Wrestling: Regions 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 by the numbers

The final weekend of this high school wrestling season fast approaches, but before we start focusing on the 86th State Championships in Atlantic City, let's take a look at some of the highlights from the five region tournaments that house teams from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area.

50 -- We have that many wrestlers from the HWS area moving on to this week's state tournament (up two from last year and plus-18 from pre-realignment in 2016), including an area-high seven from Hunterdon Central and Pope John. In all, 22 (up four from last year) advanced out of Region 1, while Region 3 produced four (down eight from last year with the loss of Phillipsburg a factor). Over in Region 5, Hunterdon Central, Delaware Valley and North Hunterdon combined for 15 qualifiers, while Region 4 had seven (down one) between P'burg and Voorhees, leaving two wrestlers from Lenape Valley to come out of Region 2.

Lewis Fernandes with his OW Award. (Courtesy Eric Hall)

17 -- Voorhees senior Lewis Fernandes is among the 17 champions from our area -- winning his second title at 285 pounds and earning the Outstanding Wrestler Award in Region 4 as he continues his bid to become the Vikings' first two-time state champion. High Point freshman Brian Soldano also earned OW honors in winning his first Region 1 title at West Milford. Fernandes, like Soldano, pinned his way through the bracket -- decking Bound Brook senior Jervey Sistrunk, who placed third in the state at heavyweight last season, in the finals in 1:40. Fernandes, who has 102 career pins, had three in a total time of 2:57, as he became the Vikes' 37th champ and the first to repeat since Jadaen Bernstein won three in a row (2011-13). Fernandes is the first heavyweight to win multiple titles for the Hunterdon County school and just the third at that weight class to win a title (Lee Getz (1982) and Thor Beveridge ('84). Junior Josh Rich (106) will join Fernandes in AC after a fourth-place finish.

2,001 -- Fernandes isn't wasting time on the mat this season -- with 32 pins and one technical fall to go with nine forfeits. He has amassed a grand total of 2,001 seconds in his contested bouts or 33 minutes, 21 seconds, including that tech fall against Sistrunk in their first meeting this season on Jan. 25. In this postseason, Fernandes has all pins -- five in a total time of 3:50. For the season, he has 19 falls in less than a minute, including ones of 3, 8, 13 and 15 seconds.

72 -- North Hunterdon ended its three-year title drought as senior Michael Wilson (160) and junior Nathaniel Fossett (170) won their first championships -- Nos. 71 and 72 for the program. The Lions, who made their return to Region 5 following a two-year hiatus in Region 4, are sending a total of five to Atlantic City as sophomore Frank Diesso (113) and senior Connor Robinson (120) both finished third, while junior Ian Gaburo (195) was fourth. Delaware Valley's AJ DeRosa (second at 132), Anthony DeRosa (fourth at 152) and Shawne Ramsby (third at 170) round out the Hunterdon County contingent of qualifiers.

All 14 champions together at R1 in West Milford

4 -- Newton senior Luke Fischer (36-0 at 220 pounds), Pope John senior JoJo Aragona (37-0 at 138), Hunterdon Central sophomore Brett Ungar (37-0 at 106) and Fernandes (42-0 at 285) are the lone unbeaten wrestlers in the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area. Fischer, who said he never expected to be unbeaten heading to AC, won his first title, while Aragona, a three-time state placewinner, became just the second at his school and the fourth in Sussex County history to win four championships with a dominating performance at Region 1. Ungar, another strong contender for a state title, won his second in Region 5 and is 78-2 overall, as he's the first at his school to win in his first two seasons since four-time champion Gary Dinmore (2011-14).

"I don't look at it like I'm the favorite [to win a state title], I just look at myself as another wrestler in the bracket who can do some damage," Aragona said after his finals win on Saturday.

