Newton's Sibblies injures knee, out for season

The bad news just keeps on coming for Newton's wrestling team.

On Wednesday, the Braves learned that junior 145-pounder Josh Sibblies will miss the rest of the season with a torn meniscus in his right knee. Sibblies was practicing late last week when the knee locked up on him.

It can only be described as bizarre case of deja vu. A year ago, Sibblies tore the meniscus in his left knee a week-and-a-half before the season and missed his entire sophomore campaign.

"It's a shame. He had a real good chance to do some damage at 145," said Newton coach Eric Bollette, who has lost three wrestlers -- also Garrett Richards [knee] and Josh's younger brother, Ben Sibblies [broken arm] -- for the season. "The tear is almost in the exact same spot as his [left] knee [from last year]. A mirror-image."

This year, Sibblies was 12-5 and considered to be one of the top wrestlers in his weight class in Region 1. His father, Ted, was a state runner-up for Newton in 1989 and is an assistant coach on Bollette's staff.

"He's a state-caliber kid," Bollette said. "He puts in the time, lifts weights and goes to tournaments over the summer. The kid is legit. All he lacked was mat experience and now he loses another year of that."

Bollette said that Sibblies is handling the situation well. Sibblies, who started lifting weights again today, is scheduled to have surgery on Monday, after which he'll undergo an expected three-month recovery period.

"Hopefully he can come back healthy," said Bollette, who picked up his 150th career win on Tuesday, as the undermanned Braves downed Hopatcong, 33-29. "He'll be our go-to-guy for sure next year."

In addition, seniors Steven Churchill and Evan Loveland, at 132 and 126, respectively, are still out of the lineup. Bollette did not give a timetable for their returns. Churchill (15-0) is closing in on 100 career wins with an overall mark of 91-19. His brother, Kevin, holds the school record with a mark of 151-18 that ranks third on Sussex County's all-time list.

Senior 195-pounder Jake Connelly improved to 17-0 on the season with a win on Tuesday that upped his ledger to 92-

Newton faces Wallkill Valley on Thursday in a Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division clash, before hosting Phillipsburg and Bound Brook on Saturday at Henry Boresch Memorial Gym.

The schedule for Saturday's tri-meet is as follows:

Phillipsburg vs. Newton, 9 a.m.; Bound Brook vs. Phillipsburg, 10:30 a.m.; Bound Brook vs. Newton at noon. Times for Round 2 and 3 are approximate. The second and third matches will start following the conclusion of the previous contest.