Wrestling: North joins elite company with G4 title

North Hunterdon's historic wrestling season was capped off in championship fashion on Sunday as the Lions captured the program's fifth state championship and first in 18 years with a 34-22 victory against Kingsway in the Group 4 final at RWJBarnabas Health Arena in Toms River.

North picked up its 776th win in the Group 4 final.

When told that he and his teammates joined some of North's most legendary figures -- like former coaches Jason Hawk and Tim Flynn, along with two-time individual state champ Ricky Frondorf, who were all part of the previous title team in 2002 -- senior Nate Fossett summed it up best:

"Those guys are Hall of Famers," said Fossett, a two-time Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament champion who has been the Lions' rock up top all season at either 182 or 195 pounds.

Those names mentioned above adorn the championship wall in North's practice room, which documents all of the team and individual accomplishments. Flynn, who is now the school's vice principal, and Hawk, still a health and physcial education teacher at North who served as head coach for nine seasons (2001-10) and another eight as Flynn's assistant (2010-18), were also wise enough to bring current head coach Chris Hrunka, now in his third season, on board as an assistant. Longtime coach and all-around good guy Dennis Haughey, who owns the program wins record at 231, was also in attendance on Sunday.

"They're like legends [at North Hunterdon]," said Hrunka, whose teams are 59-8 overall. "Everyone knows them as wrestling coaches. Jason Hawk never coached any of these kids, but they all know he was a coach. They all know how good of a wrestler he was [at Phillipsburg and Rutgers]. It's a good feeling [to be alongside them]."

Perfect storm

North's 23-0 season -- a program record for wins and its fourth of at least 20 victories-- is the first unbeaten campaign by a Hunterdon County school since Voorhees went 22-0 and captured the Group 3 title in 1986-87. It's also the county's ninth overall as Hunterdon Central did it five times before the sectional era (1963, '64, '76, '77 and '79), while Voorhees also finished 20-0 and won a sectional title in 1979-80. Delaware Valley (19-0-1 in 1983-84), which won the Group 2 title and finished No. 1 in New Jersey, is the county's only other undefeated state championship team along with North.

"Definitely something special. It was a year to remember," said North senior Evan Klimas, who also added a key decision win against Kingsway on Sunday. "We have a strong bond, definitely a family. We went in confident knowing exactly what we wanted to achieve [in the Group championships] and we were able to do it. Wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. It's something we're going to remember for a long time."

How loose and confident was this team? Klimas said they went to play mini golf following the 40-19 win over Mount Olive in the Group 4 semifinals.

That may have been the secret to success as North's tremendous lineup balance was again on display against Kingsway, which was looking to avenge  a 40-21 loss to the Lions on Jan. 4 and repeat as Group 4 champion. But that group from 170 through 285 all came through again against the Dragons and erased a 22-12 deficit through eight bouts.

"We knew we were solid everywhere and we knew everyone could come up big," said junior Connor Quinn, whose pin of Jake Gentile at 132 was a nine-point swing from the first meeting and avenged a 3-2 loss at the Boresch Duals. "We just had faith in every single weight class."

The upper weights, who recorded a major and four pins in those matchups in the first meeting, were expected to provide big team points, but that group only needed wins this time around.

"We didn't want our guys going crazy and something happening, getting caught cause then it puts you in a bad spot," Hrunka said. "We told them, 'If you can find easy points take them. If you can find an easy pin, you take it. If you're on top, you can ride tough.' Our guys are good on top. There we were comfortable. On our feet look for one takedown and secure the win. We knew we were a lot better than a lot of those kids there."

Can there be a repeat?

With this title run in the books, what are the chances that North can go for back-to-back titles next season? That surely will not be easy as Klimas and Fossett, along with Drew Doscher (138), Kyle Anderson (152) and Ian Gaburo (220), are all seniors. But with nine returning starters, it's likely that North will again be in the mix, along with Phillipsburg (11 returning starters) and Kingsway, which is mostly juniors.

"I want to be back here," Quinn said.

The Lions will have the target on their backs next time around.

"Last year, I thought we kind of flew under the radar and snuck up on some people. This year, people were like, 'Look at [North]. After [the Boresch Duals] it was like, 'Holy cow look at these guys. Then, we were in an unfamiliar spot of being at the top. The [No. 4 ranking in the NJWWA Top 20] didn't matter to us, our goal was to win the Group 4 championship."