Wrestling: 'Cats climb back to top in Group 2

TOMS RIVER -- High Point will take laying the outcome of a dual meet on the capable shoulders of sophomore stud Brian Soldano any day of the week. But it was two relatively unknown wrestlers who helped paved the way for a championship.

High Point celebrates its sixth state championship.

Soldano's pin at 170 pounds sealed it, but clutch victories by freshman Ryan Mangano and junior Nick Douma helped vault the Wildcats to a 38-28 victory over West Deptford to secure the Group 2 championship on Sunday evening at RWJBarnabas Health Arena.

"We had two kids, Ryan hadn't won this year, and Nick got [his first win earlier today]. For those guys to come up as big as they did is a great thing for us," veteran coach John Gardner said. "Certainly wasn't something that West Deptford expected.

High Point (15-4) picked up the program's sixth state title and second in three seasons after winning the Group 2 championship in 2018. The 'Cats were hoping to get some redemption against South Plainfield, which scored a 46-26 victory over the Sussex County school in last year's final. But the Tigers were denied a sixth straight championship (winning five in a row, including the previous two Group 2 titles) appearance with a 36-27 loss to West Deptford (21-8), which was seeking its second state title and first since 2000, in Sunday's semifinals.

"The only thing we think about Day 1 in the practice room is winning this Group title," said Billy Talmadge, one of three senior starters. "The pressure building up until now really made it emotional for me and the seniors. Thankful for the juniors stepping it up. They did a really good job this year stepping up and helping us be captains. Lot of heart from High Point. There's nothing like being coached by Mr. Gardner, Mr. [Billy] Smith, Mr. [Mickey] Thomas and Otto [Mark Veltri]."

The Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area crowned two champions as North Hunterdon (23-0) capped its first unbeaten season and picked up its first championship since 2002 with a 34-22 victory over Kingsway in the Group 4 title match.

High Point, which cruised to a 51-15 win over Caldwell in the semifinals, dropped the first two bouts against West Deptford before Mangano turned the tide with a mildly surprising 9-2 win at 106 pounds -- his first varsity win after going 0-10 in a backup role behind freshman Roman Citro, who was unable to wrestle due to an illness.

Sophomore Clayton Utter followed with a pin at 113, and after West Deptford answered with a pin at 120, senior Devon Liebl got the 'Cats back on track with a 17-3 major at 126 -- setting the stage for Douma, who trailed, 7-1, after the first period before reversing and decking Justin Monzo-Hull in 2:34.

"He was trying to work the bar and I work on sitting through the bar all the time [in practice]," Douma said, "so the second he started running around the head, I just sat and I knew it was over once I sat through it. It was a big match and I had to win. I got my job done."

Douma (2-1), who had broken both of wrists last wrestling season and his leg during this past football season, only recently joined the team for the start of the run toward a North 1, Group 2 sectional title. It was shades of then-freshman Josh Gervey, whose victory sent High Point to the state title in 2018.

"Douma has always had heart," Talmadge said. "Him being hurt beginning of the year, I knew it wasn't going to set him back or our team back. I knew he was going to come out with the win."

Gervey's pin at 138 and Talmadge's 15-4 major at 145 gave High Point a comfortable 29-13 lead through nine bouts. Junior Alex Buchwald added a huge 8-3 win at 160 to set up Soldano, who completed the championship run by flattening Jordyn Roane with a cradle in 42 seconds.

"I wanted to get one more for our seniors," said Soldano, now 68-5 overall. "They've put so much into this program and I'm happy to see them go out with a last bang."

