After four seasons, North Warren's Matt Parzero has had enough and recently resigned from his wrestling post. Parzero will retain his position as the school's head football coach.
Scott Stoll, a former Vernon wrestler who served as an assistant on the Patriots' staff, is the new head wrestling coach -- the Blairstown school's fourth since 2009.
"It was time, but I will definitely miss it," said Parzero, who was the only head coach for both sports in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area until Wallkill Valley wrestling coach Adam Vazquez was recently hired to take over the Rangers' football program.
"As a head coach, you have to be there, with all of the summer stuff going on. I was asking a lot of my assistants. Scott took a lot of the brunt, running our [wrestling] practices the first week or so. I think it was two weeks when our football team reached the sectional semifinals two years ago."
Former North Warren middle school coach Dave Sbriscia, who also was a candidate for the head varsity position, will be moving on as well. The former Warren Hills standout is heading back to his alma mater to be an assistant on Jarrett Hosbach's staff. Sbriscia's hiring won't be made official until the fall when the coaching positions will be posted.
Sbriscia, a physical education teacher at North Warren, is also undergoing the interview process for a teaching position at the Warren County school.
North Warren athletic director John Simonetti said he was sorry to see both Parzero and Sbriscia leave their positions.
"Matt did a good job. He's a professional, whether it's football or wrestling," Simonetti said. "The kids give 100 percent for him and he's an all-around good guy. Dave is a huge loss for us."
Sbriscia has quickly gained a reputation as one of the top young coaches in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area. His biggest asset at North Warren was working with its group of upper weights, who showed great improvement under his tutelage. Dan Hauck (District 1 champion in 2012) and rising senior Will O'Connell are two of Sbriscia's successful projects. O'Connell went from being 8-11 as a freshman to a 19-match winner as a sophomore before going 25-8 this past season.
"He's going to be a great head coach some day," said Parzero, who employed Sbriscia on his football staff as special teams coordinator the past three seasons. "Our loss is definitely [Warren Hills'] gain. I'm hoping to keep him as a football coach. He came into our [practice] room and got the kids' attention, just being able to wrestle with them."
A 2006 Warren Hills graduate, Sbriscia became one of the area's best 215-pounders despite never having wrestled until his sophomore season. He logged a three-year mark of 78-22 -- ranking 21st on the school's all-time wins list -- and twice qualified for the state tournament. Sbriscia finished third in District 1 as a sophomore before winning titles in 2005 and '06, and placed third in Region 1 as a junior and second as a senior.
In '05, Sbriscia met High Point's David Zabriskie in the Region 1 semifinals and dropped a 3-2 decision to the eventual state champ and future NCAA champ at Iowa State. In the '06 Region 1 finals, Sbriscia lost 5-0 to Lenape Valley's D.J. Russo, who went on to place second in the state at 215.
Parzero said he feels good about leaving the North Warren program in good hands and in better shape than when he took over for the 2010-11 season. In four seasons, Parzero's teams compiled an overall mark of 43-42, going 8-14 overall and 1-5 in the NJAC Freedom Division this past season.
"We didn't get to the level that [former coach Chris Jones] had it at, winning two sectional titles [in 2006 and '07], but I think it's better than it was when I inherited it," Parzero said. "Scott is an exciting guy and the kids like being around him."
Boresch Duals field set
The search is over for an eighth team to compete in the 10th annual Henry Boresch Duals next January at Newton High School.
Braves coach Eric Bollette confirmed that South Jersey's Middle Township is slated to replace Raritan, which dropped out after competing in the last four events and winning the championship in 2011.
South Plainfield, which won in 2012 and '13, is returning along with 2014 champion Hanover Park. Rounding out the field are Caldwell, Howell, Morris Knolls, Northern Burlington and host Newton.
Last year's duals created quite a buzz around the state as Hanover Park rolled to the title -- knocking off Howell, 35-31, in the semifinals and Raritan, 35-29, in the final. Earlier in the semis, Raritan snapped South Plainfield's 50-match win streak (57 in a row vs. New Jersey teams) with a 29-28 victory on criteria (most bouts won, 8-6).
Sussex Fair to host Redneck wrestling
Wrestling will return to The New Jersey State Fair this summer with a high school match between host High Point and Newton set for Friday, Aug. 1. The event is being billed as "Redneck Wrestling at the Fair."
The fair was once the host site for the very popular Henry Boresch summer tournament. High Point coach John Gardner was seeking an opponent for a summer match and Bollette accepted to give his up-and-coming team an opportunity to face one of New Jersey's top programs. High Point defeated Newton, 58-10, in an NJAC crossover match on Jan. 10, 2014.
High Point captured its second Group 2 championship in three years this past season and returns several state qualifiers, including Dom Gallo, Mike Derin and Jason Gaccione. Derin (33-9) and Gaccione (37-7) were placewinners in 2013.
Newton, which finished strong in the second half of last season, returns state qualifier and Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex champion Gus Protogeropoulos (35-8) in the upper weights, along with Region 1 qualifiers Trevor Morales (31-7), Eddie Medina (28-12) and Jake DeLuca (8-9).
Wrestling runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Bollette said there will be no announcement of lineups, as the teams will match up on the day of the event, with the understanding that wrestlers will be paired up according to talent level.
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