Wrestling: North top public in final NJWWA Top 20

North Hunterdon, fresh off of winning its first state championship in 18 years, finished as the No. 1 public school program in the state in the final New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20.

The Lions (23-0), ranked No. 4, completed the program's first unbeaten season -- and first in Hunterdon County since Voorhees went 22-0 in 1986-87 -- and captured their fifth state title with a 34-22 win over Kingsway in the Group 4 final at RWJBarnabas Health Arena on Sunday. Coach Chris Hrunka's team, which also beat No. 5 Kingsway for the Boresch Duals title on Jan. 4, claimed its first sectional title since 2015, while becoming the first in Lions history to beat Phillipsburg twice in a season with a 37-12 victory in the North 2, Group 4 sectional final.

"Definitely something special. It was a year to remember," said Evan Klimas, one of five starting seniors for North who enters the individual postseason 24-5 at 145 pounds. "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. It's something we're going to remember for a long time."

North is among four Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area teams, which have been ranked from the start of this season, to grace the final poll. For only the second time since the Top 20 debuted in 2013, when South Plainfield finished in the top spot, there is a new No. 1 as Delbarton ended Bergen Catholic's six-year reign with a 45-12 win over the Crusaders in the Non-Public North A sectional semifinals. The Green Wave, coached by Bryan Stoll, went on to claim the A state title with a 54-7 victory over No. 8 St. Augustine Prep for the Morris County-based school's second championship and first since 2011.

Phillipsburg, which lost twice to the Lions, including a 30-24 defeat at home on Jan. 15 that essentially decided the Skyland Conference Raritan Division title, is No. 10, followed by High Point at No. 12 and Pope John at No. 15.

P'burg (15-3), which lost a sectional title match for just the third time overall and the second since 2013 in the tournament's 41-year history, went 2-3 against ranked teams this season -- with wins over High Point (34-24 at The Pit on Jan. 27) and Toms River North (29-28 at home on Jan. 16). In addition to a double defeat against North, the 'Liners also dropped a 36-24 decision to No. 6 Southern on Jan. 25.

High Point has won six state titles (four in Group 2).

High Point (15-4) faced five Top 20 teams this season, including a win over No. 20 Mount Olive (32-23 on Jan. 23), a Group 4 semifinalist. The 'Cats, who captured their second Group 2 title in three seasons with a 38-28 victory over West Deptford on Sunday, also lost to No. 7 Howell (37-36 on most first points), North Hunterdon (38-23 in the Patriot Duals final), Phillipsburg and Southern (43-25 on Jan. 30). High Point, which has won six state championships -- all under head coach John Gardner -- also claimed a Sussex-County best 28th sectional title. Kittatinny leads the county with eight state titles.

Pope John (11-8), which also has won six state championships (all in Non-Public B), captured the program's third consecutive North B sectional title and its 10th overall with a 59-17 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas (formerly Bishop Ahr) before falling to No. 2 Camden Catholic, 51-15, for the second straight year in the state title match in Toms River.

Rank	School	Record	Previous
1	Delbarton	(18-3)	2
2	Bergen Catholic	(17-3)	1
3	Camden Catholic	(22-2)	3
4	North Hunterdon	(23-0)	4
5	Kingsway	(18-4)	5
6	Southern	(20-1)	9
7	Howell	(24-2)	6
8	St. Augustine Prep	(18-4)	7
9	St. Joseph-Montvale	(12-5)	8
10	Phillipsburg	(15-3)	10
11	Toms River North	(19-5)	11
12	High Point	(15-4)	12
13	Paulsboro	(21-2)	13
14	Seton Hall Prep	(17-2)	14
15	Pope John	(11-8)	15
16	Montville	(19-2)	16
17	Brick Memorial	(17-4)	17
18	West Essex	(21-5)	18
19	St. Peter's Prep	(13-8)	19
20	Mount Olive	(18-3)	20

Others receiving votes: Manalapan (26-4).

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).