Brandon Hull is probably as sick and tired as anyone of hearing about Phillipsburg's state champion drought. The senior 220-pounder certainly has been burdened by the pressure of breaking that streak, but he's taken it all in stride.
Now, he just wants to end the talk all together. Hull will get that chance at 2 p.m. on Sunday, when the championship finals commence in the 79th New Jersey State Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
"It's definitely overwhelming," said Hull, minutes after his 3-2 victory over Holy Cross junior Mauro Correnti in the 220-pound semifinals.
Hull is the first finalist for P'burg since Steve Kempinski dropped the 215-pound final in 1999. The Stateliners have produced 56 finalists and crowned 32 champs -- the last being Tim Moore and Marc DeFrancesco in 1996 -- in the Warren County school's illustrious history.
"As happy as I am, I have to stay confident," said Hull, who will face Lacey's Lex Knapp (42-0) for the gold medal. "I have to stay with the same mindset and keep my composure. I have to stay smart and wrestle aggressive."
Hunterdon Central's Gary Dinmore is the only other finalist from the Open Mike area -- a bit of a surprise one at that. Dinmore (28-7) upset four-time Burlington Township placewinner Kevin Devoy, 4-2, in the quarters, before a 4-2 win in overtime in the semifinals against Jackson Memorial's Brian Hamann.
Devoy and Hamman were the top two seeds in the bottom bracket.
Dinmore, his school's first finalist since Alex Shaffer won the 119-pound title in 2010, has the herculean task of meeting two-time South Plainfield champ Anthony Ashnault, 43-0 this year and 129-0 for his career, in the final. Ashnault was an 8-2 winner over Delaware Valley's Mike Pongracz in the other semifinal. Pongracz lost, 6-2, to Devoy in the wrestleback semis and will go for fifth place. He finished eighth last year at 119.
Dinmore's win prevented a fourth meeting with Pongracz -- Dinmore won two of three meetings this season -- in the wrestlebacks. Central has 12 state champs in its history.
Six others from Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex also earned medals on Saturday.
North Hunterdon's Ryan Pomrinca (113) and Liam Korbul (182), along with Delaware Valley's Will Van Doren (170) and Voorhees' Jadaen Bernstein (160) will all wrestle for seventh place on Sunday. Kittatinny's Clarke Moynihan will wrestle for third place at 152.
Streak-ing to history
Warren Hills freshman Max Nauta came up short in his quest for a state medal, but did secure the freshman victories record at the Warren County school with an 8-7 win in the preliminaries on Friday. Nauta gave Brick Memorial's Joe Ghione a hard time in a 4-3 loss in the pre-quarters. Nauta (30-7) decked Roselle Park's John DeVito in the opening round of wrestlebacks, but saw his season end with a 15-7 setback against Camden Catholic's Tyler McBride, one round before earning a medal.
Crunching the numbers
Region 3 was the big winner on Saturday with a tournament-best seven finalists among 17 medal winners. Regions 1 and 6 were next with four finalists, while Regions 2, 5 and 7 all have three in the championship round. Regions 4 and 8 bring up the rear with two finalists apiece.
South Plainfield has four of Region 3's seven finalists and will try to match High Point's total of four champs from 2011. In addition to Ashnault, Troy Heilmann (120), Scott DelVecchio (132) and Tyler Hunt (138) will all try for their first state titles. Heilmann was a runner-up in 2011.
Heilmann will meet Watchung Hills sophomore Mike Magaldo, second at 112 last year, in an all-Region 3 state final. Heilmann won their region final, 8-5, last Saturday.
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