Moorestown Wrestling on the Map After Dominating Win Over Pemberton

Moorestown wasn't on the radar of most schools in Burlington County, or South Jersey for that matter, at the beginning of this wrestling season.

Following a 66-10 win over Pemberton Wednesday night, the Quakers are now 8-1 on the season, which surely will have their opponents noticing them.

“Moorestown never gets any credit and now I think we are definitely on the map,” senior Tim Mahaney said. “I like being under the radar better. You sneak in, teams overlook us, and we beat them.”

The Quakers recorded eight pins en route to their dominating win, with two of the team’s bouts ending in the first period. Pemberton’s only two victories on the mat came within the final three bouts of the night, one by decision and one by pin.

“Our dedication has been big,” head coach Dennis Gaul said. “We have a lot of guys in the program that show great spirit in the room. They are easy to coach and easy to be around. Tonight we had a couple of varsity wrestlers sit out so we would be under the 30-match limit. Even our guys that lost wrestled tough. It was a team effort tonight.”

Gaul explained the team’s conditioning could improve over the remainder of the season, but other than the conditioning, he's very pleased with their performance this year.

“I would hope teams are thinking about us now,” Gaul said. “We beat Delran and we are a great team from top to bottom, even though we might not have any huge studs. We have gotten consistency all through the lineup ... They do whatever I ask of them and it shows with each match.”

Gaul credited the program's depth for that consistency.

“When we have wrestlers who miss matches we can plug guys into their spots and we are still successful,” he said. “We have so much depth on this team that I think it pushes the other guys to get better because they never know if their spots are in jeopardy. It’s been a great season so far; I just hope we keep it up.”

The Quakers take on Delsea Saturday (10 a.m.) at home as part of a quad meet that also features Willingboro and Lower Cape May Regional.

“I remember back to my freshman year there were 15 core guys wrestling at all times,” Mahaney said. “They were good kids, but as a team we are better this year, because there is a match limit. This year, it’s all coming together. Everyone has someone to wrestle with in practice. There are 40 kids working hard and that’s how you get results.”

Moorestown 66, Pemberton 10

106: double forfeit; 113: Callahan (M) pin Emmerts, 2:31; 120: Griffis (M) pin Darr, 1:37; 126: Menendez (M) pin Addison, 2:39; 132: Ferrell (M) won by forfeit; 138: Mahaney (M) pin Walker, 4:31; 145: Fox (M) pin Jackson, 3:23; 152: Cruz (M) pin Hilsinger, 1:37; 160: Mason (M) pin Walsh, 3:44; 170: McKinney (M) won by forfeit; 182: Forline (M) pin Sifford, 2:31; 195: McNair (P) dec. Etienne, 12-2; 220: Acevedo (P) pin Kahya, 1:59; 285: Ewers (M) won by forfeit.