Wrestling: District recap for HWS by the numbers

Let's review what happened in the nine districts that house teams from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area. There are 107 local wrestlers still competing -- down 15 from 2022.

Overall, here are the area qualifiers by season since realignment (which changes every three years) was introduced in 2017 -- 118 in '17 and '18; 125 in '19; 113 in '20 (no district tournaments in '21 due to COVID-19) and 122 in '22. The six-year average is 117.

The top three at each weight class advanced to the region tournaments on Friday and Saturday. Region 1 is at West Milford, Region 2 at Mount Olive, Region 3 at West Orange, Region 4 at Union and Region 5 at Franklin.

Here's the team-by team breakdown of qualifiers:

Phillipsburg and Warren Hills (11); Pope John (10); North Hunterdon, Hunterdon Central and Delaware Valley (9); Kittatinny, Newton and Sparta (7); High Point (6); Voorhees (5); Lenape Valley, Hackettstown and North Warren (4); Vernon (3); Belvidere (1).

We had four schools win team championships (though the NJSIAA no longer recognizes this with a trophy): Pope John (D3), Phillipsburg (D10), Warren Hills (D12), Delaware Valley (D15).

Here's a closer look by the numbers:

North celebrates Logan Wadle's 100th win (NH social media)

20 -- North Hunterdon seniors Logan Wadle and Daniel DeLusant made program history in District 13 at Cranford by becoming just the 19th and 20th to win at least three titles for the Lions. None have won four since North great Ricky Frondorf, now a youth coach and four-time state placewinner, did so from 2000-03. Wadle (27-2 at 106), a state title contender, joined his father, Rudy, who also won three titles (1991-93) for North as Logan (101-17) became the 14th to hit the 100-win mark -- also achieved by senior Alex Uryniak (32-1 at 190), who won his second district title, earlier this season. Repeating at 215 pounds was senior Brendan Raley (29-3), while junior Brian Wilson (20-11 at 165) won his first as the Group 4 champion Lions raised their overall total to 232 district champs.

374 -- Phillipsburg dusted the field in District 10, as sophomores Gavin Hawk (30-5 at 132) and Luke Geleta (31-5 at 138) repeated as champions, along with senior Hunter Cleaver (18-8 at 165) and junior John Wargo (31-2 at 285). Winning their first titles were junior Dawson McWilliams (25-12 at 113) and seniors Connor Hille (25-5 at 175) and Logan Kries (18-14 at 215). Hawk and Geleta are halfway to joining just eight others to win four district crowns for the Stateliners, who now have 374 champions overall and have had at least one winner since missing for the only time 1950, sent an area-best 11 wrestlers (along with Warren Hills) on to Region 3.

67 -- Hackettstown junior Aiden Scheeringa won his second straight title at 106 pounds to become the Warren County school's 67th district champion (37 since 2001) and first to go back-to-back since Alex Carida (2017-18). Scheeringa (29-4), who is 64-16 overall and should be a strong contender for a state medal, is among four Region 3 qualifiers for the Tigers, including juniors Nicolas Balella (29-5 at 132), a runner-up, and Jose Alvarenga Giron (17-9 at 165) and senior Liam Burke (20-13 at 175).

11 -- Warren Hills joined Phillipsburg in sending a Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area best 11 wrestlers on to Region 3 at West Orange. Repeating as District 12 champions were sophomore Tyler Redfield (26-7 at 120), junior Josh Lee (28-6 at 126), as well as seniors Shawn Redfield (31-3 at 138) and Jarett Pantuso (31-2 at 215). First-time winners for the Blue Streaks, who have produced a grand total of 206 district champions, were seniors Cody Miller (26-9 at 157) and Chris Whitehead (25-12 at 190).

#PushthePace ⚪️🔵⚡️🤼‍♂️💯 pic.twitter.com/xRtjxw93Tx

— Warren Hills Wrestling (@WHR_Wrestling) February 18, 2023

126 -- Voorhees junior Cameron Baumann won his first District 13 title at Cranford -- raising the program's total to 126 in now the Vikings' 48th season. Baumann (35-3 at 285) is the 10th heavyweight to win a championship for the Hunterdon County school -- joining Chris Foley (1979), Lee Getz (1981-82), Thor Beveridge (1983-84), Gene Olexson (1985), Greg Juntilla (1987), Dan Iozzi (1994), Alex Fischetti (2013), Sam Huff (2017) and Lewis Fernandes (2018-19). Runners-up Christian Bollette (26-12 at 106) and Logan Wiecoreck (35-3 at 157) also advanced to Region 4 at Union. Bollette's father, J.P., was a 1997 district champ for Kittatinny at 130 pounds, while uncles, Eric and Brian, are also former standouts for the Cougars and now head coaches at Newton and Morris Hills.

25 -- Delaware Valley paced the field in District 15 at Scotch Plains-Fanwood with a tournament-best six champions -- Jake Taylor (25-6 at 113), a two-time winner, Jaden Perez (28-2 at 120), Matt Roche (29-8 at 126), Jackson Bush (26-8 at 138), Garrett Tettemer (18-0 at 165) and Anderson Olcott (27-6 at 215). The Group 1 champion Terriers, who have had at least one winner in 25 straight tournaments since missing in 1997, crowned six champs for only the second time in program history, joining the 2006 squad, and their record is seven (1993). Del Val coach Andy Fitz, who has coached 45 of the school's 127 champs, won a district title for the Terriers at 160 pounds in 1990.  

