Curt Delia knew what his team needed when he took the mat.
Not just a win.
A pin.
"My coach said, 'Hey man, start it up,' " Delia said.
Delsea trailed Paulsboro by 12-0 after three bouts when Delia, a senior, stepped on the mat for his 145-pound bout.
Delia scored a first-period pin to ignite a remarkable run of seven pins and a forfeit victory in a span of nine bouts as Delsea rolled to a 48-27 victory in a clash of South Jersey wrestling powers Wednesday night.
The Crusaders scored all their pins in that stunning stretch that turned the match before a large crowd in the Delsea gymnasium that include six shirtless fans who spelled out "D-E-L-S-E-A" on their painted chests.
"Sometimes, you have to take it on the chin," Paulsboro coach Paul Morina said. "We took some gambles to try to get some matchups in some toss-up matches. But we're so young."
Paulsboro got a big victory at 138 pounds as senior Nick Knauer upset Delsea's talented junior, John Hennelly, by a 7-3 score, nearing registering a pin in the first period.
Knauer's win gave the Red Raiders a 12-0 lead and raised the possibility that the visitors might tap into their history and tradition and find a way to beat a deeper, more experienced and balanced opponent.
Sam Morina, the coach's freshman son, won by pin, and John Gentile earned a forfeit victory in other highlights for Paulsboro (3-1).
But Delsea (6-1) was too strong through the middle and upper weights as Delia, David Gresk (152), Dylan Dobzanski (160), Marshall Brooks (182), Sean Redden (195), and Tre Porch (285) registered pins.
The Crusaders also received a forfeit victory from Bryan Dobanzski, Dylan's cousin, at 220 as well as a surprising pin from Tom Carney at 106 to complete the blitz through Paulsboro's inexperienced lineup.
"On paper, I felt like we should win," Delsea coach Greg Sawyer said. "But when you are wrestling a program like Paulsboro, you can never take anything for granted."
Delia said he knew the situation when he took the mat after Knauer's surprising victory over Hennelly.
"I knew I had to get us going," Delia said. "I wanted to get the team on a roll."
Sawyer said Brooks' development has helped solidify the Crusaders' lineup. Brooks is a football standout who is wrestling for Delsea for the first time as a senior.
"He's such a great athlete," Sawyer said of Brooks, whose third-period pin gave the Crusaders a 24-15 lead.
