We're back and so is high school wrestling across the Garden State. Pardon the interruption as Open Mike was on extended hiatus and will post as time permits during the 2025-26 campaign. But continue to check back here each week for your trusted source of what's happening across the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area.
Tournaments were the name of the game during the first week of action, particularly the rugged Robin Leff Invitational, which saw a number of the state's top teams battle it out at Southern Regional High School on Saturday.
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| North is eyeing the program's 8th state team title |
The well-balanced Lions, looking to become the first group to win back-to-back state team titles in program history, are once again sectional and Group 4 favorites. Coach Dave Bell's team, which opens at No. 12 in the season's first New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20, gears up for a pivotal early-season clash against reigning Group 5 champion Southern at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Lions' Den. They'll also host the Fab 50 Duals on Saturday, which includes several national powers, including Delbarton (No. 1 in New Jersey) and Blair Academy.
Phillipsburg, which produced three top-three finishers on Saturday at Southern, checks in at No. 16, followed by No. 17 Pope John as the HWS area reps in our preseason poll.
P'burg was hit hard by graduation, but last season's Group 4 runner-up still has plenty of talent up-and-down the lineup, including Robin Leff champion Gavin Geleta (175), who is looking to make noise in Atlantic City come March. The Stateliners will take on No. 9 Mount Olive and unranked Middletown North in a high-powered tri-meet following the 10 a.m. opener between the visitors on Saturday in Lopatcong Township. The nightcap against Mount Olive will be a rematch of last season's North 1, Group 4 sectional title match -- a 31-29 win for P'burg, which also scored a 32-30 win in the regular-season matchup.
Pope John, which was the Non-Public B runner-up last season, also should make another run to the state championship match at Rutgers in February. The Lions opened with an impressive 44-31 win over No. 18 Immaculata on Saturday as part of a tri-meet, despite the absence of senior Dalton Weber, a two-time state medalist who is sitting on 95 career wins.
Keep an eye on Delaware Valley and High Point as both teams figure to make a push for a Top 20 ranking.
A cut above
The two teams which have contested for the Non-Public A championship and taken turns finishing as the No. 1 ranked team in the NJWWA Top 20 the past three seasons begin 2025-26 in the top two spots.
Senior Jayden James, one of the country's best pound-for-pound wrestlers, leads a Delbarton team that has two returning state champions and another who won a state title in 2024.
James, last year's 150-pound champion and a Penn State recruit, began his season by capturing the 165-pound title at the prestigious Ironman Tournament in Ohio. James defeated Bishop McCort (Pa.) standout and Virginia Tech recruit Melvin Miller, 8-5, in sudden victory in the final.
Delbarton finished third in the team standings at the Ironman. The Green Wave's other returning state champion is junior Cameron Sontz. Sontz won at 106 in 2024 and 113 last season He is a Lehigh University recruit. Junior Ryan DeGeorge, who won at 126 in 2024 and was the runner-up at 132 last year, is the Morristown-based school's other past state champion. DeGeorge is a Rutgers University recruit.
The Green Wave have five other returning state medal winners in their lineup in Tommy Marchetti, Carl Betz, Peter Terranova, Nicholas Schwartz and Trevor Jones.
St. Joseph-Montvale has three returning state runners-up in its lineup in seniors Johnathan McGinty, Charlie Esposito and Cristian Alvarez.
McGinty, a two-time runner-up and three-time state top-five finisher, is an Oklahoma University recruit. Esposito, a two-time top five finisher, is a Rutgers recruit. Alvarez, a heavyweight, is a University of Massachusetts recruit in football. He helped the St. Joseph football team win the Non-Public A championship.
What could be the best team Christian Brothers Academy has had sees the Colts ranked No. 3. Junior Paul Kenny, last year's 120-pound state champion and an Iowa recruit, leads a team has five other returning state medalists and several talented freshmen. Kenny finished second in the Ironman at 126 pounds. CBA was eighth in the team standings.
Southern, the three-time defending Group 5 champion, is the top ranked public school team at No. 8. The Rams have two returning state medalists in senior and Bucknell recruit Mason and sophomore Cade Collins. They also have two other returning region champions and several talented freshmen.
Six of last year's seven group champions -- St. Joseph-Montvale, Camden Catholic (Non-Public B), Southern, Delsea (Group 3), Rumson-Fair Haven, which has won Group 2 the past two seasons, and North Hunterdon (Group 4) are ranked.
The poll will run each Tuesday during the dual-meet season beginning Jan. 6.
Voting members listed in alphabetical order: Donald J. Brower (gardenstatehswrestling.com); Frank D’Esposito (shoreconferencewrestling.com); Steven Falk (Asbury Park Press and APP.com); Sean Farrell (The Record and NorthJersey.com); Tom McGurk (Courier Post and courierpostonline.com); Andy Mendlowitz (Courier News, Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com); Michael Weilamann (Open Mike and mikeopen.blogspot.com), Brad Wilson (lehighvalleylive.com).
