Haddonfield's Thunderdome perfect setting for high school wrestling

HADDONFIELD – There’s a very good reason it’s called The Thunderdome.

And the home for the Haddonfield Memorial High School wrestling team lived up to its nickname on Friday night, as the old gym was loud and provided the perfect setting as the Haddons grappled with Gloucester.

An overflowing crowd on both sides and contained Haddonfield’s student section yelling at full throat for the majority of the meet, the home crowd had plenty to cheer about as the Haddons dispatched the Lions, 40-21.

“The Thunderdome is always electric,” senior Will Bayer said. “We had the rowdy gang coming in here, supporting everybody, making a lot of noise. That makes it really easy to perform.”

Junior Alex Goldman added, “It’s always a nice night to be in the Thunderdome against a great team like Gloucester City. Nothing is better than wrestling in this old, rundown gym, everybody’s eyes on you. I’m just happy we could put on a good show for everyone.”

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Haddonfield athletic director Lefteris Banos said the school had to turn some fans away after the Thunderdome reached capacity before the start of the varsity match. Banos fretted that the meet should have been held in the larger gym on campus, but the tight quarters of the old venue was perfect and showed why there are few venues like it in South Jersey sports.

“These kids deserve to wrestle in an atmosphere like this,” said Haddonfield head coach Eric Hamrick, who certainly burned plenty of calories himself pacing up and down the sideline for most of the match. “They work their butts off every day. This is the reward. These guys brought the energy and it showed on the mat.”

Two schools separated by a short drive down Kings Highway, two programs with high expectations for the season and the early-season rankings (Haddonfield is No. 7 in South Jersey by The Mat Pack and Gloucester is No. 9), there was plenty of energy throughout the building in one of the more anticipated meets of the first week of January.

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Throw in plenty of tight bouts, momentum-swaying pins and even some trash talking and the meet was exactly what the sport needs.

“It was awesome atmosphere,” Gloucester head coach Tom McConnell. “(The rowdiness) adds to the atmosphere for the kids. They got to get used to people yelling at you, that’s what going to happen at these types of meets.”

After closing out 2022 with a win over West Deptford, Haddonfield (3-1) has rung in the new calendar year with victories over Collingswood and Gloucester, avenging setbacks to both clubs last year, including a criteria loss to the Panthers in the sectional final.

“It’s been a big week for us,” Goldman said. “We had a couple of tough losses to them and we wanted to make it right.”

Goldman delivered the meet’s first pivotal win, earning a 2-0 decision in triple overtime at 157 pounds. Senior Terry Lytle and his freshman brother Rafael Lytle notched more key victories early with 5-1 and 1-0 decisions respectively.

Gloucester (2-1) took a 21-15 lead when Mason Johnson scored a takedown at the third-period buzzer for a 6-4 win, but the Haddons rattled off five straight wins to close the meet out, collecting bonus points in all five including pins by Luke Wagner and Joe Dietz.

Hamrick said it took a while for his team to get the vibe in the early going of the season, but the Haddons are quickly picking up steam.

“We’re just trying to stay healthy, keep grinding and fine tune everything,” he said.

Gloucester will look to rebound quickly as the Lions travel to Paulsboro for another key Colonial Conference Liberty Division meet on Thursday.

We’re going to use this (loss) to tighten some things up and get us better,” McConnell said.

Haddonfield 40, Gloucester 21

150: Jake Zearfoss, G, p. Beckett Doyle, 3:35; 157: Alex Goldman, H, d. Jason Chiodi, 2-0 (3 OT); 165: Kaleb Wright, G, p. Julian Durkin, 1:38; 175: Leo Curran, G, d. Roland Fricke, 8-2; 190: Terry Lyle, d. Bryan Gonzalez, 5-1; 215: Jeremy Smith, G, d. Holden Fichter, 3-1; 285: Rafael Lytle, H d. Cody Gardzialik, 1-0; 106: Michael Lamb, H, p. Chloe Tighe, 1:26; 113: Mason Johnson, G, d. Pearce Hoffman, 6-4; 120: Luke Wagner, H, p. Harry Ulmer, 3:10; 126: James Canuso, H, md. Robert McDowell, 11-1; 132: Will Bayer, H, md. Gino Gambone, 12-1; 138: Alex Hurly, H, tech. fall John Pfeffer, 15-0; 144: Joe Dietz, H, p. Nate Thompson, 3:41.

Tom McGurk is a regional sports editor for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and Burlington County Times, covering South Jersey sports for over 30 years. If you have a sports story that needs to be told, contact him at (856) 486-2420 or email tmcgurk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @McGurkSports. Help support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Haddonfield knocks off Gloucester in Colonial Conference wrestling