Some of the states elite programs served as good representatives of New Jersey wrestling yesterday at the Easton-Phillipsburg Duals in front of a crowd of 2,500 at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa.

Blair, ranked No. 2 in The Star-Ledger Top 20, No. 4 Phillipsburg, No. 6 Randolph, No. 7 Delaware Valley and unranked Voorhees all recorded impressive victories over strong out-of-state teams. While Voorhees split a pair of matches with Pennsylvania schools it may have gained the most from that experience.

Voorhees dropped a 36-25 decision to Phillipsburg-Osceola before defeating Stroudsburg, 34-22.

Junior Peter Sarsten recorded a pair of pins at 160 pounds and fellow junior Matt Brienza took a 7-6 decision and won by a fall in 1:20 at 145 to lead coach Rick Thompson's young squad. Voorhees actually held a 25-24 lead over Phillipsburg-Osceola before losing the final three bouts.

"I don't like to say that we exceeded expectations, but we're certainly improving," said Thompson, who coached Phillipsburg to glory from 1980-88 and '92 to '95 before taking the Voorhees position last year. "What's important is how you wrestle in February and we need these kind of matches to get where we want to be. Phillipsburg-Osceola is a highly ranked team in Pennsylvania and if a couple breaks had gone our way we could have beaten them."

Delaware Valley fared no better against Phillipsburg-Osceola, as the defending NJSIAA Group 2 champion, dropped a 39-27 decision.

Blair got back on the winning track in a big way, and Group 4 powers Phillipsburg and Randolph also recorded lopsided victories in the early sessions.

About 12 hours after the nation's No. 1 team, St. Edward of Ohio, handed Blair its first loss of the season Friday night, 35-23, the Warren County prep school handedly defeated Connellsville of Pennsylvania, 44-15.

Connellsville is ranked No. 21 by the National Wrestling Coaches Association.

Later in the day, Blair, No. 5 in the NWCA poll, overwhelmed Bald Eagle of Pennsylvania, 51-10. Dominant Blair heavyweight Steven Mocco needed just 1:10 to pin his two opponents.

Randolph continued to excel against outstanding competition, topping Vestavia Hills of Alabama, 44-30, and Pleasant Valley of Pennsylvania, 36-21. Brad Webb (119), Sean Markey (125) and heavyweight Ali Hakim each recorded two pins.

Phillipsburg, the defending Group 4 state champions, lost just two individual matches in defeating Bald Eagle, 44-12.