Wrestling: HWS draws 4 No. 1 seeds for sectionals

Here are the official pairings for the upcoming sectional tournaments that begin on Monday, Feb. 5.

The semifinals will be contested on Wednesday, Feb. 7, with the sectional finals slated for Friday, Feb. 9. The five public school and four Non-Public winners advance to the Group championships to be contested on Sunday, Feb. 11 on the campus of Toms River North High School.

In all, 15 of the 18 teams from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area have qualified, with Sparta (North 1, Group 3), High Point (North 1, Group 2), Hunterdon Central (Central Jersey, Group 5) and Pope John (Non-Public North B) earning No. 1 seeds.

Newton (North 1, Group 2), Phillipsburg (North 2, Group 4), Voorhees (North 2, Group 3) drew No. 2 seeds, while North Hunterdon (North 2, Group 4), Warren Hills (North 2, Group 3) and Hackettstown (North 2, Group 2) are No. 3 seeds.

P'burg (10-2), which has won 36 of a possible 38 sectional titles, did not earn a No. 1 seed for just the sixth time overall since 1990 and for the first time since 2013. The Stateliners' only losses in title matches were 34-30 to Warren Hills in the 1990 North 2, Group 3 final and 30-29 to Hunterdon Central in the 2013 North 2, Group 4 final -- both on the road.

Middletown North (12-6), which has dropped the past two sectional finals to Phillipsburg, drew the top seed in North 2, Group 4. North Hunterdon, which is the No. 3 seed, suffered a 41-15 loss to the 'Liners on Jan. 24.

High Point seeks its 26th sectional title. (HP Wrestling)

High Point (19-1), which is looking to add to its Sussex County-best 25 sectional titles, is the heavy favorite in North 1, Group 2. Coach John Gardner's Wildcats, who have claimed 12 titles since 2001, could potentially face rival Kittatinny -- keeping their series continuous since it began in 1976, after not meeting in the regular season for just the second time -- in the semifinals, provided the Cougars can avenge a 39-33 loss on Saturday to No. 4 Westwood in the opening round.

Sparta (13-5) is seeking back-to-back sectional titles for the first time in program history and its fourth overall since 1983.

Pope John (11-1), ranked No. 4 in the New Jersey Writers Top 20, is seeking the program's first sectional title since 1994. In fact, all seven of the Lions' championships have been in North B.

North Warren (North 1, Group 1), Lenape Valley (North 2, Group 2), Belvidere (North 2, Group 1) and Delaware Valley (Central Jersey, Group 2) are the other area teams to qualify.

North Warren (8-4), which originally missed the cut as the ninth-ranked team, jumped Cresskill for the No. 8 seed based on a head-to-head win -- 45-30 on Jan. 6 -- giving the Patriots their first postseason berth since 2012.

Note: Appeals can be made until noon on Thursday.

NORTH 1

Group 5

8-Bloomfield (3-14, 21.50) at 1-North Bergen (11-2, 28.00); 5-Clifton (10-5, 26.30) at 4-Passaic Tech (9-5, 26.30); 6-Montclair (7-6, 24.40) at 3-Livingston (13-3, 26.50); 7-Hackensack (6-6, 23.40) at 2-West Orange (9-3, 26.60).

Group 4

8-Old Tappan (13-8, 27.50) at 1-West Morris (11-2, 33.30); 5-Mendham (10-4, 29.50) at 4-Wayne Valley (13-5, 29.90); 6-Mount Olive (11-4, 29.50) at 3-Fair Lawn (13-2, 31.80); 7-Passaic Valley (11-6, 27.90) at 2-Roxbury (9-8, 32.80).

Group 3

8-Ramapo (6-15, 24.60) at 1-Sparta (13-5, 30.00); 5-Garfield (9-9, 27.00) at 4-River Dell (15-4, 28.00); 6-West Milford (10-7, 26.90) at 3-Montville (10-4, 28.10); 7-Paramus (9-5, 26.80) at 2-Pascack Valley (17-4, 30.00).

