Phillipsburg can be described in one word: rowdy. Throughout the duration of this tough matchup, angry taunts at the fierce Blue Devil wrestlers echoed throughout the Phillipsburg High School gymnasium. While these taunts may faze some, the Blue Devils could only smile, bringing in higher energy than ever.
Westfield traveled into Phillipsburg, the reigning Group 5 state champion, for a chance to claim the sectional championship. The Blue Devils made an appearance in the North 2, Group 5 sectional championship for the first time since the 2019-20 season. Despite a valiant effort, Westfield lost 46–17.
“We gave it our all,” said senior Aidan Harper. “Even though we started to make mistakes, we kept high energy and pushed ourselves to finish through.”
The night began with Westfield freshman Luke Sluberski (120 lbs). Sluberski suffered a 9–0 loss, putting Westfield in a hole it tried to crawl out of the whole night. Westfield gained back some momentum following a 17–9 win from senior Brandon Ribeiro.
And so the match proceeded, Westfield trading wins with Phillipsburg. Momentum was built with big wins from Harper and senior Richard DeRick. Harper pinned his opponent in a much-needed win following two Westfield losses, causing an eruption from a tense Blue Devil sideline. DeRick was all over his opponent, overpowering him to win 7–4.
This seemed to kickstart Westfield’s strength once again as senior Coby Linsky followed DeRick. Linsky was clearly struck with great fatigue as his opponent dominated the match with numerous takedowns. Linsky met the fate many of his teammates would soon follow and lost on a technical fall, 17–2.
This would hurt the Blue Devils greatly as the hope for a state sectional title slowly dissolved. Senior Michael Murphy did his best to try to win back some of this hope, coming out fiercely and beating his opponent 12–2.
After a huge statement win by Murphy, the Blue Devils fell apart quickly. It seemed as if the fire that propelled them to perform at such a high level had given out. Fatigue seemingly set in like a dark fog.
The Blue Devils lost the remaining matches of the night. Starting with a quick pin only a minute into the ensuing match, Phillipsburg went on a roll and contributed to its lead by both pinning opponents and winning by massive margins to not only drain any Westfield hopes for a comeback, but secure the sectional title.
“It hurts us a lot since we have been working as a team for so many months,” senior Sergio Cabrera said. “We were all fired up and wanted the win, it’s a lesson we can learn from for sure.”
