Wrestling: P'burg loses Region 4 bid, keeps HWS

Common sense does prevail in some cases after all.

Phillipsburg High School, which was recently turned down in its bid to host the Region 4 Tournament in 2019, will again host the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament this season, pending a switch of dates with its scheduled basketball event against Easton (Pa.) on Saturday, Jan. 12.

North Warren athletic director John Simonetti confirmed that P'burg was approved to be this year's site during Tuesday's HWS ADs meeting. Hopatcong, which had been a co-host in previous years, was tentatively scheduled to host this season, but concerns over facility size prompted a change.

Phillipsburg, which has a superior gym and did a superb job as first-time host in 2018, may very well become the event's permanent home. But some ADs in Sussex, many of whom have never been to a tournament and were not in attendance last year at P'burg, had pointed to HWS bylaws that events must rotate every year.

It's something they are now reconsidering across the board. Many coaches, fans and media members, as well as some of the nine Sussex County ADs, feel that superior venue should take precedent.

"It makes no sense," High Point athletic director Todd Van Orden, who also serves on the four-person HWS executive committee, said earlier this summer. "It's foolish not to keep it at Phillipsburg. I've voiced my opinion on it."

Phillipsburg's setup for the early rounds of the 2018 HWS Tournament.

Hunterdon Central and Hopatcong had originally shared hosting duties when tournament debuted in 2010. Prior to that, Central was the lone site of the former Hunterdon-Warren Tournament. Central last hosted in 2016, and deferred to P'burg when its spacious gym opened for the 2016-17 school year.

Hunterdon Central also lost the Region 5 Tournament, which had been held at the school's spacious Field House for nearly six decades. That tournament will be held at Franklin High School for the first time this season. Central also was the longtime host for District 17, but gave up that event in order to host the region when statewide realignment was introduced for the 2016-17 season.

"It was a big money-maker for us," said Central coach Jon Cantagallo-Rohm, who said the school sent a profit of $9,000 to the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association this past season. "Now we're scrambling. We also made a ton of money on concessions. Because they announced district sites first [in August], we didn't get a chance to put in for districts."

P'burg, which will host the District 13 Tournament this season, was unsuccessful in its bid to pry the Region 4 Tournament away from longtime host Union. Stateliners coach Dave Post said his school had made an appealing and cost-friendly proposal to the NJSIAA, which requested that the Warren County school submit paperwork a second time for a chance to host Region 4 shortly after district sites were announced. The 'Liners had previously been housed in District 9 and Region 3 the past two seasons, but the every-two-year realignment shifted things across the state for 2018-19 and 2019-20.

"I know in my heart that we have the best facility to host regions and would have run the best tournament in the state," Post said.

Many coaches across Sussex County were in favor of keeping HWS at Phillipsburg, including longtime Kittatinny coach John Gill.

"I don't have a problem with Phillipsburg being a permanent site," said Gill, whose team will travel to P'burg for its annual dual meet with the Stateliners in January. "They have the nicest facility around. [Last year's event] was well done."

Phillipsburg's new mat for dual meets this season. (Courtesy of Dave Post)

Hopatcong last hosted HWS in '17. Under former AD Tom Vara, the event was a two-day format and was well received by all three counties. Vara retired in 2014 and the school opted to run a one-day tournament two years ago for the first time with Chris Buglovsky as AD. But using two gyms, along with the lack of room in and outside the facility, makes it less than ideal now that there's a superior option. Phillipsburg can put six mats down -- including a new foam mat -- with plenty of room to roam and the space to facilitate faster weigh-ins for the wrestlers, while accommodating fans in the cafeteria and in the bleachers. A second gym needed to be used at Hopatcong and it was standing room only.

Newton coach Eric Bollette also strongly agreed with Gill that HWS should remain at Phillipsburg.

"The facilities are second to none and the gym is incredible," said Bollette, who brought his team to P'burg for a dual meet prior to the HWS Tournament last season. "Plenty of locker rooms and a great atmosphere. Hopatcong and Hunterdon Central have done a great job in the times they have hosted the tournament, but as this tournament continues to grow, the only place that can comfortably hold the HWS is Phillipsburg."