Wrestling: Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex preview, info

What: 10th annual Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament.

Where: Phillipsburg High School, Lopatcong Township.

Saturday's schedule (approximate times): Preliminaries and pre-quarterfinals (six mats), 9 a.m.; quarterfinals and pre-quarterfinal losers (six mats), 11 a.m.; semifinals and consolations (4 mats), 1:30 p.m.; championships, third-place and fifth-place bouts (3 mats), 4 p.m.

Live feed (semis and finals): Stateliner Sports.

Teams: Belvidere, Delaware Valley, Hackettstown, High Point, Hopatcong, Hunterdon Central, Kittatinny, Lenape Valley, Newton, North Hunterdon, North Warren, Phillipsburg, Pope John, Sparta, Vernon, Voorhees, Wallkill Valley, Warren Hills.

Returning champions (6, this season's weights): So. Brett Ungar, Hunterdon Central (106); Jr. Eddie Ventresca, Pope John (120); Sr. Travis Jones, Phillipsburg (132); Sr. JoJo Aragona, Pope John (138); Sr. Zach Mafaro, Kittatinny (182, 2016); Sr. Lewis Fernandes, Voorhees (285).

Returning placewinners (32, this season's weights): Sr. Quinn Melofchik, Belvidere (second, 113); Jr. Cooper Stewart, Sparta (third, 113); Jr. Devon Liebl, High Point (fifth, 113); Sr. Connor Robinson, North Hunterdon (fourth, 120); Sr. Aidan Taylor, Voorhees (fourth, 120); So. Colton Washleski, Hunterdon Central (fifth, 120); So. Spencer Stewart, Sparta (fifth, 120); Jr. Garrett Stewart, Sparta (fifth, 126); So. JoJo Lotruglio, Newton (sixth, 126); So. Patrick Franco, Kittatinny (sixth, 126); Jr. Kaya Sement, Pope John (second, 132); Jr. Zac Creeden, Wallkill Valley (third, 132); Sr. Nile Mattar, Kittatinny (sixth, 132); Jr. Gage Crater, Delaware Valley (fourth, 132); Sr. A.J. DeRosa, Delaware Valley (second, 132); Jr. Anthony Romaniello, Hunterdon Central (sixth, 138); Jr. Eric Falleni, Lenape Valley (sixth, 138); Sr. Vincent Romaniello, Hunterdon Central (fourth, 145); Sr. Kyle Tino, Phillipsburg (third, 145); Jr. Matthew Garcia, Pope John (fifth, 145); Sr. Wyatt McCarthy, Newton (second, 152); Sr. Michael Wilson, North Hunterdon (fourth, 160); Jr. Connor Fritsch, Pope John (sixth, 160); Sr. Dan Furmato, Hunterdon Central (second, 170); Jr. Nathaniel Fossett, North Hunterdon (fifth, 170); Sr. Matt Brandner, Voorhees (sixth, 170); Sr. Austin Roth, Phillipsburg (sixth, 195); Sr. Luke Fischer, Newton (third, 220); Jr. Jacob Mafaro, Kittatinny (third, 220); Sr. Nick Galka, Warren Hills (fifth, 220); Sr. Duro Ajayi, Warren Hills (fourth, 285); Sr. Ryan Joyce, Hunterdon Central (sixth, 285).

Other past placewinners: Sr. Jack Bauer, Hunterdon Central (third-2017, 126); Sr. Hunter Rinehart, Voorhees (sixth-2017, 126); Jr. Evan Klimas, North Hunterdon (sixth-2017, 138); Jr. Ben Lilly, North Warren (sixth-2017, 138); Sr. Cody Harrison, Phillipsburg (second-2016, 152); Sr. Louis Montana, Pope John (sixth-2017, 285).

