Sweet 16: Point Boro extends winning streak over Point Beach

POINT PLEASANT – On paper, the matchups between Point Boro and Point Beach pointed to a closely-contested dual and an opportunity for Beach to beat its rival for the first time in two decades. The one x-factor, however, was Point Boro’s penchant for pins. In the end, that was exactly the difference.

The Panthers used two separate runs of three consecutive falls, including a match-clinching pin by senior Spencer Robinson with three bouts left, to beat the Garnet Gulls, 41-26, and extend their winning streak in the rivalry series to 16 matches.

Point Boro (8-3) held a 20-18 lead with six bouts left, but with standouts Jack Bailey, Ty Bailey and Robinson coming up from 138 to 152 pounds, the chance was there to clinch the match with three straight falls. That’s exactly what happened as the Bailey brothers locked in cradles in their respective bouts before Robinson finished it off with the Panthers’ sixth fall of the night.

Point Beach was heavily-favored in the last two bouts with George Kaifas at 170 and undefeated junior Jason Sherlock at 182, but Point Boro was able to take the Gulls’ late firepower out of the equation.

*Click here for more images from the match!*

Point Beach earned a key win to start the match as Liam Buday defeated Scott Franceschini, 5-3 in sudden victory, to win a toss-up bout at 195 pounds. Point Boro came right back to win a toss-up of its own as Josh Henderson defeated Noah Ramos, 2-1 in double overtime at 220, to even the score. The move of inserting Henderson, who usually wrestles at heavyweight, at 220 and moving up undefeated senior Billy Borowsky paid dividends when Borowsky pinned Connor Smith in the first period.

Freshman Charlie Latendorf followed with a fall over Michael Storino at 106 pounds and sophomore Nick Torre pinned at 113 pounds to open up a 20-3 lead for the Panthers. Beach won the next three matches to close the gap as Kip Lovgren won by decision at 120, Riley Simon won by fall at 126 and Jesse Bowers won by technical fall at 132. The 14 points in three bouts pulled the Gulls to within two points, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the heart of Point Boro’s lineup.

Following the back-to-back-to-back pins by Bailey, Bailey and Robinson, Paul Franceschini scored a 4-3 decision over Jason Schultz at 160 pounds to make it 41-16. Kaifas won by major decision at 170 and Sherlock won by fall at 182 to close out the match.

Box Score

Point Boro 41, Point Beach 26 - WATCH THE REPLAY

Managing editor Bob Badders can be reached at bob.badders@townsquaremedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Bob_Badders. Like Shore Sports Network on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel for all the latest video highlights.