100 -- Ungar and senior Vincent Romaniello (152), who won his first title, raised Hunterdon Central's total of region champs to 100 with their victories in Region 5, which was held at Franklin High School and not in the Red Devils' Field House for only the second time in nearly 50 years. Also advancing to AC for Central are sophomores Colton Washleski (120) and Norman Cella (160), along with seniors Jack Bauer (126), Pasquale Vizzoni (145), Ryan Joyce (285).

Thad Turner and Dave Post at Region 4. (Courtesy of Post)

127 -- Speaking of champions, Phillipsburg now has 127 overall as sophomore Logan Maczko (106) and seniors Kyle Tino (138) and Austin Roth won their first region titles, while Cody Harrison (152) won his second in a row as the Stateliners had at least four champs for just the seventh time and the first since 1999 (Bill Moore, John McRoberts, Jared Frey and Steven Kempinski), as they advanced five out of Region 4, including runner-up Travis Jones (132). Harrison is just the sixth at the Warren County school to win consecutive titles since 2000 -- joining current coach Dave Post (2002-03), Jon Gregory (2005-06), Brandon Paetzell (2013-14), Robert Melise (2016-17) and Brian Meyer (2016-18). Matt Lane won two non-consecutive titles in 2009 and '11, while Paetzell got his third in '16. P'burg, which had a program record six champs in 1989, also got to celebrate the induction of former coach Thad Turner into the Region 4 Hall of Fame. Turner helped turn the Warren County school into a powerhouse as his teams went 98-14-4 over his nine seasons, including going 39-0-1 over his in his final three seasons in 1967-68, 1968-69 and 1969-70.

20 -- Belvidere senior Quinn Melofchik made some noise at Region 3 with a 4-3 win in overtime against Delbarton state placewinner Nicholas Nardone, who beat Melofchik in last year's semifinals at 106, to win the 113-pound title, joining Josh Tresslar (1998) as the school's only champs to win the OW Award. It was the County Seaters' 20th region title overall and first since J.B. Lawson (220) and Ryan Appleby (285) won Region 1 championships at Wallkill Valley in 2013. Melofchik (34-1), who finished seventh in the state last season and is 142-17 overall, is now tied with former Hackettstown ace Alex Carida (142-28 from 2014-18) for the Warren County wins record.

Congratulations to our state qualifiers pic.twitter.com/JJw5Tlrsqu

— Warren Hills Wrestling (@WHR_Wrestling) February 23, 2019

56 -- Warren Hills advanced three wrestlers -- seniors Chris Ostir (145), Nick Galka (220) and Duro Ajayi (285) -- out of Region 3 in West Orange. Ajayi became the Blue Streaks' 56th champion overall -- snapping the program's three-year drought -- and just the fifth heavyweight to win a title -- joining former state champions Dale Baldwin (1969) and Dan Slack (1975-77), along with former state placewinners Jon Slack (2010) and Andrew Pacheco (2014-15) -- third in 2010 and sixth in '14, respectively.

24 -- Sussex County advanced a total of 24 wrestlers to Atlantic City, the most of the three local counties. Newton senior Wyatt McCarthy won his second title at 145 in Region 1, the 10th at his school to repeat and first since Ed Mattice (2008-09). In addition, coach Eric Bollette was named Region 1 Coach of the Year. "It's always nice to get an honor from your peers," Bollette said. Kittatinny junior Zach Mafaro (182) and sophomore Jackson Crawn (195) were third-place finishers in Region 1, while Sparta had junior Cooper Stewart (113), sophomore Spencer Stewart (120) and junior Garrett Stewart (126) all wrestling simultaneously on the three consolation-round mats. In addition to Soldano, freshman Clayton Utter (106), Devon Liebl (113), Devin Flannery (120), Josh Gervey (132) and Billy Talmadge (138) qualified for High Point, along with Newton senior Nick Brigante (170) and Wallkill Valley senior Zachery Dora (285), who finished fourth in becoming his school's first state qualifier since Brian Gallagher (third at 171) in 2011. In Region 2, Lenape Valley's Daniel Haws (106) and James Haws (145) each placed fourth.