Wrestling: State powers set for Boresch Duals

Several of New Jersey's top teams are once again slated to compete in the 14th annual Henry Boresch Duals at Newton High School on Saturday, Jan. 5.

The Duals setup at Henry Boresch Memorial Gym.

Paulsboro, which won last year's title in the perennial Group 1 champion's first appearance with a 48-20 victory over Hanover Park, drew the No. 1 seed for this year's event. South Plainfield, a four-time Boresch Duals winner and the reigning Group 3 champion, is the No. 2 seed.

"It's a heckuva tournament," said Newton coach Eric Bollette, whose teams have won the Duals four times. "It's a tough field. There will be some good bouts."

Hanover Park, coached by former Kittatinny standout Tyler Branham, is the No. 5 seed and will take on newcomer Toms River North, the No. 4 seed, in the opening round. Paulsboro is set to face No. 8 Caldwell on the adjacent mat at 9 a.m.

Kingsway, the No. 3 seed and Group 4 challenger, will take on No. 6 Newton, while South Plainfield squares off against No. 7 Cranford in the second session at approximately 10:30 a.m.

"We've got a lot of counties covered -- Sussex, Morris, Union, Middlesex," Bollette said. "We have teams from the Shore [Conference] and South Jersey."

In all there are nine state medal winners in the field, including returning state champion Joey Olivieri (126) and three-time placewinner Nick Raimo (132), who won a state title in 2017 and has finished second (2016) and third ('18) for Hanover Park.

South Plainfield features Luke Niemeyer (fifth at 195) and Zach Delvecchio (fourth at 220 in '17 and seventh in '16) up top, while Paulsboro is led by George Worthy (fifth at 152), Brandon Green (seventh at 170) and Santino Morina (fifth at 182). The other state placers are Kingsway's McKenzie Bell (seventh at 113), now at 120, and Newton's Wyatt McCarthy (seventh at 145), who is competing at 152.

Cost is $8 for adults and $5 for students.

Here is the schedule (All times approximate as a new round will begin following the completion of the previous session):

Quarterfinals, 9 a.m.

1-Paulsboro vs. 8-Caldwell
4-Toms River North at 5-Hanover Park

Quarterfinals, 10:30 a.m.

3-Kingsway vs. 6-Newton
2-South Plainfield vs. 7-Cranford

Wrestleback semifinals, noon

Paulsboro-Caldwell loser vs. Hanover Park-Toms River North loser
Kingsway-Newton loser vs. South Plainfield-Cranford loser

Semifinals, 1:30 p.m.

Paulsboro-Caldwell winner vs. Hanover Park-Toms River North winner
Kingsway-Newton winner vs. South Plainfield-Cranford winner

Consolation round, 3 p.m.

Fifth- and seventh-place matches.

Championship round, 4:30 p.m.

First- and third-place matches.

Memory lane of champions

2006 -- Don Bosco 50, Haddonfield 24

2007 -- Newton 54, Pequannock 9

2008 -- Newton 36, Haddonfield 31

2009 -- Newton 43, Haddonfield 18

2010 -- Newton 34, Don Bosco 32

2011 -- Raritan 41, Newton 24

2012 -- South Plainfield 47, Raritan 18

2013 -- South Plainfield 62, Raritan 8

2014 -- Hanover Park 35, Raritan 29

2015 -- Howell 40, South Plainfield 15

2016 -- South Plainfield 45, Howell 20

2017 -- South Plainfield 43, Hanover Park 23

2018 -- Paulsboro 48, Hanover Park 20