Wrestling: North, Del Val pull off 34-year title first

Just call it Super Sunday for Hunterdon County, which is no stranger to winning state team championships. 

But it took 34 years to pull off a daily double as North Hunterdon fended off a late surge for a 33-27 win over Jackson Memorial in the Group 4 final at Rutgers University. Shortly after, Delaware Valley went back-to-back in Group 1 with a 34-31 victory against 33-time champion Paulsboro in the afternoon session -- giving the county a pair of state titles for the first time since 1989, when the Terriers secured their fifth in Group 2 and Hunterdon Central (Group 4) won the program's only championship under legendary coach Russ Riegel.

North hoists its 2nd G4 trophy since 2020. (Chris Hrunka)

The Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area went 3-2 with a representative in all five public finals as High Point won its seventh state title with a 36-34 win over Governor Livingston in the Group 2 final. Phillipsburg (Group 5) and Warren Hills (Group 3) fell in regular-season rematches. P'burg was thwarted twice by Southern (41-14 on Sunday and 42-12 on Jan. 19), while Warren Hills, seeking its third title and first since 1997, lost its third against Delsea in two seasons, 35-24. 

The Blue Streaks, who also lost, 39-15, on Jan. 21, and 28-27 in last year's title match, did a nice job closing the gap from that 24-pointer a few weeks ago and could have made things even more interesting had they won the flip to control the first two matchups at 144 (where senior Ryan Lundy would have been favored to win) and 150. The result was a potential seven-point swing as the Crusaders got a pin and a major for the 10-0 lead.

North (15-5), which claimed the program's 17th sectional title on Wednesday, captured its sixth state championship overall and second Group 4 crown in three years under Chris Hrunka, who picked up his 95th win. The sixth-year coach also guided the first unbeaten team in Lions history when they capped a 20-0 season with a state title in the final tournament held at Toms River North.

Senior John Van Doren became an unlikely hero as he stunned Jackson with a 7-5 match-clinching decision on a takedown off the whistle in sudden-victory overtime in the next-to-last bout at 132 pounds. Van Doren (1-3), whose father, Mike, was a North legend and 1988 state champion, had been slowed by injuries this season after logging 14 wins as a starter in 2021-22. He returned just in time as North, which has gone 59-10 under this senior group with three sectional titles, needed one victory down the stretch to seal the deal. 

Earlier, senior Brendan Raley and sophomore Joseph Celentano logged crucial wins at 285 and 106, along with Louis White's OT victory at 215.

Things started on a great note out of the gate as sophomore Evan Kinney scored an 11-0 major in the opening bout at 144 pounds. Senior Daniel DeLusant, a starter on that 2020 team, followed with a pin at 150, before the Lions hit the toughest stretch of Jackson's lineup. 

The Jags, who knocked off 2022 champion Mount Olive in Friday's semifinals, reeled off three straight victories, including a technical fall by Cael Huxford at 157 and ace Luke Hamann's pin at 175 to take a 14-10 lead through five bouts.

Uryniak picked up his 100th win and 3rd sectional title.

But North's senior upper weights delivered with huge wins, starting with 2021 state placewinner Alex Uryniak's 54-second pin at 190. White's clutch 4-3 victory set the stage for a championship-making move up top pay off as Raley, an eighth-place state medalist at 215 in '22, escaped at the third-period buzzer for 2-1 win over previously-unbeaten heavyweight Ryan Fischer.

Raley (26-3), who is on the lighter side at his usual weight of 215, was giving away nearly 60 pounds and narrowly escaped Fischer's clutches much to the delight of North's bench.

Celentano really put North, now 6-3 overall in title matches, in the driver's seat with an 11-2 major of Jackson junior Joseph Weikel (20-9) with Lions ace Logan Wadle, a two-time state medalist, adding another major at 113 for his 98th career win and a commanding 30-14 lead. 

NORTH HUNTERDON 33, JACKSON MEMORIAL 27
144 -- So. Evan Kinney (13-15), NH, md. So. Ryan Wolf (11-14), 11-0.
150 -- Sr. Daniel DeLusant (25-2), NH, p. Sr. Chris Wolf (8-16), 2:57.
157 -- Jr. Cael Huxford (10-1), JM, tf. Jr. Brian Wilson (17-11), 17-2, 4:16.
165 -- Jr. John Calamia (18-5), JM, d. Sr. Aaron Yarnell (8-17), 5-1.
175 -- Sr. Luke Hamann (31-2), JM, p. Sr. Thales Gondim (6-20), 3:10.
190 -- Sr. Alex Uryniak (29-1), NH, p. Sr. Paul Novello (7-6), :54.
215 -- Sr. Louis White (18-10), NH, d. Sr. Justin Krosnicki (5-7), 4-3 SV.
285 -- Sr. Brendan Raley (26-3), NH, d. Sr. Ryan Fischer (29-1), 2-1.
106 -- So. Joseph Celentano (23-9), NH, md. Jr. Joseph Weikel (20-9), 11-2.
113 -- Sr. Rudy Wadle (24-2), NH, md. Jr. Jay Seda (22-6), 10-2.
120 -- Jr. Luis Espinoza (17-14), JM, d. Jr. Shane Wysocki (13-16), 6-2.
126 -- Jr. Jonathan Espinoza (19-11), JM, md. Jr. Grant Goldan (5-12), 18-4.
132 -- Sr. John Van Doren (1-3), NH, d. Sr. Nikko Rucci (12-17), 7-5 SV.
138 -- Sr. Lucas Lipari (17-7), JM, forfeit.
Records -- North Hunterdon 15-5; Jackson Memorial 16-7.