97 -- Newton, which advanced seven to Region 1, sure kept things in the family once again as senior Thaylor Sibblies won his second straight championship in District 3. Sibblies (30-1 at 157), who won at 144 pounds last season and should be in the state medal hunt, now owns bragging rights in his family with one more title than his father, Teddy, a one-time champ at 130 pounds in 1989. Teddy, also a longtime assistant coach, is the last state finalist for the Braves, now in their 97th season, with a runner-up finish as a senior in '89. Andy Iliff, also an assistant coach, won two district titles (1985 and '87) and a pair of state titles (1986-87) -- the last of Newton's state-record 82 championships.

39 -- Hunterdon Central, which amazingly has no district winners a year ago for the first time since 1957, had a trio of champions in District 17 at the Field House as juniors Anthony Rossi (31-3 at 113) and William Cella (22-3 at 138) and freshman Rhett Washleski (27-3) all won their first titles. Washleski's brother, Colton, won a district championship at 120 pounds in 2019. The Red Devils, who have won 39 team championships overall and finished third behind St. John Vianney and Hillsborough, advanced nine, including senior runner-up Henry Wilkinson (19-3 at 150), a 2020 champion, to Region 5 at Franklin High School.

5 -- Pope John extended its streak with at least six champions to five straight tournaments by crowning six for a second straight year in District 3 at Dumont High School. Sophomore Carson Walsh (30-2 at 126), a returning state medal winner, won his second title, along with seniors Jason Athey (22-8 at 120) and Jack Nauta (21-10 at 132), while freshmen Dalton Webber (27-5 at 113) and David Thomson (20-9 at 190) and junior Justin Holly (6-3 at 138) all won their first championships for the Lions, who have had six winners on two other occasions (1975 and 2019) and a program-best seven twice (2018 and '20).

Hums and Barron (HP social media)

19 -- Group 2 champion High Point ran its streak with at least one district winner to 19 straight tournaments and freshman John Barron (18-14 at 106), who will be one to watch moving forward, and senior Arik Hums (26-9 at 285) won their first titles in District 1 at River Dell High School. The 'Cats, who boast 130 champs overall and haven't been shut out at the district level since 2003, advanced six to Region 1 at West Milford High School. Iconic head coach John Gardner won three titles (1988-90) for the Sussex County School, while longtime assistant Mickey Thomas was the first in program history at 115 pounds in 1968. Ace assistant Billy Smith (2009-11) is among 15 to win three or more for the 'Cats.

7 -- Kittatinny, which sent seven to the Region 1 Tournament behind two repeat District 4 champions -- junior Reece Smith and sophomore Ethan Dalling. Smith (22-5) , who won at 138 pounds last year, made the successful drop for the postseason, along with Dalling (29-1), whose title at 157 gave his family a total of eight district golds for the Cougars. Older brother, Steven, was a two-time winner (2020 and '21), while their father, Steve, a two-time state champ, was the first of five to win four district titles under New Jersey wrestling legend John Gill, who has coached at least one district champ since missing in 1993 and 122 of the program's 126 overall. Juniors Bryce Coesfeld (27-3 at 150) and Tucker Lockburner (26-4 at 190) won their first titles on Saturday, giving the program four winners for the first time since a quartet in 2014.

17 -- North Warren, coming off a tough dual-meet campaign, produced a champion for the second straight year as senior J.J. Wohlers won at 285 pounds in District 4 at Kittatinny Regional High School. Wohlers (25-6), who is the 17th champion in program history, was among four Patriots to qualify for the Region 1 Tournament at West Milford, as senior Thomas Dugan (26-8 ay 120) and junior James Dacunto (22-3 at 157) were runner-ups, while freshman Connor Hallowich (18-16 at 106) placed third.

3 -- Vernon advanced three to Region 1 for the first time since five Vikings moved on in 2012 -- also the last year with a champion as Davib Tlatelpa (220) and Jon Gemeinhardt (285) became the 22nd and 23rd in program history. Coach Joe Down has done a nice job boosting the sport's numbers after the Sussex County school had a combined total of just five region qualifiers from 2013-22. Freshman True DiGiuseppe (24-8 at 157) and Jeyss Abreu (18-11 at 215) -- both third-place finishers -- and senior runner-up Daniel Lovett (21-8 at 175) earned medals and a trip to Region 1 at West Milford.

78 -- Lenape Valley also ran its streak of at least one champion to 19 straight tournaments as sophomore Gage Graziano won his first title in District 8 at Fair Lawn High School. Graziano (25-8 at 138), who received a forfeit in the quarterfinals, pinned both of his opponents to become the program's 78th district champ. The Patriots advanced four to Region 2 at Mount Olive, including runners-up Jakob Bell (26-9 at 144) and Eric Perez (25-8 at 190) and third-place finisher Marc Pavese (25-10 at 132).

1 -- Sparta continued its fantastic turnaround campaign with one champion at District 4, as senior Sebastian Gomez (17-17 at 165) won his first title. The Spartans, who went a dismal 2-22 last season, finished second in the North 1, Group 3 section and 20-7 overall under District 4 Coach of the Year Dan Trappe. The Spartans, who advanced seven to Region 1, also have logged 17 district winners since 2014 after being shut out from 2008-13 and in '22. Belvidere had one Region 3 qualifier as senior Jacob Hachtmann (28-8) was a runner-up at 215 in District 10.