Wrestling: Region 1 individual rankings

106 pounds

1. So. Brandon Paetzell, Phillipsburg

2. So. Garrett O’Shea, Morris Knolls

3. So. Troy Stanich, Roxbury

4. Jr. Mojahed Hamdeh, Wayne Hills

5. Jr. Dominic Koert, Pope John

Notes: Paetzell is a returning Region 1 champ – beating O’Shea, 4-3, in the 2013 semifinals – and fifth-place finisher in the state tournament. Stanich was stuck behind Region 1 runner-up Stephen Caserta last season. He decked Hamdeh at the Newark Invitational Tournament. Hamdeh, a District 3 champion at 113 last season, earned a 6-4 win over Aumann in the Mountain Lakes Tournament final. Koert knocked off Hopatcong's Joe Aumann, 1-0, in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex quarterfinals to avenge a 5-4 loss in overtime to Aumann on Dec. 21.

113 pounds

1. Sr. Austin Sisco, Pope John

2. Jr. Trevor Morales, Newton
3. Fr. Matt Valli, Warren Hills

4. Jr. Kyle Flynn, Pompton Lakes
5. Fr. Daniel Percelay, Morris Knolls

Notes: Wide open weight class. Sisco is a three-time Region 1 qualifier – all at 106. He finished second at the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament, ahead of Morales, who finished third, and Valli, an impressive looking freshman, who placed fifth. Morales, fourth in District 3 at 106 last season, had been at 120 but dropped for the tri-county tournament. West Morris freshman Kade Loughney beat Roxbury freshman Richard Reimers, 7-6, on Tuesday. Valli beat Loughney, 11-0, at the John Goles Invitational on Dec. 27. Percelay is really a 106-pounder but that spot at Knolls belongs to O'Shea. He beat Mount Olive's Shane Murphy, who beat Loughney, 5-0.

120 pounds

1. Jr. A.J. Vindici, Randolph

2. Jr. William Kui, DePaul

3. Jr. Dom Gallo, High Point

4. So. Nick Klinger, Kittatinny

5. So. Joe Renne, Hackettstown

Notes: Stacked weight here. Vindici finished third in Region 1 at 113 last season and came back to place third in the state tournament. He has wins over Klinger and Renne this season. Kui decked Gallo in the region’s third-place bout at 106, with Gallo winning at the time. Klinger’s three losses this season are 4-2 to Vindici and 9-4 and 4-2 to Kui. Klinger owns two wins over Renne, including an 8-6 victory in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament finals.

126 pounds

1. Sr. Bryan Damon, Jefferson

2. Jr. Matt Noble, DePaul
3. Sr. Tyler Hrycak, Wayne Valley

4. So. Jared Kobis, High Point

5. Sr. Matt Ritchie, North Warren

Notes: Tough weight here. Damon, a Region 1 runner-up at 113 last season, gets the nod based on his fifth-place medal in the state tournament. Hrycak is a returning R1 champion – winning the 120-pound title. Kobis was having a great rookie campaign before an elbow injury ruined his chances in last season’s Region 1 Tournament. He's currently on the shelf with a broken hand. Noble transferred in from Region 5, where he placed third at 113 for Bridgewater-Raritan. Noble defeated Ritchie, who finished third in R1 at 120 last season, 5-2, in the Linn Crawn Classic, then knocked off Hrycak, 3-1, in the Newark Academy Invitational finals. Ritchie was second in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament.

132 pounds

1. Jr. Mike Derin, High Point

2. Sr. Devon LaFranco, Roxbury

3. So. Austin Scrivani, Kittatinny
4. Jr. Ian Burke, Sparta

5. Jr. Steve Friedman, Phillipsburg

Notes: Derin finished eighth in the state tournament at 132 last season after a great run to the Region 1 title. He was second at the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament. LaFranco, who was a R1 quarterfinalist at 120 last season, earned a 5-2 win over Scrivani in the Linn Crawn Classic. Scrivani was a semifinalist at 126, beating Burke handily in the District 3 final. Burke looked good at 138 on Saturday, where he was pinned by Warren Hills' Max Nauta in the HWS finals. Burke has been as high as 145, so we'll see where he goes for the postseason. Scrivani earned a 13-6 win over Friedman for third at HWS.

