For a kid who supposedly hates wrestling, Jordan Eli keeps coming up with clutch wins.
The Paulsboro senior turned the tide with a crucial pin at heavyweight to spark the top-seeded Red Raiders to a 36-26 victory over third-seeded Gloucester in the NJSIAA/Rothman Orthopaedic South Jersey, Group 1 final on Wednesday in front of a standing-room only crowd at Paulsboro.
The Red Raiders improved to 19-3, captured the 42nd sectional championship in their illustrious history and moved on to Friday’s Group 1 state semifinal at Kittatinny, which claimed the North Jersey, Section 1 sectional crown.
Eli returned to wrestling this season for the first time since his freshman year when he was talked into helping Paulsboro’s inexperienced upper weights. His father joked on Wednesday that it’s not his favorite way to spend his time, but that appears to be changing.
“I’ve started liking it,” Eli said, “because of moments like this.”
His 24-second pin over Bryan Gonzalez stopped a streak of three straight Gloucester victories to open the match. Paulsboro went on to win the next six bouts to take command.
“We’ve been in situations like this a lot,” Eli said. “I’ve been in situations where we were down, so I knew I had to get a win for our team. Going into the next match, I feel like that was a big adrenaline rush for us.”
Gloucester, which had dropped a 44-21 match to Paulsboro during the regular season, mixed up its lineup to try to pull off the upset, most notably sending regular heavyweight Jeremy Smith out at 215 and bumping up Gonzalez to 285. Gonzalez, a senior, brought a 24-7 record into the match, but had only taken the mat at 285 twice all season.
The strategy paid off at first as Kaleb Wright opened the match with a pin at 175 and Cody Gardzielik and Smith followed with decisions to give the Lions a 12-0 lead. Gonzalez was willing to do what was best for the team but was unable to overcome a 15-pound difference against the heavier Eli.
“We thought we could win all three of those matches with that lineup,” Gloucester coach Tom McConnell said. “We liked Jeremy Smith going against their 215 and Gonzo is one of our best guys. He just went out there and got stuck in something and it didn’t work out. I’ve never had to talk him into anything ever for four years. … He’s always been that kind of guy and that’s just the way he’s grown up.”
Paulsboro coach Paul Morina expected to see a different Gloucester team from the regular season.
“I wasn’t (surprised), I knew they were probably going to change it up and make some moves,” he said. “The coin flip was pretty big, but it worked out for us because Eli got the pin. They bumped (Gonzalez) up and Eli won again. He’s been an unsung hero for us.”
Derrik Horton followed Eli’s big win with a major decision at 106 to get Paulsboro within two, and Hayden Holmes then picked up a 12-2 major over Mason Johnson at 113 to give the Red Raiders the lead for good.
Holmes and Johnson have had an interesting history. Johnson pinned him in the regular season last year and then won a decision in last year’s South Jersey final, but Holmes got revenge with a 9-2 decision in the District 28 final.
Earlier this year, Johnson was back on top in the first-place match at Paulsboro’s John and Betty Vogeding Tournament, but on Wednesday the rivalry swung back in Holmes’ favor, as he jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first period and never looked back.
“I’ve wrestled him a good amount of times,” Holmes said. “I just tried to stay focused and go out and do my thing. It definitely made more to the match because I lost to him a couple of times. I just had to go out and get the job done. I knew I could shoot on him and I just made sure I watched out for the headlocks and stuff.”
“(Holmes) got him in the district final, but then the kid beat him early this year,” Morina added. “But Holmes is at a different level right now. He’s beaten some good guys this week and he’s wrestling real well.”
Kyaire Harvey has also been coming on of late and earned an 8-3 decision over John Pfeffer at 132. The freshman is now 9-3 on the season and made it through his first sectional final in front of a packed gym.
“I was nervous a little bit but at the end it’s all good,” he said. “I tried to block it all out and just wrestle. I wanted to be aggressive, be physical, get the first takedown and win the match.”
Paulsboro also got a major from Aundre Hill at 120, a pin from Logan Sichelstiel at 126 and a decision from Chase Bish at 138. Roman Onorato’s pin at 157 sealed the victory.
“I always tell them, ‘It doesn’t matter who you wrestle, just go out and wrestle the same every time,’” Morina said. “They all did that and they did a nice job. I thought the kids wrestled with a lot of heart and pride tonight — even a couple of guys who didn’t get pinned, like (Jared) Hazel, who hung in there.”
Paulsboro is now back in the state semifinals, where it lost last year to eventual state champion Delaware Valley. If the Red Raiders can get past Kittatinny, they could get a rematch with the defending champs.
“We’re just going to go out there ready to wrestle,” Holmes said. “Most definitely (we’re motivated), especially after what happened last year, so we want to go out there and get some, no doubt.”
“We feel good, we just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing in the wrestling room,” Eli added. “We know what we have to do and we should go out there and get the win.”
For Gloucester, Jason Chiodi earned a gutsy 4-3 decision over Sean Daniels at 144 in a tiebreaker for his 24th win of the season. Jake Zearfoss improved to 32-1 with a tech fall at 150.
The Lions reached the first sectional final in program history last year and put a scare into the Red Raiders, and McConnell thought they competed on Wednesday as well despite the outcome.
“I thought both teams wrestled really tough,” he said. “I told our guys I’m happy with the way we wrestled, and I thought Paulsboro looked as good as I’ve seen them look this year.
“They’re definitely a program that most people measure themselves against. I try to stay away from measuring ourselves against other people, but how can you not? We know where we’re at and we know where they’re at, and it takes a lot — it takes 14 guys to wrestle extremely tough for six minutes. You can’t take a break against that team because they’ll make you pay. We feel like we’re closing the gap but in a way we feel like we belong here too.”
Gloucester will now turn its attention to the individual postseason. Zearfoss has state title aspirations and other wrestlers like Wright, Johnson and Gonzalez will also be looking to go on deep runs.
“We’ve got a lot of pride … and it’s a prideful town,” McConnell said. “They’re going to shake it off and come back hungry. They’ve been hungry for a year and we’ve had our setbacks this year. We lost a tight match a week ago, and we came back focused and ready to go. I think our guys do that; they just try to compete the best they can.”
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