The sophomore was the only one of four Stateliners wrestling Wednesday to win.
After what Kyle Tino has been through this season, a Wednesday night elimination match at Region 3 didn’t seem so hard.
“I was definitely a little nervous,” said Phillipsburg’s sophomore 132-pounder. “But I knew I had a good seed, and wrestling the tough schedule we do gives us confidence to come out and wrestle hard against the tough guys. It makes you ready for anyone you wrestle.”
Tino was certainly ready for Hackettstown senior Justin Bennett in the regional opener Wednesday at West Orange High School as the Stateliner decked the Tiger in 50 seconds.
It was the only win for Phillipsburg in four tries on the night but it did bring a smile to head coach Dave Post’s face, who knew what Tino, now 16-15 on the season, had battled through to be a regional quarterfinalist.
“We were asking Kyle to wrestle the other team’s best wrestler a lot and it’s a hard thing to do to stay positive taking loss after loss; that is tough to mentally handle.” Post said. “But Kyle dug himself out of that hole and now has (16 wins). He’s really shooting more and has added variety to his offense which makes him harder to block off.”
Tino’s three teammates on hand took some tough losses Wednesday. At 120, senior Tyris Manley fell 5-4 to West Orange’s Edgar Moreno as Moreno denied Manley a winning third-period takedown. At 138, Cliffside Park’s Naseem Elayan dominated on top in an 11-1 defeat of Stateliner junior Josh Ramos, and at 152 P’burg sophomore Jayson Zinsmeister rallied after a tough start but fell 11-5 to Nutley senior Joseph DiPasquale.
Zinsmeister, giving up 10 pounds, had a good-looking initial shot in the bout turned into a five-point move by DiPasquale and although Zinsmeister battled back the initial deficit proved too much to overcome.
“I think all four guys we had here tonight maybe weren’t in the best position at the start of the season but came back to have really good seasons for us,” Post said. “It was Kyle who was able move on.”
Tino will join Phillipsburg’s five District 9 champions to give the Stateliners six Region 3 quarterfinalists.
“I had wrestled (Bennett) in the districts (where Tino posted a 2:50 pin) and I knew what to expect,” Tino said. “At the beginning of the year I had a lot of tough matches and got beat up a little but now, at the end of the year, I am more confident in my wrestling.”
Tino can use the confidence when he meets Queen of Peace’s top-seeded and returning state placewinner Ray Wetzel in the quarterfinals.
“He’s really tough,” Tino said. “But sometimes when people wrestle us (Phillipsburg) they can be scared of us because of our history.”
After Kyle Tino’s history this season, he’s not scared of anything.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.