138 pounds

1. Jr. Max Nauta, Warren Hills
2. Jr. Corey Zinsmeister, Phillipsburg
3. Jr. Anthony Fano, Montville
4. Jr. Eric Friedman, Mendham
5. Fr. Brandon Kui, DePaul

Notes: Deep weight with Glenn Haines of Lenape Valley, a Region 1 finalist two years ago, not in because he's sidelined with a shoulder injury. There's no timetable for his return. Nauta jumps up from 113, where he won district and region titles last season. He was trailing 6-3 before decking Zinsmeister in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex semifinals en route to the title. Friedman beat Kui, 5-0, in the Linn Crawn Classic, while Kui knocked off Roxbury's Jake Legotte, 5-2, in that tourney, and beat him 12-1 in a second meeting on Jan. 4. Zinsmeister sustained a season-ending shoulder injury and missed the postseason in 2013. Fano was third in the region at 126.

145 pounds

1. Jr. David McFadden, DePaul
2. Jr. Jason Gaccione, High Point

3. Jr. Jimmy Schuitema, Phillipsburg

4. So. Craig Roumes, Roxbury
5. Jr. David Migliaccio, West Morris

Notes: Loaded class here. Gaccione, McFadden and Schuitema are all returning Region 1 champions. Gaccione at this weight, Schuitema at 152 and McFadden, a state finalist as a freshman, won it at 126. McFadden has some impressive wins this season -- 3-1 over Bergen Catholic's Joe Grello and 6-3 over Delbarton's Dan Reed. Schuitema won the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament with a 1-0 win over Hunterdon Central's Collin Boylan, who came in unbeaten. Pope John's Tom Murphy, who transferred from Kittatinny, was fourth at 138 last season. He hasn't wrestled due to the 30-day transfer rule and will appear here when he does compete. Word has it that Murphy will be in the Lions' lineup next week. Roumes beat Migliaccio, who finished fourth at 126 last year, 1-0 on Tuesday.

152 pounds

1. Jr. Max Elling, Phillipsburg

2. Jr. Luke Bohn, Jefferson
3. Sr. Chris Auer, High Point
4. Sr. Ron Spera, Mount Olive

5. So. Luke Drugac, Morris Knolls

Notes: Elling, who was a R1 runner-up at 138 last season, finished third in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament. Kittatinny's Nick Romyns was second last year at 145, but lost in UTB to Drugac in a dual earlier this season. Romyns, who has been hampered by a knee injury, returned to the lineup Tuesday and will undoubtedly work his way in here at some point. Spera beat Drugac, 5-2, on Jan. 11. Bohn finished third at 152. Auer, a quarterfinalist 138 who lost in the wrestleback semifinals last year, scored a 12-3 major over Drugac on Tuesday. Sophomore Spencer Carey of DePaul bears watching at this weight. Both on the bubble for now.

160 pounds

1. Sr. Broderick Bupivi, Phillipsburg

2. Sr. Steven Acevedo, Morris Hills
3. So. Daniel Kilroy, Wayne Hills

4. Sr. Tommy Hooker, High Point

5. So. Dean Drugac, Morris Knolls

Notes: Bupivi dropped down from 170, where he finished fourth in the region last season, and won the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex title on Saturday. Acevedo finished fourth at 160, losing a highly controversial bout to P’burg’s Jake Kocsis for the bronze. Kilroy, who has a 2-1 loss to Acevedo, decked DePaul's Nick Carey, a quarterfinalist at 160, in the Newark Academy Invitational finals. Hooker and Drugac qualified for regions at 152. Hooker beat Drugac, 11-4, on Tuesday. West Milford sophomore Christian Dalcais is worthy of being ranked, so keep an eye on him.

