Wrestling: Region 1 was 'one' for the ages

In the interest of full disclosure, I was not in attendance for Friday's quarterfinal session at Wallkill Valley Regional High School. Probably only the third or fourth round I've missed since the tournament moved here in 1983.

And man am I sorry to have missed this one. "Upset City" is the only way to describe the evening's proceedings. A total of 17 wrestlers among the top four seeds went down in the quarters, which should make for some very interesting wrestling in Saturday's wrestleback rounds.

Among the casualties was previously-unbeaten Steven Churchill of Newton, the No. 1 seed at 126 pounds who entered the night at 34-0. He lost, 13-5, to No. 8 Jake Legotte of Roxbury. Legotte came in with a mark of 19-16. Churchill will now have a tough road on the way to third, most likely having to beat either Wayne Valley's Sam Tareky or Lenape Valley's Matt Benvenuto just to get to the bronze medal match. Benvenuto beat Churchill twice last season.

No one was safe on this night.

Here are some other notables:

1. Unfortunately, we probably won't see a rematch between Zach Fisher of Phillipsburg and James Elphick of Kittatinny, who both suffered quarterfinal losses in the rugged 113-pound class. Fisher reportedly injured his left hand in practice this week and may require surgery. I doubt he takes the mat on Saturday. It's a real shame because Fisher, the hero of P'burg's run to the Group 4 title, is a great kid and worked his tail off to get this far after an injury-riddled season a year ago.

2. District 1 has established itself as the dominate force this season with a tourney-best 20 wrestlers in the semifinal round. Districts 2, 3 and 4 each have a total of 12 wrestlers in the winners' bracket. At 138, three of the four remaining wrestlers are from D1 -- Nick Matthews of West Morris, Tyler Kozimor of Hackettstown and unseeeded Anthony Johnson of P'burg, who continued his Cinderella run with a stunning pin of Morris Knolls senior Steve McKowen, the No. 2 seed. Johnson knocked off No. 7 Ray Timpani of Randolph in Wednesday's opening round.

3. Speaking of the Stateliners, coach Dave Post's team has the most wrestlers alive in the semis with seven -- including returning champion Brandon Hull at 220, who needed only 39 seconds to dispose of Randolph's Billy Medve in the quarters. Wayne Valley is next with five wrestlers in the semis, while Kittatinny, Morris Knolls, Pequannock and Roxbury each have four still going for the gold.

4. Imagine if there were no wrestlebacks in this region, like so many years ago. Only the 160-pound class held true to the seeds as Nos. 1 through 4 made it safely through the brackets. There are three weights where only the No. 4 failed to make it (120, 152 and 285). Check out two of the first-round matchups in Saturday's consolation round:

At 106 -- 3-Fr. A.J. Vindici (32-4), Randolph, vs. 7-Fr. Steve Friedman (21-15), Phillipsburg.

At 132 -- 3-Sr. James Rivera (26-7), Mount Olive, vs. 7-Fr. Tom Murphy (20-16), Kittatinny.

5. The top 10 teams in Region 1 will be announced on Saturday. Here's the list, an Open Mike exclusive:

1. Phillipsburg; 2. High Point; 3. Morris Knolls; 4. Warren Hills; 5. Kittatinny; 6. Wayne Valley; 7. Pequannock; 8. West Morris; 9. (tie) Jefferson and Pompton Lakes; 10. (tie) Belvidere and Mount Olive.