The high school wrestling season is cruising to the finish line, but before we turn our focus on the 87th State Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, let's take a look at some of the highlights from the five region tournaments that house teams from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area.
37 -- We have that many wrestlers from the HWS area moving on to this week's state tournament (down 13 from last year after a total of 48 in 2018), including an area-high seven from Pope John. In all, 18 (down four from last year) advanced out of
Region 1, while Region 3 produced three (down one from last year). Over in Region 5, Hunterdon Central and North Hunterdon combined for 10 qualifiers, while Region 4 had five from P'burg, leaving one wrestler from Lenape Valley -- sophomore Daniel Haws -- to come out of Region 2.
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| Brian Soldano on top of the podium at West Milford. |
6 -- High Point sophomore
Brian Soldano won his second Region 1 title, while Pope John senior
Eddie Ventresca also made history with his third championship at West Milford as the HWS area produced six region champions. Soldano (33-1), for the second straight year, pinned his way through the bracket to become the first wrestler for the 'Cats to win titles in his first two seasons since four-timer Nick Francavilla (2008-11). Soldano, who is 74-5 overall, also became the Sussex County school's 48th champ and the first to win back-to-back titles since Mike Derin and Kyle Stoll (2013-14). Ventresca, a Virginia Tech recruit, is just the third at his school to win at least three titles -- joining four-timers and fellow state champions Mike Frick (1969-72) and JoJo Aragona (2016-19). Ventresca also became just the fifth in Sussex to reach 150 career victories, and at 152-15 overall, he's just four back of Francavilla (156-13) for second place on that exclusive list and six shy of Aragona, who is the overall leader at 158-6. Now, Ventresca will set his sights on back-to-back state titles -- something only Frick (1969, '71 and '72) has accomplished at the Sparta-based school.
"It's onto the next. One match at a time, not looking ahead," Ventresca said. "Right now, I'm looking at next weekend. It's my last run so I'm going to leave it all on the mat. Last time going down to AC."
101 -- It's been a season of milestones for Hunterdon Central, which picked up its 1,000 dual meet victory and its 101st region champion as junior Colton Washleski scored a 3-2 win over Rumson-Fair Haven's Max Brignola in the title bout at 145 pounds in Region 5 at Franklin -- avenging a 3-1 loss in sudden-victory overtime when they met in the District 18 finals. Washleski also went over the century mark in wins (101-26), along with teammate Anthony Romaniello, who finished third at 152, and is 100-43. Sophomores Nick Canonica (126) and Tanner Peake (138), along with junior Norman Cella (160), are the other state qualifiers for the Red Devils.
127 -- Phillipsburg is still stuck on 127 champions overall after being shut out for just the second time since 2015 and the sixth since 2000. The Stateliners did have five placewinners in Region 4 at Union High School, including two finalists in junior
Gage Horvath (220) and senior
Cody Cruts (285). Sophomores
James Day (113) and
Nate Zastowny (160), along with senior
Jacob Wicks (195), were third-place finishers, as all five advanced to AC for the first time.
57 -- Warren Hills advanced two wrestlers out of Region 3 at West Orange as sophomores
Stephen Malia (152) and
Tyler McCatharn (285) will make their first state appearances at Boardwalk Hall. McCatharn (35-4) became the Blue Streaks' 57th champion overall and just the sixth heavyweight to win a title -- joining former state champions Dale Baldwin (1969) and Dan Slack (1975-77), along with former state placewinners Jon Slack (2010) and Andrew Pacheco (2014-15), as well as 2019 champion Duro Ajayi. McCatharn and Ajayi are the first Streaks to win back-to-back at heavyweight since Pacheco won consecutive titles in 2014-15. Malia (33-7) finished third to qualify as the school seeks its first state medal since Pacheco placed sixth in 2014.
5 -- North Hunterdon produced the program's first unbeaten dual meet season that culminated with a Group 4 championship -- the Lions' first state title since 2002. The balanced lineup featured no superstars, but all 14 did advance to the Region 5 Tournament at Franklin. Five wrestlers are moving on as juniors
Frank DiEsso (120),
Connor Quinn (132) and
James Holder (170), along with senior
Nate Fossett (182), a runner-up after winning a title (No. 72 for North) in 2019, and sophomore
Liam Akers (285) qualified for AC. The Lions, who finished third in the Coaches Association Top 25, received another honor as Chris Hrunka, a region champion for Warren Hills in 2007, was named Region 5 Coach of the Year. Senior Ian Gaburo (220), who was instrumental in the team's state title run, unfortunately sustained an elbow injury during practice on Thursday and was unable to compete.
20 -- Belvidere didn't get its 21st region champion, but junior
Hunter Lensi finished second at 106 pounds in Region 3 to make his first trip to the state tournament. Lensi (31-7) won a District 12 championship for the first time the previous weekend and is sitting on 74 career victories.
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| Pope John led the area with 3 champions in R1. |
19 -- Sussex County advanced a total of 19 wrestlers to Atlantic City, the most of the three local counties. Pope John senior
Kaya Sement (145), now 102-20 in three seasons for the Lions, won his second title in Region 1, while junior
Shane Percelay (120), a runner-up in 2019, got his first championship. Joining those two and Ventresca in AC are seniors
Matthew Garcia (152) and
Cole Zydel (220), and sophomores
Jack Stoll (182) and
Peter Delaportas (195). Stoll's father, Joe, was a region champion for Vernon at heavyweight in 1984, while older brother, Kyle, was a two-time winner for High Point at 195 pounds in 2013-14. Kittatinny sophomore
Brycen Mafaro (182) and junior
Jackson Crawn (220) were runners-up in Region 1, along with senior
Cooper Stewart (113), who was looking to become his school's first champ since 2006. He will be joined by junior
Spencer Stewart (132) and senior
Garrett Stewart (138) -- both third-place finishers -- as they are the first trio of brothers to qualify for the Spartans. In addition to Soldano, sophomore
Clayton Utter (113), senior
Devon Liebl (126), junior
Josh Gervey (132) and senior
Billy Talmadge (138), who surpassed Billy Smith and Ethan Orr for third on the school's wins list at 139-28, also qualified for High Point, while John Gardner was named Region 1 Coach of the Year. Newton sophomore
Nathan Fitt (120), a runner-up, rounds out the R1 qualifiers. In Region 2, Lenape Valley's
Daniel Haws (120) finished fourth.
11 -- Voorhees, which didn't produce a district champion for the fifth time in program history and the first since 2005, did not have a state qualifier for only the third time and first since 2009. This after Lewis Fernandes made history as the school's first two-time state champion in 2018-19. The only other years the Vikes missed on at least one state qualifier came in 2002 and '03. Coincidentally, Delaware Valley will not have a representative in AC for the first time in 11 years. The Terriers have crowned only six region champions since '09, including two-time winner Mike Pongracz (2011, '13).
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