Wrestling: What's on tap (HWS) in '22?; Soldano (3)

It's safe to say that High Point ace Brian Soldano won't enter many tournaments (in and out of season) during his final year of high school as an underdog. Still, you can't blame the biggest favorite in the 88th New Jersey State Championships last weekend for relishing that role.

"Sometimes I do like being the underdog," Soldano said following his pin of Shawnee senior Isaac Dean to win the 182-pound title on Sunday -- his second straight championship and 12th overall for the Wildcats. "Coming in as the top seed is a good feeling that everybody believes you're the best."

Soldano, 10-0 this season and 89-5 overall, has left no doubt about it during the last two campaigns. Ranked among the top three in the nation at his weight class by most polls, he will head to Rutgers University in the fall of 2022. But there's some unfinished business at High Point, where he's already considered as the Sussex County school's all-time best. 

High praise considering that list contains Nick Francavilla (the 'Cats' career wins leader and their only three-time state champion), former state and NCAA Division I champ David Zabriskie and current head coach John Gardner (one of two, along with Francavilla, to win four region titles and the 189-pound state championship in 1990). Francavilla, Gardner and other program legends are in agreement that Soldano stands alone.

"It really means a lot because I really respect what they tell me," said Soldano, who will seek a fourth region title next season and was well on pace to eclipse Francavilla's total of 156 career wins following the 2019-20 campaign. "I just try to stay humble because you never know who may be out there to beat you."

That's a lesson for any young wrestler to take to heart.

HWS tourney

Among the casualties of the shortened 2021 season was the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament, by far the toughest of any such event contested in the state. Next year's tournament, scheduled for Jan. 8, 2022, should be a real good one.

P'burg will once again host the HWS Tournament.

Consider the wealth of talent in the upper weights alone, with returning state medalists Jarett Pantuso (eighth at 220) and Tyler McCatharn (sixth at 285) of Warren Hills; Pope John junior Jack Stoll (sixth at 220), whose brother, Kyle, placed twice for High Point, and North Hunterdon sophomore Alex Uryniak (seventh at 182). And for the heck of it let's throw in two-time state champ Soldano, who has yet to compete in the HWS Tournament at P'burg-- a place he's been well acquainted with over the last few years.

"It was less stressful, like a county tournament setup," said Soldano, who was in attendance for the last two HWS Tournaments in 2019 and '20, of competing at Phillipsburg last weekend in the state tournament.

Will he be on the mat for the HWS Tournament in 2022?

"Maybe," he said somewhat jokingly after his state title victory.

There is the potential to have nine state placewinners (including North Hunterdon junior and 2020 HWS champion Liam Akers who was seventh at 285 in 2020) in next year's field. North Hunterdon sophomore and 2020 HWS champion Logan Wadle (second at 106), Hunterdon Central junior Tanner Peake (sixth at 152) and Kittatinny junior Steve Dalling (eighth at 152) are the others. Dalling was a great story as his father, Steve, put the Cougars on the map with his state titles in 1990 and '91.

Fitt with coaches Ted Sibblies and Eric Bollette.

Akers, Wadle and Stoll, a 2020 runner-up, are the only state placers to make the HWS finals. How tough is this tournament? Consider that two-time medal winner Colton Washleski of Hunterdon Central (sixth in 2020 and fourth at 160 in '21), Newton senior Nathan Fitt (seventh at 126) and Kittatinny senior Jackson Crawn (third at 220 and a 2020 HWS champion) combined to win one HWS title.

Fitt (101-28) is the 11th Newton wrestler to reach the century mark (10 coached by Bollette). Crawn (106-33) also reached that milestone for Kittatinny in the postseason -- they are among 101 to do it in Sussex County overall. High Point's Clayton Utter (73) and Soldano (89) are in line next season to hit 100, along with Phillipsburg's James Day (75), Lenape Valley's Daniel Haws (74), Hunterdon Central's Peake (83) and Warren Hills' McCatharn (68). Hunterdon-Warren has produced 117 wrestlers with at least 100 wins. 

Team strength

You can only wonder what might have been for several HWS area teams regarding sectional and state championships, which were lost due to the pandemic. It's not a stretch to believe that at least seven -- High Point, Kittatinny, Pope John, North Hunterdon, Delaware Valley (very young roster), Hunterdon Central and Warren Hills -- would have won sectional titles or at the very least been in the hunt. Hackettstown also was in the mix in North 2, Group 2.

Hills won the last of its five sectional titles in 2007.

This very well could have been the year for Kittatinny to knock off Paulsboro in Group 1 and Warren Hills looked primed for a run at its third Group 3 title and first since 1997. Central also had a strong chance in Group 5. All three teams should have that opportunity in 2022, especially the Blue Streaks, who had no seniors in the starting lineup this season and return two state placewinners, as well as junior Stephen Malia, a qualifier in 2020.

It's also the first time Hills, which should be one of the area's best teams along with P'burg (14 returning starters) has had two medal winners in a season since 1997 -- Justin Colaluce (first at 145), Shane Folks (third at 135), Ryan Kanewski (fourth at 140) and the late Mitch Markle (third at 171). McCatharn is the school's ninth heavyweight placewinner and first since Andrew Pacheco (sixth in 2014).

A team to watch outside the area in the coming years could be Passaic Tech, which had a sixth-place finisher in Laith Hamdeh (138). The Bulldogs, from what I've been told, have about 90 wrestlers in the program.

Numbers crunch

The North 1 super region led the way with 36 state medals, followed by North 2 (26), South Jersey (28) and Central Jersey (22). N1 had three weights (126, 138 and 220, where all four qualifiers earned medals), while N2 (106) and SJ (145) only had one weight each where that happened. 

Here's the total broken down by traditional regions: R1 (21), R3 and R8 (17), R2 (15), R6 (14), R7 (11) R4 (9) and R5 (8). The Skyland Conference produced eight medals among its 20 schools, with the HWS area collecting seven (Watchung Hills' Blake Bahna was fifth at 160). The HWS numbers (17 schools) by themselves are impressive with 13 medals among eight programs that had at least one qualifier.

You also have to think the results would have looked much different in a traditional season where the wrestlers have to make weight multiple times over districts, regions and states (all three days in AC). With the super regions and states held on one day for selected classes, wrestlers only had to make weight twice in the span of a week. It's highly plausible that, for example, some of the 126-pounders weighing close to 140 by the later rounds.

Here's some astounding stats involving longtime powers Phillipsburg and Paulsboro. The Stateliners did not have a state placewinner for the second straight season -- something that's only happened twice before (1961-62 and 1964-65). In fact, the 'Liners have been shut out five times since 2005 after a run of missing just once (1978) from 1966 through 2004. This was the first season that both P'burg and Paulsboro were held without a medal since 1964. It was a crazy year to say the least when you also factor in that Mercer County didn't have a placewinner for the first time since 2009.

Boresch Duals

The 16th Boresch Duals are set for Jan. 15, 2022.

The highly anticipated and premiere event statewide will take place on Jan. 15, 2002. It appears that Kingsway, the top public school this season, and Paulsboro will not be back due to conflicts with the Escape the Rock Tournament held on the same date. Normally, the Boresch Duals take place on the first Saturday in January, but that's New Year's Day and the HWS Tournament is slated for Jan. 8. North Hunterdon is also sorting out its schedule, but South Plainfield, Toms River North, Caldwell and Hanover Park have already committed to attending in '22. The 2020 event featured the Group 1 (Paulsboro) and Group 4 (North Hunterdon) champions and runners-up in Group 4 (Kingsway) and Group 2 (South Plainfield).