Wrestling: North claims title before victory over Hills

CLINTON TWP. -- North Hunterdon senior Evan Klimas and his teammates were just happy to be back in dual-meet action after an extended layoff. The added bonus was picking up a pair of victories and the program's first conference title in 25 years in the process.

The Lions didn't seem to skip a beat as they secured the Skyland Conference Raritan Division championship with a 69-7 rout over Montgomery and capped the tri-meet with a 58-10 waxing of Warren Hills in a cross-divisional matchup on Wednesday night in the Lions Den.

"It was a good day," said third-year North coach Chris Hrunka, whose team had a week off between its celebrated 30-24 win at Phillipsburg on Jan. 15, as snow cancelled a scheduled trip to South Jersey for a quad meet this past Saturday. "Things felt a little sluggish at practice before they picked it up the last couple of days. It was a little too long of a time off. You can get lazy and forget what we're working for."

North hopes to add a few more title years this season.

North Hunterdon (11-0), ranked No. 4 in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20, claimed the program's fourth division title and first since the 1994-95 season and continued its mastery over Warren Hills (11-4), which shares the Valley Division lead with Delaware Valley and had opened its day with a 59-13 victory against Montgomery in the middle session.

"It's always nice to put something on a banner," Hrunka said. "You don't always get those opportunities. We're in a tough conference. We won't take it for granted."

Klimas (16-2), one of five starting seniors for the Lions who used a cradle to earn a first-period pin of Reese Manfredi at 145 pounds, knows a little something about the North Hunterdon-Warren Hills rivalry, which dates to 1957. Klimas' father, Steve, wrestled for the Blue Streaks and was a senior on the 1988-89 team that was ranked No. 2 in New Jersey. Evan Klimas came up through the Washington Y youth program before moving into the North school district prior to seventh grade.

"I grew up with a lot of these guys and wrestled with them," said Evan, who gained some bragging rights at home with that win over P'burg as his father's teams went 0-5 against the Stateliners, including a 33-21 loss in the 1989 North 2, Group 3 sectional final. "We always go into a match to do our jobs as a team and push to achieve our goals."

North certainly did just that as it won 23 of the 28 bouts (six pins and a major in the nightcap) contested overall, while improving to 40-22 all-time in the series against Warren Hills. The Blue Streaks, who have been dealing with injuries all season, were missing sophomore Tyler McCatharn (285) due to illness. Things also ended on a sour note as senior Greg Slivka was forced to default after one period in the final bout against Lions junior Frank DiEsso at 120.

Second-year coach Dave Sbriscia has several wrestlers who are up against their 30-match limits so he took the opportunity to sit several starters against North, which jumped out to a 16-3 lead after Klimas' pin in the fourth bout. Warren Hills sophomore Stephen Malia continued to impress as he dominated Kyle Anderson for a 10-2 major at 152, while senior Nick Hildebrant scored a 5-1 decision over Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament runner-up James Holder at 170.

Freshman Alex Uryniak and senior Nate Fossett, two anchors for North's tough upper weights, stretched the lead to 34-10 with back-to-back pins at 182 and 195, before junior reserve Andrew Franklin iced the match with a 6-1 win at 220.

Down 3-0, after one bout, junior Connor Quinn gave North the lead for good when he converted two third-period takedowns for a 9-1 major of Logan Nauta at 132. Quinn (13-5) broke it open with three back points off a bar in the second period en route to his third win over Nauta this season, along with decisions of 8-3 and 7-3 in the John Goles Invitational and HWS Tournament.

North will compete in the Patriot Duals on Saturday.

Hrunka also had the chance to get some of his backups into the varsity lineup, as he used only five starters against Montgomery. The former district champion for Warren Hills is now 3-0 overall against his alma mater.

"I loved my time at Warren Hills and those guys are good coaches over there," said Hrunka, now 2-0 vs. Sbriscia, his former teammate. "It's definitely nice to be on the winning side. It was nice to test some of our guys against quality kids. I thought it was a good match back for us."

Both teams are gearing up for the rugged Patriot Duals at North Warren on Saturday, featuring three teams ranked in the NJWWA Top 20, including No. 11 High Point at No. 18 West Essex.

North Hunterdon, the top seed, will open against No. 8 Morris Catholic before an anticipated semifinals clash with West Essex. No. 3 seed Warren Hills squares off with No. 6 Westfield in the opening round, while High Point is the No. 2 seed.

"We have a big weekend," said Klimas, a two-time region qualifier and three-time HWS placewinner who is headed to Bucknell University in the fall. "We could see High Point. It would be a good match with them."

NORTH HUNTERDON 58, WARREN HILLS 10
126 -- So. Jared Lee (16-8), WH, d. Fr. Daniel Delusant (8-9), 3-0.
132 -- Jr. Connor Quinn (13-5), NH, md. Sr. Logan Nauta (16-6), 9-1.
138 -- Sr. Drew Doscher (12-3), NH, p. So. Max Pagano (3-4), 1:28.
145 -- Sr. Evan Klimas (16-2), NH, p. Jr. Reese Manfredi (4-9), 1:14.
152 -- So. Stephen Malia (19-4), WH, md. Sr. Kyle Anderson (9-6), 10-2.
160 -- So. William Cole (12-5), NH, p. So. Caden Crawford (3-7), 2:24.
170 -- Sr. Nick Hildebrant (10-5), WH, d. Jr. James Holder (14-5), 5-1.
182 -- Fr. Alex Uryniak (13-3), NH, p. Jr. Brandon Riggs (3-14), 1:24.
195 -- Sr. Nate Fossett (16-2), NH, p. So. Michael Galka (9-7), :56.
220 -- Jr. Andrew Franklin (7-1), NH, d. Jr. Logan Polcari (11-8), 6-1.
285 -- So. Liam Akers (17-2), NH, forfeit.
106 -- Fr. Logan Wadle (18-2), NH, d. Fr. Kevin Riedinger (6-15), 8-3.
113 -- So. Nick DeLorenzo (11-7), NH, p. Fr. Ryan Lundy (2-4), 1:38.
120 -- Jr. Frank DiEsso (16-3), NH, injury, Sr. Greg Slivka (15-6), 2:00.
Records -- Warren Hills 11-4; North Hunterdon 11-0.
Official -- Frank Leitner.

WARREN HILLS 59, MONTGOMERY 13
120 -- Sr. Greg Slivka (15-5), WH, p. Sr. Jared Segota (9-3), 1:31.
126 -- Fr. Michael Drazek (1-1), WH, tf. So. Edward Cunningham (4-12), 15-0, 4:56.
132 -- So. Max Pagano (3-3), WH, d. So. Gabe Rohmeyer (8-7), 6-4.
138 -- Sr. Geir Nemeth (16-6), WH, p. So. Yousef Hamad (6-10), :31.
145 -- Jr. Reese Manfredi (4-8), WH, p. So. Sean Golubitsky (5-7), 1:59.
152 -- So. Caden Crawford (3-6), WH, p. Fr. Elhadji Diara (2-5), 1:02.
160 -- Jr. Alex Abrahamsen (10-1), M, d. Fr. Luke Dugan (0-2), 10-5.
170 -- Sr. Nick Hildebrant (9-5), WH, p. Jr. Alex Ipeker (13-5), 3:15.
182 -- So. Ryan Galka (1-0), WH, p. Fr. Eddie Qian (1-8), :21.
195 -- So. Michael Galka (9-6), WH, forfeit.
220 -- Jr. Logan Polcari (11-7), WH, forfeit.
285 -- Jr. Jarod Chamberlain (5-5), M, forfeit.
106 -- Fr. Kevin Riedinger (6-14), WH, d. So. Ty Greenberg (11-7), 7-2.
113 -- So. Luke Greenberg (11-7), M, md. Fr. Ryan Lundy (2-3), 8-0.
Records -- Warren Hills 11-3; Montgomery 4-5.
Official -- Joe Benvenuto.

NORTH HUNTERDON 69, MONTGOMERY 7
113 -- So. Nick DeLorenzo (10-7), NH, p. So. Luke Greenberg (10-7), 3:45.
120 -- Sr. Jared Segota (9-2), M, md. So. Ian Hewitt (2-1), 10-0.
126 -- Fr. Daniel Delusant (8-8), NH, p. So. Edward Cunningham (4-11), :54.
132 -- Jr. Connor McGeary (4-5), NH, p. So. Gabe Rohmeyer (8-6), 1:37.
138 -- So. Aaron Wysocki (2-1), NH, p. So. Yousef Hamad (6-9), 1:47.
145 -- Fr. Brendan Raleyh (2-1), NH, p. So. Sean Golubitsky (5-6), 1:28.
152 -- So. Luke Yager (4-1), NH, p. Fr. Elhadji Diara (2-4), 1:20.
160 -- Jr. Alex Abrahamsen (9-1), M, d. So. William Cole (11-5), 7-6.
170 -- Jr. James Holder (14-4), NH, p. Jr. Alex Ipeker (13-4), 1:15.
182 -- Jr. Ethan Akers (3-0), NH, p. Fr. Eddie Qian (1-7), 1:54.
195 -- So. Kyle Schultz (6-3), NH, forfeit.
220 -- Jr. Andrew Franklin (6-1), NH, forfeit.
285 -- So. Liam Akers (16-2), NH, forfeit.
106 -- So. Ben Makaritis (3-3), NH, d. So. Ty Greenberg (11-6), 9-4.
Records -- North Hunterdon 10-0, 4-0; Montgomery 4-4, 0-2.
Official -- Joe Benvenuto.