Mainland Regional’s Kolin Roberts continues postseason hot streak at Region 8 tournament

By DAVE O’SULLIVAN Publisher EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Kolin Roberts. Who? Only the most hardcore area wrestling fans probably had any idea who the Mainland junior 195-pounder was before the District 32 tournament began last weekend. Roberts came in as an unheralded No. 5 seed, but beat No. 4 Jose Quinones of Cedar Creek in the quarterfinals before upsetting top-seeded Connor Agostino of Egg Harbor Township in the semifinals. He eventually fell, 6-5, to No. 3 Ryan Lynd of St. Augustine Prep, but had earned his way to the Region 8 tournament. On Wednesday night, Roberts pinned Jason Carter of West Deptford, and in tonight’s quarterfinal round he held off a late surge by top-seeded George Duddy of Highland Regional to punch his ticket to Saturday morning’s Region 8 semifinals. A win over fourth-seeded Frank Wyshinski of Pennsville would guarantee Roberts a trip to Boardwalk Hall and the state championships. Not bad for a guy who lost his only match at districts last year and was eliminated from the postseason. “Just coaching us during practice, working hard and taking it one match at a time, doing what you have to do,” Roberts said of his postseason hot streak. With the win over Duddy, Roberts improved to 36-6. “I lost my first match in districts (last year), so I just wanted to do better, and I ended up doing really well. It feels good, it’s a new opportunity and a great experience.” Roberts took a 7-5 lead over Duddy into the third period, but was hit with a stalling call that drew Duddy to within 7-6. But instead of going on the defensive, Roberts got aggressive in the final minute and scored a takedown to win the bout 9-6. Mainland coach Clayton Smith said the way Roberts reacted to the stalling call was the key to the win. He kept his composure and went to his strength — getting takedowns. Mainland Regional junior 195-pounder Kolin Roberts beat Highland Regional’s George Duddy on Friday night to advance to the Region 8 semifinal round. (Glory Days Magazine photos/Dave O’Sullivan) “He’s feeling good about himself. What I’ve seen so far, at 195 pounds you get a lot of kids who want to brawl and push, but he can shoot, and that’s how he won this match,” Smith said. “Up one with a stalling call against him, and (Duddy) kept pushing. Most people would just circle and hope (the opponent) doesn’t get that point, but Kolin took him right down. He reacted the way he’s supposed to. He responded by shooting and taking the guy down.” Roberts said his district final loss to Lynd was in the back of his mind in the final minute on Friday night. He played it too cautiously against Lynd when he had the lead. “That’s how I lost my final match in districts by one point, by just taking it easy. In the third period, that’s when you have to work the hardest,” Roberts said. Smith said he has been impressed with Roberts’ late-season hot streak. “He’s just wrestling. You know how people start to peak and just get to that point, that’s him. He’s on a roll,” Smith said. “We were just talking about it in the locker room, in the beginning of the season if we had anticipated that Kolin would have carried us as far as he had, it would have been questionable. We knew he came in able to wrestle, but he had a bad start. He went 0-2 at an opening tri-meet, but he came back to beat the Cedar Creek kid in the first round of districts to start this run. He’s just been on a tear. Roberts recognizes the Region 8 title is there for the taking. The semifinals feature fourth-seeded Wyshinski vs. Roberts, the No. 9 seed, and sixth-seeded Kashon Gordon of Timber Creek against No. 10 Agostino of EHT. The top three seeds will have to wrestle back to try to grab the third and final slot for Atlantic City. The region champ and runner-up automatically advance. If Roberts loses to Wyshinski, he’ll be tossed into the wrestleback rounds. “I want to have some title under my name. I got that taken away from me (at districts), but hopefully tomorrow I will get this one,” Roberts said. “I’m feeling good. I beat the No. 1 seed and I did that in districts, too. Hopefully I can just take it one step at a time.” “Any one of these guys who were in the top eight tonight are capable of taking it,” Smith said. “I think whoever is hungry and wants it the most (will win), and Kolin is hungry right now. He can taste it.” Contact Dave O’Sullivan: sully@acglorydays.com; on Twitter @GDsullysays  [adsense]