Wrestling: NH set for dual action at Boresch, Patriot

The high school season just ended three weeks ago, but North Hunterdon is already gearing up for 2019-20.

Newton will host the Boresch Duals on Jan. 4, 2020.

Coach Chris Hrunka has been busy crafting next season's schedule and the Lions, who should again be among New Jersey's top teams, are slated to compete in the rugged Boresch Duals at Newton on Jan. 4, 2020 and they'll appear in the return of the Patriot Duals at North Warren on Jan. 25.

North Hunterdon (20-3), which finished second to Phillipsburg in the Skyland Conference Raritan Division and the North 2, Group 4 sectional final, will return 10 starters, including state qualifiers Frank Diesso (34-8 at 113), Nathaniel Fossett (27-5 at 170) and Ian Gaburo (25-12 at 195), along with Connor Quinn (20-13 at 120-126), Drew Doscher (21-12 at 132), Evan Klimas (27-11 at 138) and James Holder (22-10 at 170-182).

Hrunka also confirmed that next season's schedule will include a dual on Dec. 30 against Brick Memorial, which returns four state qualifiers, including third-place finisher Vincent Santaniello (113), along with the usual staples -- Phillipsburg (Jan. 15), Delaware Valley (Jan. 28), Hunterdon Central (Jan. 31) and Voorhees.

Newton coach Eric Bollette said his Boresch Duals had one opening when Cranford opted out of next year's eight-team event, which has become the state's premiere dual tournament. Three of the five public school state champions competed last season in two-time defending Boresch Duals champ Paulsboro (Group 1), Kingsway (Group 4) and South Plainfield (Group 2). All three teams have agreed to return in 2020, along with Hanover Park, Toms River North and Caldwell.

North Hunterdon was looking to keep a dual meet against Newton, which pulled out of a quad at North Warren that included the Lions and Westfield last season. That quad has morphed into the Patriot Duals for next season, but the Braves declined an invitation with the addition of High Point since both compete against one another in the NJAC Freedom Division and in North 1, Group 2.

Patriot Duals

North Warren showed marked improvement as 2018-19 went on under rookie coach Kellen Bradley, who is looking to take that next step in his second season -- starting with beefing up the schedule.

Bradley immediately began to bring back the once popular Patriot Duals, which were started under former coach Jim Lehman in the mid-1990s, and abruptly ended following the 2015-16 season. After a three-year hiatus, the tournament is back in full force with High Point, North Hunterdon and Warren Hills in the mix, along with Group 3 champion West Essex, Westfield, Bound Brook and Morris Hills, which is coached by former Kittatinny standout Brian Bollette.

High Point and NH should be the top seeds at the Patriot Duals.

"Over the years it's been pretty good," Bradley said. "When it started, North Warren won it a few years, then it started to be pretty competitive. We're looking to make wrestling more of an event at North Warren. We're trying to do that in different ways."

A dual tournament featuring some of the top teams in the state and Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area is a good place to start. Bradley also dislikes the idea of non-competitive quads, and it seems more of the area coaches are starting to get on board with having more single duals or high-profile events.

"It will be fan friendly," Bradley said of the duals schedule. "My plan is to move it along, maybe stick to set times for the first two rounds. Once things get rolling, to be fair to the teams [that have long commutes], keep it moving. There are six rounds to get in so it's a pretty long day."

North Warren is looking to recapture some of the success it enjoyed under current assistant Chris Jones' tenure as head coach, when the program won its only sectional titles back-to-back in 2006-07. The Patriots took a good first step this past season, finishing 12-11 and reaching the North 1, Group 1 semifinals -- dropping a respectable 45-27 decision to Group 1 runner-up Kittatinny.

"Overall, I was left with a pretty good feeling," said Bradley, who lauded former North Warren wrestlers Nick Barzano and Matt Ritchie for their work as youth coaches and getting the numbers up down below with over 50 kids in the K-6 program. "We expected to be at or right around .500. I'm happy with the way the kids responded. They improved in a lot of areas throughout the year. Our schedule was much tougher than the year before, so maybe the kids didn't notice the improvement as much, but it doesn't go unnoticed by [the coaches]."

The Patriots return 10 starters next season, including junior Ben Lilly (15-13 at 138), who finished fourth in the district but gained entry to the Region 1 Tournament via an injury, and HWS runner-up Rob Fletcher (22-12 at 160).

Back points

Jewel Gonzalez is presented with the OW Award in AC.

There was lots of talk before, during and after the inaugural girls state championships, and some changes may be in the works for next season's tournament, which will be held on March 5-7 at Boardwalk Hall in 2020.

It's already been agreed that the boys semifinals need to run side-by-side on the center two mats with the girls semis to be held during a separate session. Crisscrossing the boys semis this past season was not a popular choice, while having both awards presentations at the same time made the boys finals drag on and the girls having to wait for hours to get their medals. Having separate sessions for the girls and doing their awards earlier is the way to go.

Phillipsburg junior Jewel Gonzalez, who won Warren County's first title at 161 pounds and earned the Outstanding Wrestler Award, was recently honored for her milestone victory by the town, which gave her an escort back into P'burg on the night she won.

Another new addition for next season is a Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament for the girls to be held on Dec. 29 at High Point Regional High School. The 11th annual boys event is set for Jan. 11 at Phillipsburg.

Some changes on the boys side were recently discussed during a meeting of the region presidents, including implementing the college four-point nearfall and wrestlebacks for the district tournaments, which was nixed. I'm not a big fan of either, but wrestlebacks for districts is totally unnecessary. It's hard to believe that there are a lot of No. 6 seeds who could come back for third. Plus, adding those extra rounds to two-mat venues would most likely necessitate a two-day tournament, something that coaches who want one-day events, especially with the travel involved under this moronic realignment, would not be happy about.

The need for wrestlebacks at the region level is understandable, though I can do without that fifth-place bout and those endless consolation rounds in holiday tournaments that constrain match limits so much that wrestlers are forced to sit out the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament.