By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher OCEAN CITY — Mid-week dual matches in the first week of February have a little extra juice, as team playoffs and districts are looming on the not-too-distant horizon. Add in a local rivalry, and you have yourself a nice little Tuesday night wrestling match. It was a lot nicer for visiting Egg Harbor Township, as the Eagles sprinted to a 30-0 lead after six bouts before cruising to a 42-15 win over Ocean City. The Eagles were sparked by a pair of overtime victories, including one from a freshman who just cracked the starting lineup less than two weeks ago. Hunter Coombs trailed Dustin Oaves 3-1 heading into the third period at 132 pounds, but the EHT junior picked up an escape and was able to get the bout into overtime when Oaves was hit with a late stalling call. Coombs picked up the 5-3 victory with a takedown about 30 seconds into the extra period, giving the Eagles a commanding 33-3 lead. 
Egg Harbor Township’s Hunter Thomas works a move on Ocean City’s Dustin Oaves during their bout at 132 pounds on Tuesday night. Coombs scored a 5-3 overtime victory to help the Eagles win 42-15. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “Going into overtime, I just knew I had to get a takedown and get it done for our team to keep the momentum going,” Coombs said. “I think it makes a difference when you have the momentum going into overtime. I knew he had a stalling warning on him, so I just took as many shots as I could. I was excited that I was able to go out there and get the job done.” Freshman Nick Leone capped off the match at 182 pounds by gutting out an overtime win over Mike Gardner. Gardner scored an early takedown, but Leone used a couple of escapes to eventually get the bout into overtime, where he scored a quick takedown to put an exclamation point on the Eagles’ resounding victory. Egg Harbor Township started off strong, as Connor Agostino escaped some early trouble to get a pin at 195 pounds and give the Eagles a quick 6-0 lead. Ocean City’s Maverick Pearson caught Agostino in a headlock and rolled him to his back, but Agostino rolled through it and eventually ended up scoring the takedown. Pearson was able to escape to cut the lead to 2-1, but then Agostino was able to get a grip on a cradle and held it for the pin. Dietrich Trumbauer followed with a 4-3 win over Kyle Strunk, as Strunk scored a late escape but ran out of time trying to get the winning takedown. Paul Valian’s second-period pin at heavyweight gave the Eagles a 15-0 lead, and Jerry Vo followed with a 5-0 victory at 106 pounds. 
Ocean City’s Will Nickerson, top, rallied for a 6-4 win over Dan Wollermann at 160 pounds. Terrell Coleman notched a first-period pin at 112 and a pin by Hunter Thomas at 120 pushed EHT’s lead to 30-0. Ocean City finally got on the board at 126 as David Levin hung on for a 4-3 win over Cody Dix. Following Coombs’ thrilling overtime win, Mark Woods looked dominant in a 10-2 win at 138. Jason Kaenzig followed with a 3-0 win over Cameron Andres to make it 39-6. “I was ready. I came out a little nervous because he beat a few kids that I lost to, but I just had my mind in it and I was ready to go,” Kaenzig said. Ocean City responded at 160 pounds when Will Nickerson outlasted Dan Wollermann 6-4 by getting a nifty reversal and back points in the final 10 seconds. Nickerson was trailing 4-2 before the four-point move. Ocean City’s Andrew Morrill added a pin in the first period at 171 for the Red Raiders’ final points of the night. “We don’t have some guys in our lineup, and that kind of hurt us last weekend against Highland,” Coombs said. “But right now we have some good things going, so I think we’re in a good position.” Egg Harbor Township earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming South Jersey Group 5 playoffs and will get a first-round bye. The Eagles will face the winner of No. 3 Kingsway and No. 6 Lenape on Feb. 10. “When our team wants to go out there and work together, we do it, we get it done. We just have to all have our heads in it and have to want it. We have a few freshmen and a few JV kids in the lineup, but we’re just working hard,” Kaenzig said. “We lost a few varsity kids in the lineup, but I knew we were going to come out and get the job done tonight. Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays [adsense]
Wrestling: Overtime wins by Hunter Coombs, Nick Leone spark EHT to convincing win over Ocean City
