Wrestling: Sectional and Group championship picks

The NJSIAA sectional wrestling tournaments begin on Monday with first-round matchups at 7 p.m. Winners advance to Wednesday's semifinals and the sectional championships will be contested on Friday.

All sectional winners advance to the Group championships on Sunday at Toms River North High School.

Group 4 and Group 2 will be worth the price of admission alone. Here's an analysis and predictions for all sections and Groups:

Group 4

North 1 -- Morris Knolls.

North 2 -- Phillipsburg.

Central -- Brick Memorial.

South -- Southern.

Notes -- Really a wide open field here. The Central Jersey section, which also includes Jackson Memorial and Howell, is brutal. Phillipsburg is on a major roll right now and will benefit down at Toms River by wrestling the North 1 winner in the semifinals, while Brick Memorial and Southern battle it out on the adjacent mat. Southern's balance will give P'burg problems, but a 17th championship is long overdue for the Warren County school.

Group 3

North 1 -- Paramus.

North 2 -- South Plainfield.

Central -- Ocean Township.

South -- Timber Creek.

Notes -- Paramus, which beat Northern Highlands, 32-21 on Jan. 27, prevails in that section over Wayne Valley, which will avenge an earlier loss to Northern Highlands in the semifinals. South Plainfield is head-and-shoulders above here and will meet Timber Creek -- which it beat, 52-10, on Jan. 14 -- in the Group 3 semifinals for the third straight year. Timber Creek has a solid lineup, but South Plainfield is better everywhere that TC is good. Ocean Township has a nice team, but South Plainfield wins its second title in three years and seventh overall on Sunday.

Group 2

North 1 -- High Point.

North 2 -- Voorhees.

Central -- Raritan.

South -- Delsea.

Notes -- Talk about wide open fields. This one promises to be fun. High Point, last year's Group 3 champion, and Delsea are the class of those respective sections. Voorhees prevails behind bonus points in a tough battle with Brearley, while Raritan holds off Delaware Valley in a tight one. I picked High Point to win it all at the beginning of the season and I'm not backing off now, despite a two-point loss to Raritan a few weeks ago. That's the final and the Wildcats win two tight ones on Sunday to bring home another trophy.

Group 1

North 1 -- Kittatinny.

North 2 -- Hanover Park.

Central -- Bound Brook.

South -- Paulsboro.

Notes -- Lots of talk surrounding Bound Brook and being a choice school. Like it or not, the Crusaders are the clear-cut favorites to win the program's first Group 1 title and will have a semifinal showdown with Kittatinny, which prevails in a tough section over a good Emerson-Park Ridge squad just to get to Toms River. Paulsboro isn't the power it has been, but should reach another Group 1 final.

Non-Public A

North -- St. Peter's Prep over Bergen Catholic.

South -- Christian Brothers over St. Augustine.

Overall winner -- St. Peter's Prep just gets by a tough Bergen Catholic team, whose only in-state losses are to South Plainfield, Southern and Brick Memorial, and knocks off CBA for the championship.

Non-Public B

North -- St. Mary's-Rutherford over DePaul.

South -- Camden Catholic over Bishop Ahr.

Overall winner -- Camden Catholic, even in an off year, is too much to handle here.