Terriers on repeat

Delaware Valley was pegged the prohibitive Group 1 title favorite right from the start this season, but coach Andy Fitz's team didn't hit its stride until a major lineup shift solidified a championship run and back-to-back titles for the first time since winning four in a row during Fitz's time as a wrestler from 1987-90.

Del Val won its third state title since 2017.

With juniors Jake Taylor (113) and Matt Roche (132) along with sophomore Jaden Perez (120), each down a weight class, the Terriers were able to match up in huge wins against state-ranked Warren Hills (39-23) and Phillipsburg (33-27) in the span of two days in late January.

Del Val (18-3) sealed the program's 10th state title, which leads Hunterdon County and ranks sixth on the state's all-time list, when senior Garrett Tettemer horsed Paulsboro senior Doug King to his back for the pin in 29 seconds in the 12th bout at 165. Tettemer (15-0), who should make some noise in Atlantic City in a few weeks, went 21-9 for Del Val as a freshman before spending the previous two seasons at Notre Dame-Green Pond (Pa.), where he placed seventh in the PIAA Class AA state tournament in 2022.

Junior Anderson Olcott got the ball rolling for Del Val with a 49-second pin in the opening bout at 215, while junior Kyle Cooke held Paulsboro's Jordan Eli to an 11-6 decision as the heavyweight returned to the fold for the first time since the Terriers' 46-22 regular-season victory over Hanover Park on Jan. 21. 

Paulsboro (20-4), which has won a state-best 33 championships in Group 1 in its illustrious history, fell for just the fourth time in 37 title match appearances and 3-4-1 all-time vs. Del Val. The Red Raiders, who dropped a 33-27 decision to the Terriers (now 10-8 overall in state finals and 3-2 under Andy Fitz) in last year's semifinals, tried to gain momentum with sophomore Hayden Holmes' tight 6-4 win over Taylor at 113, but junior Logan Sichelstiel's 2-1 loss to Roche at 126 really stung. Paulsboro won the next two, including Chase Bish's 8-1 win over Jackson Bush at 138 to cut its deficit to 16-15 through eight bouts. 

But pins from junior Ben Levy (144) and senior Chris Colasurdo (150) stemmed the tide. Del Val had won the flip, which prompted Fitz to pump his fist in the air on his way back to the bench, and was able to control the matchup at 150, where Paulsboro was hoping to get state medalist Roman Onorato on Colasurdo in the attempt to win 150 and 157. Onorato decked Brayden Schneider at 150 to make it 28-21. But Tettemer, whose father, Scott was a 1985 region champ and member of the '84 and '85 Group 2 championship teams for Del Val, gave the Terriers an insurmountable 34-21 lead.

The win had to be extra sweet as Paulsboro tagged Delaware Valley with brutal losses in the 2019 Group 1 semis (61-9) and '20 title match (50-9). With 266 wins in his 16 seasons, Fitz will enter next season 18 shy of his father, Vince, who retired following the 1989-90 campaign as the program's winningest coach at 284-60-3 in his 19 seasons (including six Group 2 titles).

DELAWARE VALLEY 34, PAULSBORO 31

215 -- Jr. Anderson Olcott (24-6), DV, p. So. Jared Hazel (11-14), :49.

285 -- Sr. Jordan Eli (13-5), P, d. Jr. Kyle Cooke (10-11), 11-6.

106 -- Sr. Owen Kucharski (26-2), DV, d. Sr. Derrik Horton (19-13), 7-0.

113 -- So. Hayden Holmes (28-5), P, d. Jr. Jake Taylor (22-6), 6-4.

120 -- So. Jaden Perez (25-2), P, md. So. Aundre Hill (18-4), 12-2.

126 -- Jr. Matt Roche (26-8), DV, d. Jr. Logan Sichelstiel (29-5), 2-1.

132 -- Fr. Kyare Harvey (11-4), P, p. Fr. Michael Hasson (1-5), 2:33.

138 -- Jr. Chase Bish (30-4), P, d. So. Jackson Bush (23-8), 8-1.

144 -- Jr. Ben Levy (23-3), DV, p. Jr. Sean Daniels (15-11), 3:23.

150 -- Sr. Chris Colasurdo (22-4), DV, p. Fr. Sawyer Cabanas (18-8), 1:46.

157 -- Jr. Roman Onorato (30-5), P, p. Sr. Brayden Schneider (19-6), 4:28.

165 -- Sr. Garrett Tettemer (15-0), DV, p. Sr. Doug King (23-10), :29.

175 -- Jr. Luke Metz (11-14), P, p. Jr. Kevin Roman (18-12), 1:59.

190 -- Jr. Austin Willetts (12-18), P, md. Jr. August Savacool (11-9), 15-4.

Records -- Delaware Valley 18-3; Paulsboro 20-4.