Wrestling: Soldano OW; HWS recap, stats, tidbits

Brian Soldano is well past the point of wrestling firsts on the high school level, but the High Point ace enjoyed one on Saturday by dominating the 190-pound class for his first tri-county championship.

Brian Soldano won his first state title in 2020.

Soldano, who logged pins of 20 and 22 seconds in quarterfinal and semifinal victories, added a 19-3 technical fall win over North Hunterdon state medalist Alex Uryniak in the final round to highlight action in the 12th Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament at Phillipsburg High School.

With that impressive effort (though Soldano said it was a bit sloppy) against Uryniak, a seventh-place finisher in last season 's state tournament, Soldano also became the 16th wrestler at High Point (all four years with the program) to reach 100 career victories, while giving the 'Cats back-to-back Outstanding Wrestler Awards (Billy Talmadge, now at Lock Haven, won it in 2020).

"Finally," Soldano said of winning an HWS title after not competing as a freshman and sophomore, and no tournament held in 2021 due to the pandemic. "Getting my 100th win in the finals made it a special moment."

Missing are Billy Talmadge (142), Devon Liebl (108) and Soldano.

Soldano (11-0), who is 100-5 overall, would certainly rank much higher on the career list at High Point, which includes all-time leader Nick Francavilla (156-12 from 2007-11) and head coach John Gardner (131-8-1 from 1986-90), had it not been for COVID-19 and abbreviated schedules. Before going 10-0 in the pandemic-shortened 2021 season, the Rutgers recruit was on pace (79 wins his first two seasons) to finish his career as the all-time leader in Sussex County (Pope John's JoJo Aragona went 158-6 from 2015-19).

With two state titles under his belt, Soldano looks to join Francavilla as the only three-time winners in program history.

"It's special to be part of that group," Soldano said of joining the 100-win club and eventually seeing his name on the banner that hangs on the gymnasium wall in Wantage. "It's something I can show my family and kids one day."

BRIAN SOLDANO WINS HIS 100th MATCH IN THE HWS FINAL.
Congratulations @soldano_brian
It’s a great day to be a wildcat. @HPRwildcats @coachcdexter @RUWrestling #wildcats #wrestling pic.twitter.com/RArFw0E7af

— Andrew Brevot (@hprhs_Andrew) January 8, 2022

Gardner, who was New Jersey's all-time wins leader following the 1989-90 season, has coached every other member of the century club at High Point. Sophia Lombardo also earned the OW Award at last weekend's HWS event for the girls.

"It goes to show how good of a coach he is," Soldano said of Gardner, a 1990 state champion and four-time region winner whose teams are 382-109-2 in his 24 seasons in charge.

'Liner notes

Phillipsburg easily won the HWS team championship -- its tournament-best seventh -- with 264 points and a program-high five champions, followed by Warren Hills (209), Hunterdon Central (146 1/2), North Hunterdon (136) and Pope John (117 1/2).

Winning individual titles for the Stateliners were freshman Gavin Hawk (120) and sophomore Caleb Rivera (175), along with seniors James Day (126), Joey Innamorato (138) and David Pierson (215).  Senior Nate Zastowny, a 2020 winner, was second at 165. Freshman Luke Geleta (132), junior Hunter Cleaver (157) and sophomore John Wargo (285) finished third.

Day (14-2), whose older brother, Cullen, won a title at 106 in 2017, was involved in one of the most entertaining finals, converting a takedown off a scramble with 10 seconds to go for a 4-3 win over Lenape Valley senior Daniel Haws, a 2020 runner-up. Haws, a two-time state qualifier, had previously beaten Day (89-29 overall) twice in this tournament (5-3 in the 2019 quarterfinals at 106 and 12-8 in the 2020 semifinals at 113).

Pierson also exacted some revenge with a 7-1 win over Warren Hills' Jarett Pantuso, who was eighth in the state at 220 last season. They split a pair of meetings in 2021, with Pierson scoring an 8-0 major in the North 2 Super Region final and Pantuso winning a 9-6 decision a week later in the state wrestlebacks.

P'burg went 2-3 against Warren Hills in head-to-head matchups as Rivera scored an 8-6 win over Owen Frizzell in their title bout. The 'Liners lost matchups at 113, 165 and 285. That should only add more fuel for their dual meet on Friday in Washington Township.

Back points

Though this was a much scaled-down version of the HWS Tournament (no wrestlebacks, no fifth-place bouts), it says a lot about how tough it is to win a title as eight seniors won their first championships, including Soldano and Hunterdon Central senior Tanner Peake (157), a sixth-place finisher in last season's state tournament. 

North Hunterdon's Liam Akers, who placed seventh in the state at 285 in 2020, became only the 31st wrestler to win at least two titles by beating Warren Hills state medalist Tyler McCatharn, 1-0, for the second time in 24 hours. Akers scored a 6-0 victory in North's 33-22 win in the dual meet on Friday. 

Hawk wasn't the only freshman to impress as Pope John's Carson Walsh surely received a few OW votes with his title run at 113. Walsh knocked off the Nos. 1, 2 and 4 seeds, including North Hunterdon junior Logan Wadle, a 2020 champion and returning state runner-up, 4-1, in the quarterfinals, and capped his first HWS with a 7-2 decision over Belvidere senior Patrick Horvath.