Championship

HIGH POINT 38, WEST DEPTFORD 28
220 -- Sr. Tasir Money (27-7), WD, md. Jr. Justin Klass (14-15), 14-5.
285 -- Jr. Tion Cherry (17-2), WD, d. Jr. Troy Van Orden (7-8), 9-7.
106 -- Fr. Ryan Mangano (1-10), HP, d. So. Jacob McDonald (10-17), 9-2.
113 -- So. Clayton Utter (23-4), HP, p. Jr. AJ Monahan (23-10), :43.
120 -- So. Mike Amoriello (19-12), WD, p. So. Charles Antcliff (16-13), 3:11.
126 -- Sr. Devon Liebl (31-3), HP, md. Sr. Jake McConville (31-4), 17-3.
132 -- Jr. Nick Douma (2-1), HP, p. So. Justin Monzo-Hull (19-15), 2:34.
138 -- Jr. Josh Gervey (27-4), HP, p. Sr. Tom Steffney (19-15), 1:14.
145 -- Sr. Billy Talmadge (34-0), HP, md. Sr. Steven Brittingham (12-12), 15-5.
152 -- Sr. Brad Schultes (16-15), WD, d. So. Noah Ripley (8-21), 4-1.
160 -- Jr. Alex Buchwald (11-4), HP, d. Sr. Gavin Gismondi (18-10), 8-3.
170 -- So. Brian Soldano (27-1), HP, p. Fr. Jordyn Roane (7-4), :42.
182 -- Sr. Gavin Shields (28-5), WD, forfeit.
195 -- Jr. Cody Thurston (29-4), WD, forfeit.
Records -- High Point 15-4; West Deptford 21-8.
Officials -- Dave Marotta and Anthony Zullo.

Semifinals

HIGH POINT 51, CALDWELL 15
195 -- PJ Soldano, HP, d. John Casale, 6-2.
220 -- Ben Rivera, C, d. Sean Van Wingerden, 6-5.
285 -- Justin Klass, HP, p. Anthony Perosio, 2:11.
106 -- Ian Flanagan, C, d. Ryan Mangano, 7-0.
113 -- Clayton Utter, HP, d. Ricardo Caamano, 5-1.
120 -- Charles Antcliff, HP, p. Joshua Eng, 4:50.
126 -- Devon Liebl, HP, p. Pasquale Capozzoli, 2:51.
132 -- Nick Douma, HP, p. Mark DeJesus, 3:05.
138 -- Josh Gervey, HP, p. Kayleb Egoavil, 2:53.
145 -- Billy Talmadge, HP, d. Joseph Jenkins, 5-1.
152 -- Jack Askling, C, p. Noah Ripley, 3:24.
160 -- Luke Schaffer, C, d. Alex Buchwald, 5-2.
170 -- Troy Tiger, HP, forfeit.
182 -- Brian Soldano, HP, p. Max Ruiz, :21.
Records -- High Point 14-4; Caldwell 18-6.

WEST DEPTFORD 36, SOUTH PLAINFIELD 27
195 -- Thomas Renna, SP, d. Cody Thurston, 7-4.
220 -- Tasir Money, WD, p. Julian Medina, 2:48.
285 -- Tion Cherry, WD, d. Austin Scott, 10-5.
106 -- J.J. Giordano, SP, p. Jacob McDonald, :35.
113 -- AJ Monahan, WD, d. Julian Irizzary, 9-4.
120 -- Jacob DelVecchio, SP, p. Mike Amoriello, :35.
126 -- Jake McConville, WD, d. Andrew Loniewski, 9-5.
132 -- Anthony White, SP, d. Justin Monzo-Hull, :39.
138 -- Tom Steffney, WD, d. Tyler Balent, 6-5.
145 -- Steven Brittingham, WD, d. Daniel Gonzalez-Ross, 4-2.
152 -- Xavier Santos, SP, p. Brad Schultes, 1:49.
160 -- Gavin Gismondi, WD, d. Daniel Borsos, 4-0.
170 -- Jordyn Roane, WD, p. Aidan MacKenzie, 3:18.
182 -- Gavin Shields, WD, p. Kenneth Clevenger, 2:18.
Records -- West Deptford 21-7; South Plainfield 18-8.