Wrestling: NH (4) leads at quarter pole; HWS notes

It was a tough opening day all-around for the Hunterdon-Warren Sussex area, but the upper weights saved the evening, as North Hunterdon pushed an area-best four into the quarterfinals in the 89th New Jersey State Wrestling Championships on Thursday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

HWS put 11 wrestlers into the quarterfinals.

Also leading the charge was two-time High Point state champion Brian Soldano, who added two more pins to advance to the Round of 8 at 190 pounds. In all, 11 from the HWS area stayed in contention for gold medals, including North Hunterdon juniors Logan Wadle (106), Alex Uryniak (190) and Brendan Raley (215) and senior Liam Akers (285) to give the Lions a perfect 4-for-4 second round after going 4-3 in the prelims. 

Phillipsburg has two in the quarters with freshman Gavin Hawk (120) and senior David Pierson (215), while Pope John freshman Carson Walsh (113) and senior Jack Stoll (215) were among three from Sussex County, along with Soldano, to win in the Round of 16. 

Warren Hills senior Tyler McCatharn (285) and Hunterdon Central senior Tanner Peake (157) round out the local contingent in Friday's quarters, which are scheduled to begin at approximately noon. The area, which hasn't had fewer than 10 quarterfinalists since nine in 2015 (the 2021 states at P'burg aren't factored in since it was a reduced field due to the pandemic), had just four pre-quarterfinal winners through 11 weights before seven came through in the final three. There are 38 locals who will be competing in the wrestlebacks starting at 9 a.m. on Friday.

HWS went 21-28 in the first round and 11-10 in the pre-quarters.

Lion pride

Wadle (29-6), a Region 4 champion and 2021 state runner-up at 106, opened his day with a 14-1 major of Hackettstown's Aiden Scheeringa in the prelims, followed by a 9-5 win over Shawnee's Luke Sherlock. Wadle, who surrendered the first points in that one on a takedown, looks to become North's first repeat finalist since two-time heavyweight runner-up Jack Delia (2010-11). The No. 2 seed will next face West Milford's Benjamin Marchetto (39-3), a Region 1 runner-up and the No. 10 seed.

Uryniak (far left) improved to 73-13 overall.

Uryniak (33-3), a No. 3 seed who finished seventh in the state at 182 pounds in 2021, kept rolling with a first-period pin in his opener, followed by a workmanlike 7-2 decision (three takedowns) over Don Bosco's Kai Argyros. He will next face North Bergen's Joshua Palacio (33-2) in the quarters.

Raley (37-2), whose only losses this season are to Pierson, reached the quarters for the first time in his career with a 14-10 victory over St. Joseph-Montvale's Aidan Schlett. Raley will take on Bergen Catholic's AJ Fricchione (26-7), the No. 3 seed and a 2021 runner-up, in the Round of 8.

Akers (37-1), who didn't medal last season at 285 after a seventh-place finish in 2020, advanced with two pins, needing just 1:48 to flatten Hightstown's Brenden Hansen for his 91st career victory in the pre-quarters. Akers will square off with Cilfton's Joseph Abill (38-3), who placed fourth at heavyweight last season. North, which has 12 state champions, seeks its first since Ricky Frondorf, a four-time medal winner, won back-to-back titles at 152 pounds in 2002-03.

Back points

Hawk (35-7), who seems poised to win a few state medals before he's done wearing the Garnet and Grey, reached the Round of 8 and a quarterfinal date with Southern's Conor Collins, a the top seed and a 2021 runner-up, with a 3-2 win over Butler's Brett Redner. In doing so, he became the second P'burg quarterfinalist with that last name, joining former assistant and North Hunterdon head coach Jason Hawk (no relation). Jason Hawk, who was watching from the seats behind Mat No. 4, along with former P'burg great and two-time state champion Rick Thompson, was a two-time placer and 1987 runner-up for the Stateliners, as well as a member of the school's 100 wins club (101-20-4 from 1984-88).

Senior James Day nearly gave P'burg a third quarterfinalist, giving two-time state placewinner Joe Manno of St. Joseph-Montvale all he could handle in a 3-1 sudden-victory loss. Day (35-4), a Region 3 runner-up, tied the bout with an early third-period escape and was in deep several times on Manno, who converted the winning takedown with just seven seconds left on the clock in OT. 

Walsh (23-3), a talented freshman and Region 1 champion, made a grand debut with an impressive 4-3 win over South Plainfield's Jeffrey Jacome, a No. 2 seed and 2021 fourth-place finisher at 113, in the Round of 16. Stoll (21-3), who placed sixth last season, gave the area three quarterfinalists at 215 with two pins and setting up a Round of 8 clash with Passaic Valley's P.J. Casale, a 2020 state champion for Delbarton.

Soldano extended his win streak to 72 dating to 2020.

Soldano (35-0), who logged his 96th and 97th career pins, is three wins shy of becoming just the third three-time state champion for Sussex County in the modern area. High Point's Nick Francavilla (2009-11) and Pope John's Mike Frick (1969, '71 and '72) are the others. Newton's Robert McKeeby (1941-43), Harry Lanzi (1946-48), Bill Dolan (1947-49) and Don Frey (1947-49) also won three. The only other three-time winner from the HWS area is Phillipsburg's John Barna (1980-82). 

How good is Soldano? Well, the Rutgers recruit dazzled once again in the pre-quarters. Marlboro's Mike Malucelli got in deep on Soldano's right leg for what would have been a a takedown against mortal opponents, but Soldano dropped his hip and as both fell to the mat, he was able to horse Malucelli onto his back for the 44-second pin. Just amazing stuff. Soldano, who will next face Mount Olive junior Anthony Moscatello (pinned in their two previous meetings this season) in the quarters, improved to 124-5 overall and passed Gavin Tarsa (123-34 from 2004-08) for ninth on the school's all-time wins list. 

Peake (38-4), who is two wins shy of matching Peter Nace for seventh on Central's career list, had little trouble in his two victories on Thursday, including a 7-1 decision over DePaul's Ryan Burton. Peake will take on Ocean Township's Shane Cartagena-Walsh in the quarters.

McCatharn (35-4), who placed sixth at 285 in 2021, rebounded from a disappointing third-place finish in Region 1 last weekend by decking Delsea's Rocco Bennett in 5:33 to reach the quarterfinals. The bout was tied, 1-1, when McCatharn took down Bennett to his back for the fall. The two didn't meet in the Group 3 final, as the Crusaders forfeited the final bout in a 29-28 victory over the Blue Streaks, who went 3-5 in the opening round. McCatharn, who slimmed down to about 215 pounds at the end of the regular season, is looking to become the Streaks' first two-time medal winner at heavyweight since Dan Slack (third in 1976 and first in '77), who is also the last heavyweight finalist for Hills.

It was an especially tough night for the region fourth-place finishers. According to media coordinator extraordinaire Bob Behre, only four won their first-round matchups, knocking off a pair of No. 7 and No. 8 seeds. Only 13 of the Nos. 29-32 seeds made it the full six minutes. 

Region 2 was clearly the deepest this season and it showed with 24 wrestlers in the quarterfinals. Next was Region 8 with 16 and Region 3 with 15, followed by Region 6 with 14, Region 1 and 5 with 12, Region 4 with 11 and Region 7 with eight.