Wrestling: Section alignment KO's 'Cats vs. Cougars

High Point vs. Kittatinny. It's one of the best high school wrestling rivalries in all of New Jersey.

But thanks to sectional realignment for the 2017-18 season, there will be no regular-season dual meet. And if things don't shake out in the postseason, there will be no dual matchup at all for the first time since the series began in 1976. And what a shame that would be.

Kittatinny celebrates its 21st sectional title. (Courtesy Kittatinny wrestling)

Kittatinny, which has won back-to-back North 1, Group 1 titles, jumps up to join High Point in North 1, Group 2 this season for the second time in four years. By mutual agreement, the teams decided in '15 and beyond to not wrestle during the regular season if both are in different divisions in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference and housed in the same section.

High Point coach John Gardner confirmed the independent dual meet, which was scheduled for Friday, Feb. 2 in Wantage, has been cancelled. The sectional tournaments will get underway three days later on Monday, Feb. 5.

"It is what it is," Gardner said as his team prepares for the start of "official" practices on Monday. "Our dual meets are always a big deal. I hope it doesn't happen [that we don't wrestle] -- teams wrestle on that Saturday [after the sectionals]. I'm not sure if Kittatinny has something scheduled for that day or not."

As of now, Saturday, Feb. 10 is an open date for both High Point and Kittatinny.

Luckily in 2015, the teams met in the North 1, Group 2 quarterfinals -- a 32-31 win for the Wildcats that continued the series. That remains the only postseason matchup in series history, one in which High Point owns a 27-14-1 edge. Kittatinny has won the past two meetings and three of the last five -- including a 36-25 victory at home last season. Unlike in '15, when the sectional pairings had already been released before the regular-season dual was scrapped, it will be a roll of the dice to see if they will match up in '18.

It's understandable that teams would not want to potentially meet twice within a week's time, but why not schedule this rivalry in early to mid-January to avoid that scenario? That way, we aren't robbed of one of the season's most anticipated dual meets. We get so few good ones in this awful age of tri-meets and quads.

"Probably going forward, that's what we're going to have to do," Gardner said of scheduling this rivalry match earlier in the season. "It's silly to not have that dual meet, regardless of what kind of season you're having. We certainly want to get that match in."

In other big news, Pope John moves out of the rugged Non-Public North A section, which contains state powers Bergen Catholic and Delbarton. The Lions are now in North B, where they will be sectional and state title favorites this season.

Phillipsburg, which has won an area-best 36 sectional titles overall, will seek its fifth in a row in North 2, Group 4. The Stateliners, who have won four consecutive Group 4 titles, will be led by senior state placewinner Brian Meyer, a Lehigh recruit who needs eight wins to become the 24th wrestler in program history to record at least 100 in a career.

Hunterdon Central, which won the Central Jersey, Group 5 title last season, is now in the same section with Howell. The Rebels, who were housed in the South Jersey section, handed the Red Devils a 28-27 loss in a classic Group 5 final in 2017.

Delaware Valley celebrates its Group 2 title win.

Delaware Valley, last season's Group 2 champion, is seeking its 18th sectional title and fourth in a row in Central Jersey, Group 2. The Terriers, who own a 9-5 edge in the all-time series vs. Raritan, beat the Rockets for a third straight year in last season's sectional final en route to capturing the program's eighth Group 2 title and first since 1999.

Here's the breakdown for sections involving teams from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area:

North 1

Group 3

Local team: Sparta.

Rest of the field: Bergenfield, Demarest, Dwight Morrow, Garfield, Indian Hills, Montville, Paramus, Pascack Valley, Ramapo, River Dell, Teaneck, Tenafly, West Milford.

Group 2

Local teams: High Point, Kittatinny, Newton, Vernon.

Rest of the field: Glen Rock, Hawthorne, Jefferson, Lakeland, Mahwah, Pascack Hills, Pequannock, Ramsey, Waldwick-Midland Park, Westwood.

Group 1

Local teams: Hopatcong, North Warren, Wallkill Valley.

Rest of the field: Bogota-Weehawken, Boonton, Butler, Cedar Grove, Cresskill, Emerson-Park Ridge, Hasbrouck Heights, Kinnelon, Mountain Lakes, New Milford, Pompton Lakes, Saddle Brook.

North 2

Group 4

Local teams: North Hunterdon, Phillipsburg.

Rest of the field: Barringer, Colonia, Irvington, JFK-Iselin, Kearny, Linden, Middletown North, Millburn, Montgomery, Sayreville, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Woodbridge.

Group 3

Local teams: Voorhees, Warren Hills.

Rest of the field: Chatham, Cliffside Park, Cranford, Governor Livingston, Leonia-Palisades Park, Lyndhurst-North Arlington, Morris Hills, Nutley, Orange, Parsippany Hills, Summit, West Essex.

Group 2

Local teams: Hackettstown, Lenape Valley.

Rest of the field: Caldwell, Dover, Dumont, Elmwood Park, Fort Lee, Hanover Park, Lodi, Madison, Manchester Regional, Parsippany, Ridgefield Park, Rutherford.

Group 1

Local teams: Belvidere.

Rest of the field: Becton, Bound Brook, Glen Ridge, Manville, Metuchen, Newark Collegiate, New Providence, Roselle Park, Secaucus, Shabazz, Verona, Weequahic, Whippany Park, Wood-Ridge.

Central Jersey

Group 5

Local teams: Hunterdon Central.

Rest of the field: East Brunswick, Edison, Freehold Township, Hillsborough, Howell, Manalapan, Marlboro, Monroe Township, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Old Bridge, South Brunswick, Trenton Central.

Group 2

Local team: Delaware Valley.

Rest of the field: Bernards, Brearley, Carteret, Holmdel, Johnson, Manasquan, Matawan, Middlesex-Dunellen, Monmouth, North Plainfield, Raritan, Robbinsville, Rumson-Fair Haven.

Non-Public

North B

Local team: Pope John.

Rest of the field: Bishop Ahr, Christ the King, DePaul, Morris Catholic, Newark Academy, Pingry.