Wrestling: Region (HWS) recap by the numbers

We're near the finish line of the high school wrestling season, but before we turn our focus on the 90th State Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (Thursday-Saturday), let's take a look at some of the highlights from the five region tournaments that house teams from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area.

We had a Sussex County-first in the 62-year history of the region tournaments, while the debate over Non-Public dominance has grown louder in recent weeks, even stirring up the once-defeated proposal for a ninth region that includes only private programs. Stay tuned on more of that in the offseason as coaches sort out the district alignments for 2023-24 and 2024-25. One simple way to solve the issue would be to separate the Non-Public powers in the northernmost regions, which house seven of the state's Top 14 teams, according to the Coaches Top 25 poll.

Public vs. Non-Public

P'burg advanced a HWS-best eight to AC.

Non-Public schools accounted for 86 (Regions 1-4) of a total 448 qualifiers as opposed to 53 (Regions 5-8). Non-Publics produced 28 of the 56 qualifiers in Region 1 (including 13 champions) and 26 in Region 2 (11 champs). Remember when old Region 6 cried about how unfair it was that old Region 1 had six fewer teams? Funny how the Shore Conference remains silent when the tables are turned up here. Region 1 was again dominated by St. Joseph-Montvale, which had nine champions and 11 finalists (10 champions and 12 finalists in 2022). And that doesn't even factor in Don Bosco Prep's nine qualifiers and Pope John's five. Bergen Catholic advanced its entire team out of  Region 2, while in Region 3, Delbarton, which went 8-4 in the finals, advanced 13 of 14. St. Peter's Prep (12 qualifiers, six champs and one runner-up) bested the Region 4 field. 

Here are the Non-Public champs totals in all eight: 13 in R1, 11 in R2, 8 in R3, 6 in R4, 7 in R5, 7 in R6 (all from CBA), 5 in R7, 7 in R8 (five from St. Augustine, which also had two runners-up). This only reaffirms what we've known all along -- the Non-Publics are dominating in North Jersey, more so than the rest of the state. Realignment, which has failed miserably in a number of aspects, including watering down districts and regions, has not solved the Non-Public issue in the northern regions, primarily because the balance of power among the private schools fluctuates more often than in the public ranks.

It's also a major reason why we're seeing more lopsided results among the regions, as a large number of the year-round wrestlers tend to be among private schools. 

Now, a recap of Regions 1-5:  

46 -- We have that many wrestlers from the HWS area moving on to this week's state tournament (down three from 2022). In all, 17 advanced out of Region 3, while Region 1 produced 13. Over in Region 4, Delaware Valley, North Hunterdon and Voorhees combined for 12 qualifiers, while Region 5 had four from Hunterdon Central. Here are the total number of area qualifiers since realignment in 2017 -- 47 in '17, 48 in '18, 50 in '19, 37 in '20, 49 in '22 and 46 in '23. As a side note, there have been 10 state medal winners who finished fourth in the regions (not including 2021) and four were from the HWS area -- North Hunterdon's Andrew Gapas (eighth at 132) in 2017, High Point's Brandon LaRue (sixth at 113) and Pope John's Reece Mulduun (seventh at 182) in 2018 and Sparta's Spencer Stewart (eighth at 120) in 2019. There were none in 2022.

Josh, Thaylor and Teddy Sibblies at Region 1

1 -- There was a lot that went down in Region 1 at West Milford, but a Sussex County first tops the list. Newton senior Thaylor Sibblies made school and county history with a 9-2 win over Kittatinny sophomore Ethan Dalling, who attempted to snap the Cougars' now seven-year drought without a champion (Austin Scrivani at 138 pounds in 2016) in their 157-pound title bout. Hard to believe, but that finals matchup was the very first between the crosstown-rival schools since the inception of regions in 1961 (Kittatinny began wrestling when the school opened in 1975). In doing so, Sibblies (33-1) became the third champion in his family -- all earned Outstanding Wrestler honors -- joining his father, Teddy (130 in 1989) and older brother, Josh (182 in 2013). All three also were the only Braves to win championships those years as the program total now stands at 41. Newton coach Eric Bollette, a former state placewinner for Kittatinny and coach John Gill, has coached nine of those champions in his 22 seasons. Senior Michael Melillo became a two-time state qualifier with a third-place finish at 138. 

