Every wrestling season seems to go quicker than the last.

On Monday, February 10, teams across the state will begin competition in 24 sectional tournaments, with the champions moving onto the Group State Championships at RWJ Barnabas Health Arena in Toms River on Sunday, February 16. From there, seven group state champions will be crowned: five public schools and two non-publics.

Let’s get to it.

Group 1

2019 Champion: Paulsboro

1As is the story most years, this one looks to be all Paulsboro. After a slow start to the season while missing some notable starters, Paulsboro looks like it's returned to its usual form. The Raiders continued to dominate conference opposition, scoring a combined 106 points against conference rivals, and Group II South frontrunners, Haddonfield and West Deptford. 

The contenders looking to challenge Paulsboro and claim the Group I title belt will include Emerson/Park Ridge, Kittatinny, Del Val, Point Pleasant Beach, and Shore, to name a few.

Last year, Paulsboro beat Kittatinny 63-3 in the Group I final. Will we see another dominant performance from the Red Raiders this year for state title number 33?

Probably.

The Standouts

• AJ DeRosa (Delaware Valley) - 138
• Nick Babin (Emerson/Park Ridge) – 120
• Jack Maida (Shore) - 120
• Logan Mazzeo (Emerson/Park Ridge) – 126
• Jacob Perez-Eli (Paulsboro) – 138
• Brandon Green* (Paulsboro) – 182

*Yesterday, the NJ wrestling community received scary news when it was reported by NJ.com that state champion Brandon Green collapsed Monday night and is hospitalized with an unknown medical issue. The latest reports indicate Brandon’s health is improving. Stay strong Brandon! 

• Jason Sherlock (Point Pleasant Beach) - 182
• Jackson Crawn (Kittatinny) - 220

Group 2

2019 Champion: South Plainfield

This one could get interesting. Ultimately, High Point is the favorite. Who might come out on the other side is anyone’s guess. South Plainfield has wrestled three top-10 teams this season and the young Tigers have struggled a bit compared to teams in the past, after graduating nine starters. Still, I have a feeling we’ll see them in Toms River. 

Whichever team comes out of the South Jersey Sectional between Collingswood, Haddonfield, and West Deptford also has a real shot at making a run to the finals. West Deptford looks to have the slight edge there after taking out both conference foes.

Other contenders in Group II include Caldwell, Elmwood Park, and Point Pleasant Boro.

Similar to Paulsboro in Group I, High Point is likely the only top 20-caliber team in this Group II bracket. With that said, I can see any of these opponents scoring some points on High Point in spots. But I also think High Point can count on major bonus points from its stars in any matchup it faces. That will be the difference.

The Standouts

• Anthony White (South Plainfield) – 132
• Andy Clark (Collingswood) – 152
• Brian Soldano (High Point) - 160
• Declan Skelly (Haddonfield Memorial) – 160
• Ty Bailey (Point Pleasant Boro) - 160
• Cody Thurston (West Deptford) - 195

Group 3

2019 Champion: West Essex

When South Plainfield dropped down to Group II after the 2018 season and its third title in a row, it made room at the top for a number of teams to takeover. 

Last year, West Essex took home the title and the Knights return again as a potential favorite to repeat. But for the most part, Group III is pretty wide-open. In a potential sectional final, Warren Hills won’t be an easy out, but the champs likely have the edge. 

Montville has enjoyed a historic season with two ranked wrestlers and only one close loss to #10 Pope John. Teams deep in the upperweights can make for a difficult matchup in a dual meet and that’s the case with Montville. 

Delsea and Lacey will duke it out to represent South Jersey and Central Jersey’s Ocean Township hopes to make a return to the state final after falling to West Essex last year. But first, it will need to get past Wall in the sectional finals.

This is the toughest one to call.

The Standouts

• Brady Carter (Lacey Township) - 113
• Alex Poniros (Ocean Township) – 145
• Jared Schoppe (Delsea) - 152
• Noah Fox (Montville) – 170
• Jacob Whitworth (Wall) - 182
• Michael Conrad (Montville) - 182
• Bardhyl Gashi (West Essex) – 285
• Joe Teresi (Ocean Township) - 285

Group 4

2019 Champion: Kingsway

This is where things really start to heat up. Three of New Jersey’s top 10 teams lead the way here beginning with #3 North Hunterdon. The Lions already took out both of its biggest challengers in #6 Kingsway and #9 Phillipsburg, earlier this season.

As two of the hottest teams in New Jersey at the moment, North Hunterdon and Pburg will likely hit in a sectional final hosted by North Hunterdon, with a trip to Toms River on the line. Phillipsburg was unbeaten in its last 17 matchups against North Hunterdon, before falling at home back on January 15. Phillipsburg is a tough team to count out, but this just feels like North Hunterdon’s year.

Kingsway was one of South Jersey’s best all season, despite missing a few key starters most of the year. The Dragons should still roll through the sectional bracket and will await the winner of that North sectional with hopes of repeating as the Group V champ.

Mt Olive and Brick Memorial look to be the favorites in the other two sectionals, rounding out what is the deepest public school group in the state. Brick Memorial is consistently tough and wrestled one of the most brutal dual meet schedules in the state taking losses to both Kingsway and North Hunterdon earlier this season. Mt Olive, meanwhile, never hit any of its major Group IV competition this year. It could make a statement if it can win its sectional and go on a roll in Toms River not unlike the one Kingsway went on last season. 

