By Andy Loigu

Anytime a group three school like Warren Hills can defeat a group five monster such as Hunterdon Central, it is a story of David bringing down the hulking Goliath.

When the Warren Hills wrestling team took down the invading Red Devils on January 12, the heroes were 113 pound freshman Dave Rhinehart and 126 pound sophomore Tyler Redfield, who won the big bouts, two of the last three in the evening’s lineup, to put a 30-26 win into the books.

Is it merely coincidence that January 12 is the 54th anniversary of the Jets’ colossal Super Bowl upset win over the Colts, who were 18-point favorites? That is still remembered as the biggest upset in the history of “The Big Game.”

Hunterdon Central had  two state qualifiers ready to go as their match at Warren Hills came down to the final three bouts, with the Blue Streaks’ 24-21 lead looking very precarious.

Rhinehart trailed 3-1 with time winding down when he dramatically pulled off a buzzer-beating double leg takedown to send the bout into overtime. His sudden-win takedown in the extra period extended the Streaks’ lead to 27-21, but two tough hurdles still remained.

The Red Devils won the 120 pound clash by tech fall and the final outcome rested on Redfield’s shoulders. Scoring the only takedown in a 3-2 decision over Central’s Ahmed Hussain, Redfield wrapped up a 30-26 win for Warren Hills.

The Streaks now are 6-1 in dual meets (the only loss coming to mighty Phillipsburg) while Hunterdon Central is now 7-2.

BASKETBALL BRIEFING

After a 7-0 start, the Hackettstown boys basketball team is now 8-2. The Tigers lost to a pair of strong teams from Mercer County, 72-58 at Nottingham and 74-46 at Ewing (now 12-0). At 5-0 in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division standings, the Tigers still have a good shot at going unbeaten in their league.

The Hackettstown girls are 8-3 overall and are 4-1 in the division standings as of this writing. Their losses are 35-34 to Lenape Valley, 56-23 to Jefferson (one of Morris County’s best programs) and 53-31 to always tough and well schooled West Morris.

Key action on tap, mark your calendar:

The Warren Hills wrestlers have a big match on tap at Delaware Valley (in Hunterdon near Frenchtown) at noon on January 28. As of this writing, the Terriers had won five matches in a row, including victories over rugged foes Kittatinny and West Morris. The Streaks need to be in top form for this one.

The annual Hackettstown versus Warren Hills boys and girls doubleheader is scheduled to tip off at 5 p.m. at Warren Hills on February 9.

Leading up to that, the Tiger boys have two upcoming games in Florida and then host “rootin tootin” Newton at 7 pm. on January 23, and then visit a Jefferson squad who they only nipped by a point last time. The rematch with the Falcons is slated for 7 p.m. on January 25.

Remember to check with the schools because these schedules are subject to change, especially in the winter season.

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Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.