Wrestling: 'Big boy' Soldano team 1st; HWS notes

The calendar just flipped to December, but High Point ace Brian Soldano has a March date with high school wrestling destiny.

Soldano, a two-time New Jersey state champion who is set to compete at 190 pounds this season, aims to join former Wildcats star Nick Francavilla (2009-11) as the only wrestlers in program history to win three titles. Newton's Robert McKeeby (1941-43), Harry Lanzi (1946-48), Bill Dolan (1947-49) and Don Frey (1947-49), and Pope John's Mike Frick (1969, '71 and '72), a four-time finalist along with Lanzi and Frey, are the only other three-time winners from Sussex County.

Soldano on the way to his first state title in 2020.

So who is High Point's all-time best? Despite the endorsement from Francavilla (the program's career wins leader with 156 and a four-time state medalist and region champ) and current head coach John Gardner (a 'Cats state champion in 1990 and four-time region winner), Soldano gives the nod to Francavilla, who finished seventh in the state as a freshman in 2008.

"Ever since I got to high school, my goal was to be the best ever at High Point," Soldano said during a phone interview on Wednesday evening following a club practice. "I can't be the best ever because I don't have four state medals. I think Nick is still better than me. But I feel like I've put up a pretty good resume." 

Quite the resume indeed. Soldano is a three-time Super 32 placewinner (third in 2019 and '21, champion in 2020) and a Junior Freestyle All-American (second in 2021) in addition to winning two district and three region titles (there were no districts held in 2021 due to the pandemic). The extremely humble and fun to watch Rutgers recruit, who trains twice a week at Francavilla's Ironhorse facility in Sparta, enters his final high school season at 89-5 overall, as he looks to become the 17th in school history to reach the century mark. 

Soldano would have surely surpassed 100 wins last season had COVID-19 not shortened the slate. He was on a pace to pass both Francavilla and overall county leader JoJo Aragona (158), a 2019 state champion for Pope John, on the all-time Sussex County wins list.

Soldano and the 182-pound placewinners in 2021.

But Soldano, who is 48-1 over the past two seasons, mainly laments missing out on competing with his teammates for a full season last spring, when the season was shortened and pushed back to late March. High Point competed in only five dual meets and was shut down several times due to COVID-19. Soldano only wrestled in two of those duals (Kittatinny and Paramus) out of an abundance of caution.

The ultimate team wrestler, Soldano, with his spot secure in college, even passed up the opportunity to compete as a solo in the rugged Beast of the East Tournament this season, as New Jersey can now split its teams to allow some of the better wrestlers a chance to compete in those bigtime events.

"He didn't want to go without his team," Gardner said. "He's much more a team-first guy than anyone could have imagined."

"I only had two matches with my team last year and that really hurts," said Soldano, who helped lead the 'Cats to a Group 2 state championship in 2020. "It's a little sad in the sense to not have a real high school experience the last two years and not be able to bond with [teammates]. I love to wrestle anybody, anywhere, but there was no reason to have one kid [at the Beast]. Being with the team is something special."

Soldano, who won his previous state titles at 160 and 182 pounds, feels comfortable at 190. Rutgers views him as a 184-pounder next season, should 2021 NCAA All-American and former New Jersey state champ John Poznanski bump up to 197. If Poznanski stays at 184, where he finished fourth in last season's NCAA Division I Tournament, Soldano said he's ready to compete for the starting job or potentially take a redshirt year.

"I'm a big boy now. We think [184] is the best spot for me," Soldano said. "It would have been a stretch to get down to 175 [for the high school season]. I usually walk around at about 200." 

But for now, Soldano has unfinished business on the high school scene -- both individually and with his teammates. High Point, which also returns district champ and three-time state qualifier Clayton Utter (who will compete at either 120 or 126), figures to be the North 1, Group 2 sectional and Group 2 state title favorite. The 'Cats also look forward to renewing the rivalry with Kittatinny on Jan. 14 after a 36-30 loss to the Cougars last season --- which marked longtime coach John Gill's 600th victory.

"Our goal every year is to take it step by step. Win the league, then the section, and then have the chance to be state champs," Soldano said. "We have that [match with Kittatinny] pinpointed."

HWS scene

The 12th Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament is set for Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 -- a bit earlier in the slate than usual -- and will be a welcome sight after last year's event was cancelled due to COVID-19. Phillipsburg, which figures to start the season as Open Mike's No. 1 team in our area rankings, is again the host site. 