The Standouts

• Anthony Santaniello (Brick Memorial) – 106
• Vincent Santaniello (Brick Memorial) - 120
• McKenzie Bell (Kingsway) – 126
• Dakota Morris (Kingsway) – 145
• Anthony Spera (Mt Olive) – 160
• Nate Zastowny (Phillipsburg) – 160
• Joseph Colon (Brick Memorial) – 170
• Nathaniel Fossett (North Hunterdon) – 195
• Ian Gaburo (North Hunterdon) - 220

Group 5

2019 Champion: Southern

Just like the North Hunterdon/Phillipsburg matchup, the state champion could be decided in a sectional final here, as well. As was the case last year when the Group V title seemingly came down to the South Sectional where Southern defeated Howell in a high-energy matchup of former Region 6 power programs. This year, those two are back at it again. But they aren’t alone.

Toms River North was a contributor of Paulsboro’s tough day at the Henry Boresch duals way back in the beginning of January, beating the Red Raiders 44-21. Shortly after, Toms River knocked off #8 Southern 28-26. Though it hasn’t been able to quite match the highs from earlier this season, TRN team could absolutely play spoiler.

Howell earned the number one seed in the sectional bracket and if it can take out its early-round opponents as expected, it has the benefit of waiting for the Toms River North and Southern winner in the finals on Friday. 

The above three teams led the way in this group all season long, so the one to survive this sectional gauntlet will come out looking and feeling like Group V’s best. 

I like the other two sectional tournaments in this group, as well.

Westfield and Watchung Hills should be a fun matchup in the North sectional.

Meanwhile, Hunterdon Central or Manalapan will likely come out of the Central sectional but might be outmatched after that.

The Standouts

• Ethan Liptzin (Howell) - 106
• Conor Collins (Southern) – 106
• Ryan Rosenthal (Toms River North) – 113
• Eddie Hummel (Southern) – 138
• Matt Benedetti (Manalapan) – 160
• Shane Reitsma (Howell) - 170
• Dylan Waller (Manalapan) – 182
• JT Cornelius (Southern) – 285
• Justin Wright (Howell) – 285
• CJ Composto (Westfield) – hasn’t wrestled yet this season

Non-Public A

2019 Champion: Bergen Catholic

The showdown of the season: #1 vs #2. 

The matchup between Bergen Catholic and Delbarton is not only the most anticipated in New Jersey, but one of the biggest high school matchups in the country. 

The lineups have a combined 19 ranked wrestlers in NJ and six nationally-ranked wrestlers. 

For the past few seasons the two squads have been unquestionably NJ’s most dangerous lineups. Bergen has enjoyed the slight edge, but this looks like the year Delbarton could steal the crown from the mighty Crusaders.

Unfortunately for fans, since the NJSIAA operates on an imperfect power points system that can lead to some screwy seeding, this matchup will happen in the Sectional semifinals on Wednesday, February 12 instead of on championship Friday. As the bracket currently stands, Delbarton and Bergen Catholic are the #2 and #3 seeds, respectively, behind Seton Hall Prep. I understand and sympathize with the difficulty that comes with creating a uniform seeding system, but the way this one shook out is just a bummer.

Anyway, the top half of the bracket will likely come down to Seton Hall Prep and St Joe’s (Montvale). 

This season for St Joe’s has been up and down, to say the least. The team is loaded with star power and certainly has the makings of a contender after battling Bergen Catholic to its tightest dual of the season. But St Joe’s also fell to St Peter’s and St Augustine this year, while missing notable starters in both matchups. If St Joe’s has a fully healthy lineup it has a good shot at taking out the #1 seed in the bracket, Seton Hall.

St Augustine, who knocked off St Joe’s last week, will come out of the other sectional in this group, but . . .

The state champion here is decided on Wednesday.

The Standouts

• Donovan Chavis (St Peters Prep) - 113
• Alex Almeyda (St Joe’s) – 120
• Nick Kayal (Bergen Catholic) - 120
• Robert Howard (Bergen Catholic) – 126
• Nico Nardone (Delbarton) - 126
• Lawrence Melchionda (Seton Hall Prep) – 126
• Anthony Clark (Delbarton) – 132
• Dylan Cedeno (Bergen Catholic) – 132
• Andrew Troczynski (Delbarton) – 145
• Joe Zargo (Bergen Catholic) - 145
• Jack Wilt (Seton Hall Prep) – 160
• Luke Chakonis (Delbarton) - 195
• PJ Casale (Delbarton) – 220

Non-Public B

2019 Champion: Camden Catholic

This one is likely another two-team race and rematch of what was a super tight championship final last year between Camden Catholic and Pope John.

Last year’s matchup came down to a few swing matches, but this year’s Irish team looks to have the upper hand. Pope John has its stars, but this Irish team is just too loaded. The inevitable state final in this group won’t be short on premiere matchups. 

At 145, we could see a rematch from last season’s group final between Cody Walsh and Kaya Sement where Walsh was able to get a late turn and rideout to win — the difference in the 33-29 Irish victory. 

At 120, Chase Casey and Shane Percelay are guys who sit just outside of the rankings at their weight. Percelay placed in the state last year at 106, while Casey fell in the Region 7 tournament. Both have notched a few notable wins so far in their short careers and they faced off in last year’s final where Percelay won 7-2.

Standing in the way of a CC/Pope John matchup is St Thomas Aquinas, DePaul, Pingry, Donovan Catholic, and Holy Spirit.

The Standouts

• Eddie Ventresca (Pope John) – 126
• Ryan Defoney (St Augustine) - 126
• Brock Zurawski (St Augustine) - 132
• Brandon Mooney (Camden Catholic) – 152
• Harrison Hinojosa (Camden Catholic) - 170
• Hunter Suter (Camden Catholic) – 220