It's all a blur now, but here's a little synopsis of what we saw on Wednesday at Wallkill Valley Regional High School:
1. For what I believe is the first time in my region years dating to 1982 when this tournament was held for the final time at Phillipsburg High School, District 4 advanced more wrestlers through to the quarterfinals than Districts 2 and 3. District 4 pushed a total of 13 wrestlers through, while District 3 advanced 12. District 2 was last with 11. District 1, as expected, was the big winner with 20.
2. The seeds held pretty true to form under the new system used this year. In all, eight seeds fell in the preliminaries, including three No. 4s, four No. 8s and one No. 7. West Morris saw a pair of 4s fall, as John Sickles (170) and Zach Krulan (285) were eliminated. The other No. 4 was Wayne Hills' Jake Struble. Saving the best for last was No. 7 Brendon Narbone of Lakeland, who trailed 9-4 against Morris Hills' Chuck Foster before rolling him for a stunning pin in 4:58 in the final bout of the night at 285.
3. No one will believe me now, but as I scanned the brackets on Monday for potential upsets, the 138-pound class caught my eye. Sure enough, Phillipsburg's Anthony Johnson delivered with a 3-2 win over No. 7 seed Ray Timpani of Randolph. It's not a bad thing to go with Stateliners in those types of matches, although it looked like Timpani had at least an escape at the end of the period that would've forced overtime. P'burg, which qualified a tournament-high 12 wrestlers, went 5-1 on Wednesday, losing only Shaun Maloy at 182.
4. High Point senior John Torppey kept his season going and in the process set up a rematch of the District 3 final against Jefferson's Bryan Damon in the quarterfinals. Torppey, who lost 11-6 to Damon on Saturday, decked Roxbury's Stephen Caserta in 2:13. Damon trailed, 5-2, in the first period of the district final before hitting a four-pointer off a reversal in the final 6 seconds to take a 6-5 lead into the second period. Damon led 7-6 in the third before adding a takedown and two backs to cap the scoring. Should be a dandy on Friday.
5. Kevin Gocklin and Zack Levy of Vernon kept their senior seasons going as well. Gocklin earned career win No. 74 with a 3-2 decision over Mendham freshman and No. 7 seed Eric Friedman at 126. Levy scored a mild upset, though not according to seeds, by decking Kittatinny's Garrett Armstrong in 5:50 at 182.
6. Dover and Morris Catholic, which haven't had many wrestlers get here in recent years, both had wrestlers advance on opening night. Dover's Ryan Schaible moved on with a 2-1 win over Randolph's Rick Levens at 145. Morris Catholic's Joel Albarran got to the quarters by rallying to deck Randolph's Zac Kazaba in 3:29 at 195. Sparta freshman Ian Burke, who was the first from his school to qualify since 2008, wasn't as fortunate in his prelim, as he was pinned by Wayne Valley's Michael Spadola at 113.
7. Matchups of wrestlers in the same district also played a part in advancement numbers. District 1 had only one head-to-head matchup at 195, where Phillipsburg's Derek Pierson beat Warren Hills' Ryan Witner for the third time this season (11-1). Districts 2 and 4 went head-to-head four times, while District 3 had a pair of inter-district meetings. At 195, all four prelims involved wrestlers from the same district.
8. Pope John's Noah Merritt scored one of the night's upsets at 285, where he beat Krulan in OT. Merritt was involved in some controversy at District 3, where he lost his composure and a team point for the Lions after a semifinal loss to Newton's Brandon Grant. Some, including myself, thought Merritt warranted an ejection from the tournament which would have prevented him from wrestling on Wednesday. Strange some times how things work out. Meanwhile, Grant lost, 3-2, in his opener against Belvidere's Ryan Appleby. Adding to this was the fact that a head-to-head win for Appleby over Merritt was originally missed at the seeding meeting. Before it was re-seeded, Appleby was slated to face Krulan in the first round. You can't make this stuff up.
9. To me, P'burg coach Dave Post further cemented his claim to the Region 1 Coach of the Year award as 11 Stateliners will take the mat in the quarterfinals. Post, who won the award in District 1, was a two-time Region 1 champ for P'burg in 2002 and '03. He's always been a fan favorite and the P'burg faithful went crazy at Mount Olive when he won that award. Expect them to do so again on Saturday if he does indeed get it.
10. Warren Hills' Max Nauta is among 14 freshmen in the quarterfinals after his 12-2 major of Pope John's Austin Sisco at 106. Lenape Valley's Glenn Haines (120) and P'burg's Max Elling (126) both pinned their way into the quarters. They are among the many talented ninth-graders in this tournament. Do yourself a favor and watch these and other future stars this weekend.
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