West Deptford's Wrestlers Outpointed by Paulsboro

Things couldn’t have started out better for ’s wrestlers Wednesday night.

After suffering their first loss of the season Monday, the Eagles needed to find their footing and some momentum to have a shot against perennial powerhouse Paulsboro.

Heavyweight Dave Branco gave them just that, taking an aggressive stance against the Red Raiders’ Austin Im before notching a second-period pin.

Branco’s celebration and the Eagles’ cheers wouldn’t last long, though.

Paulsboro quickly took the lead after a pin by John Gentile and a win by decision for Sam Morina. West Deptford’s Evan Zuzulock stemmed the tide, scoring a decision at 120 to tie things back up at 9 each.

That’s when things fell apart for the Eagles.

Paulsboro reeled off six wins in a row, including two major decisions and a pin, to take a 32-9 lead—and much like Monday night, the deficit was just a little too much for the Eagles to top.

Even though Phil Fisher scored a major decision to halt Paulsboro’s streak, the damage was done—despite Fisher’s win, the Red Raiders clinched the match on bonus points as soon as his bout at 170 was finished.

West Deptford’s Rory Bonner and Gerald Owens would add a pin and a decision at the end, but Paulsboro came away with the 38-22 win on their home mats.

While this now marks a minor losing streak for West Deptford after an 18-0 start, the Eagles still have a dual meet against Audubon Friday and a quad meet Saturday to get things together ahead of their South Jersey, Group 2 playoff opener against Barnegat at home Monday night.