Group 2

8-Pascack Hills (14-4, 26.30) at 1-High Point (19-1, 35.10); 5-Kittatinny (10-10, 32.30) at 4-Westwood (14-5, 31.10); 6-Glen Rock (15-4, 27.60) at 3-Jefferson (15-4, 31.80); 7-Hawthorne (11-6, 27.50); at 2-Newton (14-5, 34.00).

Group 1

8-North Warren (8-4, 25.10) at 1-Emerson-Park Ridge (22-0, 36.20); 5-Cedar Grove (8-10, 27.00) at 4-Butler (10-4, 27.60); 6-Kinnelon (11-8, 26.60) at 3-Saddle Brook (14-4, 27.80); 7-Bogota-Weehawken (11-7, 25.90) at 2-Pompton Lakes (15-3, 28.40).

NORTH 2

Group 5

8-Columbia (8-6, 25.30) at 1-Watchung Hills (18-1, 33.90); 5-Ridge (8-9, 26.10) at 4-Elizabeth (10-4, 26.50); 6-Perth Amboy (10-6, 25.90) at 3-Westfield (8-7, 27.10); 7-Bayonne (10-11, 25.90) at 2-Piscataway (9-7, 28.20).

Group 4

8-Linden (9-5, 25.90) at 1-Middletown North (12-6, 34.90); 5-Sayreville (14-4, 27.50) at 4-Scotch Plains-Fanwood (16-6, 27.70); 6-Kearny (13-7, 27.10) at 3-North Hunterdon (11-4, 31.80); 7-Colonia (8-5, 25.90) at 2-Phillipsburg (10-2, 33.80).

Group 3

8-Leonia-Palisades Park (8-12, 25.30) at 1-Cranford (12-4, 29.70); 5-Governor Livingston (9-8, 26.30) at 4-West Essex (6-7, 26.30); 6-Morris Hills (10-9, 26.10) at 3-Warren Hills (4-11, 26.50);
7-Lyndhurst-North Arlington (9-6, 25.80) at 2-Voorhees (16-7, 28.50).

Group 2

8-Parsippany (5-8, 24.20) at 1-Hanover Park (11-2, 32.30); 5-Lodi (11-6, 26.20) at 4-Elmwood Park (13-10, 26.40); 6-Dumont (8-10, 25.90) at 3-Hackettstown (9-10, 27.30); 7-Lenape Valley (3-11, 24.80) at 2-Caldwell (10-4, 27.50).

Group 1

8-Becton-Wallington (3-7, 21.00) at 1-Roselle Park (19-1, 30.30); 5-Verona (8-7, 26.50) at 4-Belvidere (8-6, 26.60); 6-Secaucus (9-12, 25.70) at 3-Manville (12-3, 26.70); 7-Whippany Park (3-13, 21.70) at 2-Bound Brook (9-8, 27.10).

CENTRAL

Group 5

8-Freehold Township (9-6, 26.20) at 1-Hunterdon Central (17-1, 37.60); 5-Old Bridge (9-9, 28.10) at 4-Monroe Township (12-3, 29.60); 6-Trenton Central (14-4, 27.20) at 3-Manalapan (16-2, 31.50);
7-Hillsborough (7-12, 26.40) at 2-Howell (24-0, 36.00).

Group 4

8-Burlington Township (11-9, 26.60) at 1-Long Branch (17-3, 34.40); 5-Northern Burlington (9-10, 27.50) at 4-Colts Neck (12-3, 28.70); 6-Middletown South (13-6, 27.30) at 3-Brick Memorial (17-2, 32.20); 7-Hightstown (13-6, 27.40) at 2-Jackson Memorial (9-7, 30.00).

Group 3

8-Ewing (11-9, 26.60) at 1-South Plainfield (14-6, 32.30); 5-Allentown (17-8, 29.20) at 4-Bordentown-Florence (10-10, 28.40); 6-Rahway (12-2, 27.80) at 3-Hopewell Valley (15-4, 30.90); 7-Somerville (12-4, 26.80) at 2-Ocean Township (12-6, 31.10).

