The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 19

COURIER NEWS THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 2011 FOR LIVE SPORTS SCORES AND STATS send text messoge with TEAM NAME (e.g. Mets; or PLAYER NAME (e.g. Derek Jeter) to 446364 (4INFO). SECTION FranMin achieves milestone victory FRANKLIN 41 SOMERVILLE 30 For a photo gallery from the match, log on to MyCentralJersey.com sports CeTitralTersey Saturday with a similar performance. "We wrestled horribly," said Franklin coach Ricky Krieger, a state champion at 189 pounds for Delaware Valley in 1993.

"Horrible. Not everybody. I think Jake (Balestrieri at 125) wrestled pretty good and (Anthony at 160) Messner definitely did a good job. Our upper weights did what they had to do." Somerville beat Franklin See Franklin, Page C3 By HARRY FREZZA STAFF WRITER SOMERVILLE The blossoming Franklin High School's wrestling team has achieved quite a bit over the last year a berth in the NJSIAA North 2 IV final, and a District 18 championship are the highlights. Wednesday night, the Warriors added to the list with a 41-30 victory over Somerville.

Now they can prepare for a Saturday night showdown with Delaware Valley. But with the improvement comes added expectations. Sure, the Warriors (2-0) might have left Somerville with a milestone win, but now it's onto Delaware Valley. Franklin coach Rick Krieger told his team that they won't be as fortunate STAFF PHOTO: ED PAGL1ARINI Keep up with the local wrestling scene in our blog, On the Mat, at blogs.MyCentralJersey. cornonthemat Franklin's Jake Balestrieri (left) and Somerville's Frankie Lazauskas wrestle during their 125-pound match Wednesday in Somerville.

KTL PLAYOFFS; AFC Playoffs Marquette too much for Rutgers By JERRY CARINO STAFF WRITER PISCATAWAY They were men possessed, James Beatty and Darius Johnson-Odom. The opposing guards lit up the Louis Brown Athletic Center, matching shot for shot in the Big East home opener for the Rutgers men's basketball team. MEN'S BASKETBALL Marquette 73, Rutgers 65 i I )) IbQy, 4 But Marquette's Johnson-Odom got help from his supporting cast, and that's why Rutgers fell 73-65 Wednesday night. Despite 24 points and four assists from Beatty, the Scarlet Knights dropped their third straight game, falling to 9-5 overall and 0-2 in the league. Marquette improved to 11-4 and 2-0 as Johnson-Odom banked 29 points on 9-of-14 shooting.

For the game the Golden Eagles shot 9-of-16 trom 3-pomt range. 'fit i A '-s'' ti--riA rv o-T For a photo gallery from the game, log on to MyCentralJersey.com sports VV If tfWWWW WrV ii -ftr tEtnrii ---ii-Biifl-'tiirtMmimmtrrTri' rr-i it- ii' nrif1i rw'i 'minn Lr 1 t) -i'- Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson (21) catches a pass as Bengals cornerback Jonathan Wade (26) misses a tackle Nov. 25 at New Meadowlands Stadium. 1 Keep up with Rutgers in our Scarlet Scuttlebutt blog at blogs.MyCentralJersey.com rutgers Rutgers lost at home for the first time this season, falling to 7-1 in Piscataway. Starters Jonathan Mitchell, Mike Co-burn and Dane Miller combined for just nine points on 4-of-15 shooting.

Marquette came out hot. Two uncontested 3-pointers by Jae Crowder staked the Golden Eagles to a 14-5 lead at the 16-minute mark. Rutgers settled down, thanks largely to Beatty, who drained a 3- pointer from the right corner and then notched a rare 4- point play from the left wing. That cut the deficit to two at 16-14 with 13:17 left in the half, but Marquette's timely shooting kept Rutgers at bay. The lead swelled to 13 before 3-pointers by Robert Lump-kins and Beatty made it 37-30 at the break.

It could have been much worse. Marquette shot 12-of-21 (57 percent) from the field, including a blistering 7-of-ll from 3-point range. See Rutgers, Page C2 Super Bowl ring would cement Tomlinson's legacy FLORHAM PARK. he numbers are gaudy. Bronze-bust worthy for sure, what with 13,404 rush time rushing list with Jerome Bettis two good regular-season games ahead, and Curtis Martin there for the passing sometime in 2011.

ing yards and 144 touchdowns on the man, I can't imagine playing this game and not getting one. I've dreamed about winning a Super Bowl championship since I was 6 years old, seeing Walter Payton do it. So I just couldn't see not doing it." Which leads us to this marriage of convenience, NFL style, between a Jets' team that needed a useful veteran back, who turned out to be more than they could have hoped for in his first season, and a 10-year veteran who took a leap of faith on a braggadocios coach's vision for a star-crossed franchise. See Jets, Page C4 ground. Hut enshrinoment in the Hall of Fame is only half of a legacy.

The rest is the debate that takes place on bar stools, in cyberspace and in the media. And when it conies to being mentioned alongside the greatest ever, a general rule of thumb is that championships help. How will history remember LaDainian Tomlinson? He's in some rarefied air, sixth on the all-' oIBpnCii on the same level in the pub-Edeison lie's consciousness with Em- mjtt smith and Walter Payton, he needs an electrifying season somewhere on his resume, and ultimately a Super Bowl ring. "I would like one," he said. "To say I need one, I think that would be a bit of a stretch.

But ft V-4 A Ml r-f iv i Alomar, Blyleven elected to Baseball Hall of Fame THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven became Hall of Faniers on Wednesday, the two-time World Series champions easily elected after narrow misses last year. Sluggers Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Jelf Bagwell and Juan Gonzalez came nowhere close. Hall voters, for now, seem intent to prevent the cloud of the Steroids Era from covering Cooperstown. Alomar was picked on 90 percent of the ballots by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The 12-time All-Star won a record 10 Gold Gloves at second base, hit .300 and helped the Toronto Blue Jays win titles in 1992-93.

Blyleven was picked on 79.7 percent it takes 75 percent to reach the shrine. The great curveballer won 287 games, threw 60 shutouts and is fifth with 3,701 strikeouts. This was his 14th time on the ballot and his career stats have gotten a boost in recent years by sa-. bermetricians who have new ways to evaluate baseball numbers. "It's 14 years of praying and waiting," Blyleven said in a brought Alomar to Toronto.

Alomar drew 73.7 percent last year in his first try on the ballot. Blyleven had come even closer, missing by just five votes while getting 74.2 percent. Alomar got his first major league hit off Nolan Ryan in 1988. Ryan was the last pure starting pitcher elected to the Hall by the BBWAA in 1999. It was quite a climb for Blyleven, who helped pitch Pittsburgh to the 1979 title and Minnesota to the 1987 crown.

Many years ago, he drew barely over 14 percent in the BBWAA voting. conference call. "And thank the baseball writers of America for, I'm going to say, finally getting it" right." Palmeiro, McGwire, Bagwell and Gonzalez fared poorly in the election, with BBWAA members apparently reluctant to choose bulky hitters who posted big numbers in the 1990s and 2000s. Alomar and Blyleven will be joined by Pat Gillick at the induction ceremonies July 24 in Cooperstown. The longtime executive was picked last month by the Veterans Committee.

Gillick helped earn his place with a trade that tin- it STAFF PHOTO: ANDREW MILLER Rutgers' Austin Johnson (left) puts up a shot attempt as Marquette's Jimmy Butler defends during the first half Wednesday at the Louis Brown Athletic Center..