Wrestling: North leads area teams in NJWWA Top 20

North Hunterdon, which is prepping for the upcoming sectional tournaments, remains the highest-ranked team from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area in the latest New Jersey Writers Association Top 20 released on Monday night.

The Lions (16-0) are holding steady at No. 4 as the state's top public school program for the third straight week. Third-year coach Chris Hrunka's team, which, as expected, will be the No. 1 seed in North 2, Group 4, is set to close out the regular season against West Morris on Tuesday and archrival Voorhees on Wednesday.

In all, four teams from the Open Mike coverage area grace this week's poll. Phillipsburg stays in the No. 10 spot, along with High Point at No. 12 and Pope John at No. 13.

North Hunterdon owns wins over five other ranked teams -- beating No. 5 Kingsway and No. 14 Paulsboro at the Boresch Duals on Jan. 4, along with snapping a 17-match skid in the series with Phillipsburg (30-34 on Jan. 15), and most recently knocking off both High Point and No. 16 West Essex en route to winning the Patriot Duals on Jan. 25.

Phillipsburg (10-2), which is the No. 2 seed in North 2, Group 4, according to the unofficial power points released on Sunday evening. Pairings will not become official until Wednesday at noon following Tuesday morning's seeding meeting at NJSIAA headquarters in Robbinsville.

The Stateliners will wrap up the regular-season portion of their schedule with a Skyland Conference Raritan Division tilt at Montgomery on Wednesday, followed by home matches against Delaware Valley on Thursday and Ocean Township on Saturday.

High Point (9-4), which swept a tri-meet with Watchung Hills and Hunterdon Central on Saturday, should be the No. 1 seed in North 1, Group 2. The 'Cats, who can clinch the NJAC Freedom Division title on Wednesday with a win at Newton, which has dropped 17 straight in the series since its last victory in 2003, seek the program's fourth straight sectional championship and its Sussex County-best 28th overall.

Pope John (9-5) will host No. 15 Seton Hall Prep on Wednesday in its regular-season finale as the Lions, who will be the top seed in Non-Public North B, aim for their third straight sectional title.

Rank	School	Record	Previous
1	Bergen Catholic	(16-2)	1
2	Delbarton	(13-2)	2
3	Camden Catholic	(17-2)	3
4	North Hunterdon	(16-0)	4
5	Kingsway	(14-3)	6
6	Howell	(20-1)	7
7	St. Augustine Prep	(15-3)	8
8	St. Joseph-Montvale	(10-4)	5
9	Southern	(14-1)	9
10	Phillipsburg	(10-2)	10
11	Toms River North	(14-4)	11
12	High Point	(9-4)	12
13	Pope John	(9-5)	13
14	Paulsboro	(15-2)	14
15	Seton Hall Prep	(15-1)	16
16	West Essex	(14-3)	17
17	St. Peter's Prep	(6-7)	15
18	Brick Memorial	(14-3)	18
19	Montville	(10-2)	19
20	Mount Olive	(12-2)	20

NJWWA voting members listed in alphabetical order: Donald J. Brower (GardenStateHSWrestling.com); Frank D’Esposito (theshoreconference.com; Steven Falk (Asbury Park Press and APP.com); Sean Farrell (The Record of Hackensack and NorthJersey.com); Jane Havsy (Daily Record and DailyRecord.com); “Screwy” Louie Lazzari (New Jersey wrestling historian); John Lewis (Burlington County Times and phillyburbs.com); Ron Mazzola (NJWWA president and Region V ranking chairman); Tom McGurk (Courier Post of Cherry Hill); Andy Mendlowitz (Courier News and MyCentralJersey.com); Greg Tufaro (Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com); Michael Weilamann (Open Mike).