Group 2

8-Brearley-Dayton (4-16, 22.80) at 1-Raritan (18-2, 35.70); 5-Delaware Valley (7-9, 26.90) at 4-Bernards (14-4, 27.20); 6-Middlesex-Dunellen (12-8, 26.10) at 3-Robbinsville (16-3, 28.10); 7-Monmouth (3-15, 23.50) at 2-Holmdel (18-5, 28.30).

Group 1

8-Keansburg (6-8, 22.20) at 1-Point Pleasant Beach (20-1, 29.20); 5-Spotswood (8-5, 25.90) at 4-South River (8-5, 25.60); 6-Maple Shade (5-10, 23.50) at 3-New Egypt (10-3, 25.90); 7-Riverside (7-17, 24.90) at 2-Shore Regional (15-4, 27.50).

SOUTH

Group 5

8-Egg Harbor Township (12-7, 27.00) at 1-Southern (14-2, 35.80); 5-Rancocas Valley (20-3, 30.50) at 4-Williamstown (19-1, 31.20); 6-Cherokee (14-6, 30.10) at 3-Toms River North (12-4, 31.20); 7-Eastern (11-4, 29.10) at 2-Kingsway (14-5, 34.10).

Group 4

8-Moorestown (5-12, 25.20) at 1-Cherry Hill West (18-3, 29.00); 5-Pennsauken (10-13, 26.90) at 4-Toms River East (5-8, 26.90); 6-Hammonton (9-11, 26.70) at 3-Highland (10-6, 27.80); 7-Shawnee (8-11, 26.20) at 2-Clearview (7-8, 28.40).

Group 3

8-Timber Creek (6-12, 25.20) at 1-Delsea (10-6, 31.60); 5-Seneca (11-7, 26.20) at 4-Jackson Liberty (9-10, 26.60); 6-Pemberton (9-12, 25.80) at 3-Gateway-Woodbury (15-7, 28.60); 7-Lakewood (9-11, 25.70) at 2-Lacey Township (10-5, 29.40).

Group 2

8-Barnegat (10-8, 26.60) at 1-Point Pleasant Boro (15-1, 32.70); 5-Oakcrest (16-4, 27.90) at 4-Delran (14-7, 28.90); 6-West Deptford (13-11, 27.30) at 3-Cinnaminson (13-4, 28.90); 7-Sterling (11-5, 27.10) at 2-Haddonfield (17-3, 29.80).

Group 1

8-Pitman (12-11, 26.00) at 1-Paulsboro (14-0, 33.70); 5-Collingswood (9-6, 27.50) at 4-Buena (16-4, 28.50); 6-Schalick (15-5, 26.30) at 3-Woodstown (15-8, 29.00); 7-Gloucester City (14-3, 26.20) at 2-Pennsville (17-1, 28.70).

NON-PUBLIC

North A

5-Don Bosco Prep (5-5, 26.20) at 4-Bergen Catholic (7-0, 28.50), winner to meet 1-Delbarton (12-2, 34.30); 6-Paramus Catholic (9-5, 26.00) at 3-St. Peter's Prep (9-4, 31.50), winner to meet 2-Seton Hall Prep (16-0, 33.60).

North B

4-Bishop Ahr (3-13, 23.30) at 1-Pope John (11-1, 33.00); 3-Pingry (4-8, 23.70) at 2-DePaul (6-3, 26.44).

South A

5-Red Bank Catholic (5-8, 23.30) at 4-Paul VI-Haddonfield (8-9, 24.90), winner to meet 1-Camden Catholic (19-2, 31.00); 6-Notre Dame (3-13, 23.80) at 3-St. John Vianney (11-1, 29.30); 7-Christian Brothers Academy (5-12, 22.90) at 2-St. Augustine (13-3, 30.40).

South B

5-St. Rose (0-16, 15.70) at 4-St. Joseph-Hammonton (1-16, 16.50), winner to meet 1-Donovan Catholic (11-8, 26.90); 3-Holy Cross (1-20, 21.30) at 2-Holy Spirit (5-10, 25.10).