who is committed to Bloomsburg, is ranked No. 5 at 125. Also highly regarded are Seth Ciasulli (No. 6 at 103), Alex Krom (No. 18 at 112), Sean Richmond (No. 8 at 152), and Matt Lear (No. 13 at 160).    The four Delaware teams competing were the four semifinalists in Delaware*s Division I state dual meet championships a year ago. They are led by St. Mark*s, which finished 28th in the Beast of the East to lead Delaware teams. St. Mark*s returns senior Patrick Atkinson (130), a two-time state champion and four-time finalist, and three other state placewinners. Junior Brian Willis (189) finished third in state last year and juniors Eddie Quinn (119) and Kyle Skinner (140) fourth.    Caesar Rodney, runnerup to St. Mark*s a year ago, returns five state placewinners, led by senior state champion Mark Reynolds (171). Sophomores Sean Corea (112) and Steven Bilbrough (215) and senior Garrett Faulkner (135) were state runners-up last year; sophomore Dan Rigby (152) finished fifth in state. Junior Josh Lowe (125) finished fourth in state for Sussex Central, while sophomore Richard Dondarski (130) finished fifth and senior Jason Dickerson (140) sixth.    The high school meets are prelude to the collegiate All-Star Classic, which will take place at 8p.m.  The Cape Cod Potato Chips / NWCA All-Star Classic pits the nation*s top collegiate wrestlers against each other in challenge matches that is often seen as a preview of the upcoming NCAA finals.  The 2002 All-Star Classic at Hofstra University saw three wrestlers go onto  capture NCAA titles in March.    Headlining the lineup is four number one ranked wrestlers including:  Greg Jones of West Virginia at 174lbs, Jessman Smith of Iowa at 184lbs, MuhammadLawal of Oklahoma State at 197lbs and Steve Mocco of Iowa at 285lbs.    Tickets will be available at the door of the Bob Carpenter Center.    Please call 717-653-8009 with any questions.