Riyan Bhutto pin sparks Raritan to win over rival Delaware Valley

HAZLET - The Delaware Valley-Raritan rivalry is one wrestling fans should treasure.

The two staged another wild match in an endless series of wild matches in their 20-year rivalry Thursday night at Raritan's "Launch Pad''.

Raritan, sparked by a pin in sudden victory by backup 215-pounder/heavyweight Riyan Bhutto at heavyweight that lifted the roof off the "Launch Pad,'' recorded a 34-33 win over Delaware Valley. Raritan is ranked No. 20 in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20. Delaware Valley is ranked No. 16 in the NJWWA rankings.

The match ended in a 33-33 tie, but the Rockets (14-4) won criteria - most bouts won - 8-6.

"This is awesome,'' Raritan coach Rob Nucci said. "This is what it's about. It's not a state championship program. It's two very good programs going at it. This is what high school wrestling is all about."

Delaware Valley leads the series 10-7. The two were long-time opponents in the NJSIAA Central Group 2 bracket before Delaware Valley was moved down to Group 1 last season. Delaware Valley is 8-4 against Raritan in sectional matches, 5-2 in sectional championship matches. Most of those state tournament matches were at Delaware Valley.

But, it was a Raritan win in 2004 at Delaware Valley in the Central Group 2 final that lit the flames of what has become one of the state's best rivalries.

The two head coaches - Nucci and Delaware Valley's Andy Fitz - have become close friends due to the rivalry.

The two kept the rivalry going last season by agreeing to wrestle each other in the regular season. Both programs won NJSIAA group championships last season - Delaware Valley in Group 1 and Raritan in Group 2. Both are favored to win their respective group championships this season.

"This is a tremendous, fierce, friendly rivalry,'' Fitz said. "I'm glad we kept the tradition alive. We'll keep it going. We do a lot with them in the offseason. We go to camp and in each other camps.

And no matter, who is on the roster for each team, the match is always close and always comes down to either the last bout or a swing bout during the match.

"It's two similar personalities on the mat, coaching-wise, athlete-wise and the communities rally around the programs,'' Fitz said. "We'll keep this rivalry going for a long time.''

"When you have these type of matches for 20 years, it's hard not to respect a program and coach like that,'' Nucci said. "It's unbelievable.''

KEY BOUT

Bhutto, who weighed 197.8 pounds and gave up 49 pounds to Kyle Cooke, was locked in a 2-2 tie in sudden victory when he threw Cooke to his back and then locked in a tight headlock to record the pin with 34.5 seconds left in the sudden victory period.

"It's something that comes natural to me,'' Bhutto said about the throw and headlock. "Kids don't expect it. My strategy was to tire the kid out and get him to the third (or sudden victory) and do my thing. He was reaching. I got the underhook on him. From there, I felt the natural grip and took the advantage of it.''

The roar from the "Launch Pad'' as Bhutto was putting Cooke to his back and then putting the headlock in could probably be heard in neighboring towns Matawan and Holmdel.

"I think this is one of the best gyms in New Jersey for the sport of wrestling,'' Nucci said. "It's small. It's dark. It's loud. The students do a great job and we had a lot of alumni here. It's just a great atmosphere.''

Bhutto was wrestling heavyweight because starting heavyweight Tom Jeleniewski is currently sidelined with an injury and because Nucci and his coaching staff chose to bump Kieran Falzon up to 215 and away from Delaware Valley's highly-touted Pennsylvania transfer Garett Tettemer, who bumped up to 190 to start the match.

Bhutto is actually, the backup at 215 pounds, Nucci said. So, he is kind of like a utility man who is plugged in when needed.

"He's got a little bit of junk up top, as you saw tonight. That's why we've been using him,'' Nucci said.

Bhutto's pin gave Raritan a 9-6 lead and proved to, obviously be critical at the end, because it was three extra points, Raritan was not in line to get.

ROBERT MULLIGAN WITH THE RIDE OF HIS LIFE

As is always the case when these two meet, there were several momentum swings.

The Rockets (14-4), behind the heart of their lineup from 126-144 in returning state qualifiers Ryan Mansueto (126), Zach Reilley (138) and Braden Kmak and unbeaten Alex Delaurier (132) built a 30-15 lead with four bouts left.

However, Delaware Valley (8-3) did a solid job in not giving up bonus points at 126, 132 and 144.

"I thought our kids at 126 (Jaden Perez), 132 (Matt Roche) and 144 (Jackson Bush) were tremendous. They kept us in the dual meet,'' Fitz said.

Fitz's move to bump away from Reilley paid off when Ben Levy (150) pinned Logan Acevedo followed by a pin by Brayden Schneider (157) to pull the Terriers within 30-27 with two bouts left.

Another reason for the Terriers' bump was that returning state qualifier Chris Colasurdo did not weigh in for the second straight night.

That made the bout between senior Robert Mulligan and Kevin Roman at 165 critical because Raritan with its bumping moves to start the match had left the cupboard bare at 175 in the final bout.

Mulligan, after a second period escape, put in a dogged ride in the third period, and rode Roman out to record a 1-0 win and give Raritan it's match-clinching eighth bout.

"He locked that cradle up there with about 20 seconds left and thank God, he didn't get hit for stalling there. He had a warning on him and I was afraid we were going to get hit for stalling,'' Nucci said.

"We thought at least maybe there should have been a stalemate there instead of two minutes of one ride,'' Fitz said.

A pin by the Terriers August Savacool in the final bout tied the match 33-33 before the criteria officially kicked in.

UP NEXT

Raritan will wrestle Saturday in the Shawnee Duals at Shawnee High School, where it could meet St. Peter's Prep, ranked No. 4 in the NJWWA Top 20, in the final.

Delaware Valley will host a tri-meet Saturday against Hanover Park, another contender in Group 1, and Ridge.

RARITAN 34, DELAWARE VALLEY 33

RARITAN WON ON CRITERIA - MOST BOUTS WON 8-6.

190: Garett Tettemer (DV) p. Stephen Moser 2:32.

215: Kieran Falzon (R) d. Anderson Olcott 8-3.

HWT: Riyan Bhutto (R) p. Kyle Cooke 6:26 (Sudden Victory).

106: Owen Kucharski (DV) p. Nicholas Sheldrick 1:55.

113: Aidan Davis (R) p. Tye Falkenstein 1:58.

120: Jake Taylor (DV) d. Matt Erven 5-0.

126: Ryan Mansueto (R) d. Jaden Perez 10-4.

132: Alexander Delaurier (R) d. Matt Roche 2-1.

138: Zach Reilley (R) p. Jared Leeds :17.

144: Braden Kmak (R) d. Jackson Bush 7-1.

150: Ben Levy (DV) p. Logan Acevedo 1:40.

157: Brayden Schneider (DV) p. Giacobe Manon :57.

165: Robert Mulligan (R) d. Kevin Roman 1-0.

175: August Savacool (DV) p. Nicholas O'Beirne 3:10.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ Wrestling: Raritan edges rival Delaware Valley in nailbiter