How tough is it to win an individual county title? Well, consider that Soldano, a two-time state champ, is 0-for-2 in the event. Of course that's a deceiving stat since Soldano was not entered in 2019 and '20 due to match limits. Will we get to see him in action this time around?

"I'm not even the best [wrestler] in Sussex County," Soldano said jokingly of never winning a title. "It's been pretty good luck not wrestling in it."

Soldano, admittedly superstitious, said he wears the same socks and gear during the season. Will it give him pause to skip a third after winning two state championships without having wrestled in the HWS Tournament? One has to believe he'll be there come Jan. 8.  

Phillipsburg, which features 2020 HWS champion Nate Zastowny and winner of a tournament-best six team championships, looks to be the heavy favorite to reclaim the title after North Hunterdon won its first in 2020 en route to capturing the North 2, Group 4 sectional and state trophies. 

Back points

• Speaking of P'burg, the Stateliners, who are sitting on 998 wins as a program, will now compete in a ridiculously loaded Group 5 -- which also contains Hunterdon Central, Howell, Kingsway and Southern -- as the NJSIAA sectional classifications for 2021-22 were released last month. A site for this year's Group championships has not been determined, but P'burg, which will again host the girls individual state tournament, is a strong candidate to take it away from Toms River North.

Jarett Pantuso is one of 2 returning state placewinners for WH.

• Warren Hills should be in the hunt for its third Group 3 title and the program's first since 1997, as coach Dave Sbriscia returns his entire starting lineup, including state medal winners Jarett Pantuso (eighth at 220) and Tyler McCatharn (sixth at 285). The Blue Streaks open the season in the Battle of the Bay Tournament at Bayonne on Dec. 18, along with Newton. The Blue Streaks will also look forward to the return of the John Goles Invitational on Dec. 28, which does not include North Hunterdon as the Lions opted to compete in the Sam Cali Tournament that week.

• It's a rather interesting slate of dual meets for Warren Hills, which has Raritan, Livingston and Fair Lawn on the slate, but not Hunterdon Central. Streaks AD Mike Jones said the schools don't yet have a mutual date, but let's hope that one gets on the docket. Phillipsburg is back on after a brief hiatus, but Central is the second-longest running series for Warren Hills, which is 13-46-1 overall vs. the Red Devils dating to 1960. Central has won six straight, including a 36-25 win in the the 60th renewal last season.

Central, Phillipsburg, North Hunterdon, Delaware Valley, Voorhees should be automatics on the Warren Hills schedule every season. We need the local rivalries to help sustain fan interest in the sport. It's key to the health of high school wrestling, at least in the HWS area, which has a rich dual meet history unlike the rest of the state.

• High Point, which is not going to the Mustang Classic at Brick Memorial over the holidays for the first time (there was no tournament in 2020) in Gardner's 24 seasons in charge, will instead be at the Sam Cali Tournament on Dec. 27-28. The 'Cats also have a brutal stretch of duals from Jan. 6-14 (Mount Olive, Phillipsburg, Southern and Kittatinny all at home), with the HWS Tournament mixed in as well during that nine-day stretch. 

"I like doing that sequence," said Gardner, who is 381-108-2 overall and has a date to face Group 3 title contender Delsea, along with Hunterdon Central, later in the season. "It's the same as sectionals [week] so that's a good thing. I think it will be a positive. The goal is not to go undefeated in [dual meets], but to be ready when it comes time for Groups."

• There are four new head coaches, though not-so-new faces, among the HWS ranks. Brad Gentzle is the new P'burg boss, while former Jefferson wrestler Dan Trappe has taken over for Frank Battaglia at Sparta. Former assistant Jim Berringer, a standout at Hopatcong on Tom Vara's teams in the late 1990s, succeeds Frank Rodgers at Hackettstown, while over at Pope John, Mark Piotrowsky, a former state runner-up for Jefferson, is back for his second stint in charge of the Lions.

• South Hunterdon has resumed its program after dropping the sport in 2001. The Eagles will compete on the junior varsity level for at least this season under head coach Leigh Hall, a former district champion for Delaware Valley and longtime assistant coach for the Terriers, Voorhees and most recently Hunterdon Central.

• The upper weights in the HWS area may look a bit lighter this season. Peter Deleportas transferred from Pope John to Jefferson and Brycen Mafaro, also a senior, is now at Pope John after winning a district title for Kittatinny in 2020. Football injuries have placed both of their wrestling seasons in question. Deleportas, a star quarterback who is headed to play at Boston College, was injured in the Falcons' sectional final win.