P'burg leads the field with five team titles (2011-15). (Photo/Dave Post)

Notes: Official seeds and pairings will be released Friday evening. Unfortunately, this tournament has become more about who isn't wrestling in recent years due to injuries and match limits. Belvidere, Kittatinny, P'burg, Pope John, the two-time defending team champion, and Voorhees are the only schools with 14 entries. High Point, which figured to contend for several individual titles and the program's second team championship (winning in 2010), has entered only 12 wrestlers, including five backups. Missing for the 'Cats are senior Devin Flannery (fifth-2017, 120), senior Brandon LaRue, High Point (second-2018, 126), junior Billy Talmadge, High Point (third-2018, 138), along with talented freshmen Clayton Utter (106) and Brian Soldano (160). LaRue, a returning state placewinner, and Soldano would have been title favorites. ... Several wrestlers are out with injuries, including Newton senior Matthew Rosa (fourth-2018, 132); Hunterdon Central senior Pasquale Vizzoni (sixth-2018, 145), another title contender, along with Pope John senior Robbie Garcia (152), a three-time county runner-up. ... Belvidere senior Quinn Melofchik (9-0, 113), a returning state placewinner and runner-up at 106 last year, is looking to become the County Seaters' fourth HWS champion and first since Jesse Thorsen (145) and J.B. Lawson (220) won titles in 2013. Dylan Thorsen, Jesse's older brother, was the school's first winner at 132 pounds in 2012. ... Pope John ace JoJo Aragona (138), a three-time state medal winner and the school's all-time wins leader at 135-6 overall, is also looking to make HWS history as the only wrestler to win four titles. Four others have won three -- Voorhees' Jadaen Bernstein (2011-13), North Hunterdon's Ryan Pomrinca (2013-15), Kittatinny's Nick Klinger (2014-16) and Pope John's Jake Rotunda (2016-18) -- as Pope John junior Eddie Ventresca (120) looks to join that exclusive list. Voorhees senior Lewis Fernandes (18-0), a returning state champion and last year's HWS winner at 220, can become the second at his school to win more than one county title and the Vikes' eighth champ overall. ... Phillipsburg senior Travis Jones (13-2) is looking to become the sixth two-time winner for the Stateliners, who have crowned a tournament-record 21 champions overall. Delaware Valley senior A.J. DeRosa (13-0), a returning runner-up,  may have something to say about that as he dropped to 132 for the first time this season, while Pope John junior Kaya Sement, who was pinned by Jones in last year's finals, is also at this weight, along with Hunterdon Central freshman Tanner Peake. ... Everyone should be looking forward to a potential finals showdown at 152 pounds between Phillipsburg senior Cody Harrison (12-1) and Newton senior Wyatt McCarthy (12-1) in a rematch of returning state placewinners. Harrison scored a 6-3 win when they met in a dual meet on Dec. 22. Both are looking for their first HWS titles. ... There are several deep weights, including 106, where Hunterdon Central sophomore Brett Ungar (12-0), a sixth-place finisher in the state tournament last season, seeks to repeat. Keep an eye on Newton sophomore Nathan Fitt, Pope John sophomore Shane Percelay and Phillipsburg freshman James Day. ... Without LaRue at a deep 126-pound class, senior Garrett Stewart becomes a favorite as he bids to become Sparta's third HWS champion -- joining Gavin Lally (2015) and Robert Gennat (2018). Hunterdon Central senior Jack Bauer (126), who has 98 career wins, and Harrison (97) can hit the century mark on Saturday.

Championship picks

106 -- Brett Ungar, Hunterdon Central
113 -- Quinn Melofchik, Belvidere
120 -- Eddie Ventresca, Pope John
126 -- Garrett Stewart, Sparta
132 -- Travis Jones, Phillipsburg
138 -- JoJo Aragona, Pope John
145 -- Vincent Romaniello, Hunterdon Central
152 -- Cody Harrison, Phillipsburg
160 -- Michael Wilson, North Hunterdon
170 -- Nathaniel Fossett, North Hunterdon
182 -- Zach Mafaro, Kittatinny
195 -- Austin Roth, Phillipsburg
220 -- Luke Fischer, Newton
285 -- Lewis Fernandes, Voorhees

Team champion: Hunterdon Central.