170 pounds

1. Sr. Dillon Artigliere, Roxbury

2. Sr. Jake Kocsis, Phillipsburg
3. Sr. Kieran Gerrity, Kittatinny

4. Sr. Zach D’Apolito, Wayne Valley

5. Jr. Kevin Merle, Belvidere

Notes: No question about No. 1. Artigliere won the state title at 160 last season. Kocsis, who was third in R1 at 160, earned an impressive 5-3 win over Gerrity, who finished second at 170 in R1, in the finals of the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament. Merle, who transferred from Stroudsburg, Pa., is an interesting story thus far. He dropped a 10-7 decision to R1 qualifier Al Falco of Sparta on opening day, then pinned Falco in a dual meet. Merle has three losses to Gerrity, losing by fall and by decsions of 8-5 and 11-3. Merle also decked Nick Carey in the Linn Crawn Classic. 

182 pounds

1. Sr. Sam Button, Mendham

2. Jr. Nick DePalma, DePaul

3. Jr. D.J. Barrett, Lenape Valley

4. Sr. Dylan Wunder, Kittatinny

5. Sr. Jose Delgado, Morris Hills

Notes: Button, who was the R1 runner-up behind Artigliere at 160 last season, beat DePalma, 5-1 in the Linn Crawn Classic finals on Dec. 27. DePalma, who was third in R1 at this weight a year ago, majored Wunder, 10-1, in the Linn Crawn Classic, and earned a 6-2 win in the rematch at the Newark Invitational Tournament. Barrett, who was a quarterfinalist at 170, beat Wunder, fourth at 195 last season, 3-1 in a recent dual meet. Barrett finished third in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament, while Wunder was second. They did not meet there. Delgado was a quarterfinalist at 195.

195 pounds

1. Sr. Kyle Stoll, High Point

2. Sr. Anthony Landberg, Wayne Valley

3. Sr. Garrett Armstrong, Kittatinny

4. Jr. Gus Protogeropoulos, Newton

5. Jr. Aaron Flitcroft, Mendham

Notes: Solid grouping here. Stoll, a two-time Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex champion, is a returning R1 champ and sixth-place finisher in the state tournament at this weight – scoring a 3-2 win over Landberg in last year’s R1 final. Armstrong is down from 220, where he qualified last season. Protogeropoulos bumped to 220 and won the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex title with a 4-3 win over Region 1 runner-up Bobby McDonnell of High Point. We'll see where the Newton wrestler goes for the postseason. Flitcroft gets the nod at No. 5 after a 5-0 win over Jefferson's Tyler Zimmerman on Saturday.

220 pounds

1. Sr. Bobby McDonnell, High Point

2. Sr. Justin Walker, Wayne Valley

3. Sr. Jesse Windt, West Morris

4. So. Scott Lavelle, DePaul

5. Sr. Andrew Simpson, Kittatinny

Notes: McDonnell was an R1 finalist at this weight last season, beating Walker, 10-8 in overtime in the quarterfinals. Windt fell in the wrestleback semifinals at 195. Walker, who is 12-0 with nine pins, decked Lavelle in the finals of the Newark Invitational Tournament. Simpson is having a nice season so far, finishing third in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament by decking Warren Hills' Ryan Witner, a two-time R1 qualifier.

285 pounds

1. Sr. Noa Merritt, Pope John
2. Jr. Andrew Pacheco, Warren Hills

3. Sr. Gunny Wassong, High Point
4. Sr. Austin Behrens, Wayne Valley

5. Sr. Tom Smith, Kittatinny

Notes: Pacheco was a finalist last season, while Merritt finished third. Merritt turned the tables on Saturday with a 5-2 win in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament finals. Wassong was a wrestleback semifinalist. Fox and Smith also were R1 qualifiers. Wassong scored a 4-0 win over Smith in the HWS. The two split last season. Behrens has a double-loss to Merritt – 9-5 and 7-3, and beat Smith, 5-3, in the Newark Invitational semifinals.