Warren Hills, which had six finalists for the first time in tourney history, moved up the all-time champs list as seniors Jared Lee (144) and Stephen Malia (165) won their first titles -- snapping the program's two-tournament drought and giving the Blue Streaks multiple champs for the first time since 2013 -- Max Nauta (113), Joe Kratochvil (126) and Andrew Pacheco (285). Hills with 10 overall, leapfrogged Delaware Valley and High Point (nine each). Phillipsburg has the most winners with 30, followed by North Hunterdon (21), Pope John (20), Hunterdon Central (15) and Kittatinny (12), which did not have a champ for the first time since being shut out in 2012 and '13.

Phillipsburg's five champions are a tournament record. The 'Liners, who were shut out in the first event in 2010, have had at least one winner since and produced four in 2014 and '16. Pope John had four golds in 2019.

HWS results

Team standings: Phillipsburg (P) 264; Warren Hills (WH) 209; Hunterdon Central (HC) 146.5; North Hunterdon (NH) 136; Pope John (PJ) 117.5; Kittatinny (K) 110; High Point (HP) 89.5; Delaware Valley (DV) 85; Hackettstown (Ha) 63; Newton (N) 55; Voorhees (V) 52; Sparta (S) 44; Belvidere (B) 38; Lenape Valley (LV) 35.5; Hopatcong (Ho) 25; North Warren (NW) 23; Vernon-Wallkill Valley (VWV) 1.

Championships

106 -- So. Anthony Rossi (12-2), HC, d. So. Aiden Scheeringa (6-2), Ha, 10-6.
113 -- Fr. Carson Walsh (7-2), PJ, d. Sr. Patrick Horvath (6-1), B, 7-2.
120 -- Fr. Gavin Hawk (16-5), P, p. Jr. Roman Citro (6-3), HP, 5:06.
126 -- Sr. James Day (14-2), P, d. Sr. Daniel Haws (6-1), LV, 4-3.
132 -- So. Justin Holly (9-5), PJ, d. Jr. Shawn Redfield (11-2), WH, 7-2.
138 -- Sr. Joey Innamorato (11-5), P, d. So. Logan Wiecoreck (8-4), V, 10-5.
144 -- Sr. Jared Lee (12-1), WH, d. Jr. Thaylor Sibblies (3-1), N, 4-2.
150 -- Sr. Colin Neal (5-3), PJ, p. So. Bryce Coesfeld (14-3), K, 5:52.
157 -- Sr. Tanner Peake (13-3), HC, d. Sr. Steven Dalling (11-3), K, 7-1.
165 -- Sr. Stephen Malia (12-0), WH, d. Sr. Nate Zastowny (5-4), P, 7-3.
175 -- So. Caleb Rivera (11-5), P, d. Sr. Owen Frizzell (10-2), WH, 8-6.
190 -- Sr. Brian Soldano (11-0), HP, tf. Jr. Alex Uryniak (13-2), NH, 19-3.
215 -- Sr. David Pierson (13-3), P, d. Jr. Jarett Pantuso (8-5), WH, 7-1.
285 -- Sr. Liam Akers (12-1), NH, d. Sr. Tyler McCatharn (10-2), WH, 1-0. Outstanding Wrestler Award -- Brian Soldano, High Point.

Third-place consolations

106 -- Fr. Nick Clayton (8-4), HP, md. Jr. Owen Kucharski (9-3), DV, 15-6.
113 -- Sr. Kevin Riedinger (10-2), WH, md. Sr. Miguel Lopez (9-7), P, 9-0.
120 -- Jr. Thomas Dugan (10-2), NW, d. Sr. Ben Makaritis (7-6), NH, 10-2.
126 -- Sr. Shane Nelson (12-2), K, d. So. Nicholas Balella (7-5), Ha, 5-1.
132 -- Fr. Luke Geleta (12-4), P, d. So. Evan Thompson (7-3), HC, 7-5.
138 -- Jr. Daniel Delusant (12-3), NH, p. Fr. Logan Hrenenko (5-6), S, 2:12.
144 -- Sr. Aidan Portnoy (9-4), HC, md. Sr. Mike Mosier (5-4), V, 8-0.
150 -- Sr. Takeo Sibblies (3-1), N, d. Sr. Matt D'Onofrio (8-6), P, 4-3.
157 -- Jr. Hunter Cleaver (11-5), P, p. Sr. Nick Hwang (6-3), S, 3:41.
165 -- So. Thomas Brunnetti (7-3), HC, p. Sr. Noah Sheeley (11-3), DV, 1:54.
175 -- Sr. Michael Mastroeni (8-4), Ho, d. Sr. Vincent Brito (4-5), HC, 5-3.
190 -- Sr. Matt Schneider (9-5), DV, d. Sr. Ryan Galka (9-5), WH, 9-5.
215 -- Jr. Brendan Raley (14-1), NH, p. Jr. Cardin Madry (5-6), PJ, 1:08.
285 -- So. John Wargo (10-5), P, d. Sr. Ty Eldred (13-2), K, 6-2.