8 -- Phillipsburg, including champions Gavin Hawk (132) and John Wargo (285), produced an area-best eight qualifiers in Region 3 at West Orange. Also punching tickets to Atlantic City were Luke Geleta (138), Patrick Day (144), Liam Packer (157), Hunter Cleaver (165), Connor Hille (175) and Caleb Rivera (189). All but Geleta and Cleaver are first-time state qualifiers. Hawk (33-5), who lost in the Blood Round at 120 in AC as a freshman, knocked off Morristown's Jack Myers, a 2022 region champion, via injury default to win his first championship. Wargo won his second straight title with a 10-2 major over Delbarton's Connor Martin -- giving the 'Liners a repeat winner in seven of the last eight region tournaments (no champs in 2020). Wargo (34-2) will look to become only the seventh P'burg wrestler to win three titles (Brian Meyer was the last in 2016-18) and the program's first heavyweight to do so next season.

Pantuso atop the podium. (WH social media)

7 -- Warren Hills had quite a good day in Region 3 on Saturday as the Blue Streaks moved seven on to Atlantic City -- the most of any area team other than P'burg. Senior Jarett Pantuso was the lone champion and the program's 59th overall as he rolled to an 11-3 major of Delbarton's Henry Forte in a battle between state medal contenders. Pantuso (34-2), who placed eighth as a sophomore and has 86 career wins, has been on a roll of late -- winning 19 in a row since a 6-2 loss to Delsea's Rocco Bennett on Jan. 20, a defeat he avenged by decking Bennett in overtime when they met in the Group 3 final nearly a month later. Hills also had a pair of runner-ups in sophomores Charlie Piccione (31-7 at 113) and Tyler Redfield (28-8 at 120), while junior Josh Lee (31-7 at 126) and seniors Shawn Redfield (34-4 at 138 and 94 career wins), Cody Miller (29-10 at 157) and Michael Drazek (32-7 at 175) all took thirds. Miller scored a 3-2 win over Phillipsburg's Liam Packer in their bronze medal match, while Drazek pinned Connor Hille in their rubber match for third. Drazek went 2-1 against the Stateliner this season (11-4 win on Jan. 9 and an 8-6 loss on Jan. 14).

104 -- Hunterdon Central freshman Rhett Washleski continued his fine rookie campaign by winning the 144-pound title at Region 5. In doing so, Washleski (30-3) joined his older brother, Colton, a two-time state placewinner (fourth in 2021, sixth in '20) who won his lone Region 5 title at 145 in '20. Rhett's championship was Central's 104th overall. Former three-time state runner-up Gary Dinmore (2011-14) is the only four-time region champ for the Red Devils. Moving onto the state tournament with Washleski are Region 5 runner-up Anthony Rossi (33-4 at 113), and juniors Ryan Sherlock (23-9 at 106) and William Cella (24-5 at 138) -- both fourth-place finishers.

17 -- Warren County sent an area-best 17 wrestlers to Atlantic City, including a pair from Hackettstown in juniors Aiden Scheeringa (31-5 at 106, second) and Nicolas Balella (32-7 at 132, fourth), who moved on from Region 3. North Warren also had a medalist -- for the first time under fifth-year coach Kellen Bradley -- in junior James Dacunto (25-5 at 157, fourth). 

6 -- Delaware Valley led Hunterdon County with six state qualifiers as juniors Jake Taylor (27-7 at 113), Matt Roche (31-9 at 126) and Anderson Olcott (29-7 at 215)m, and senior Garrett Tettemer (20-1 at 165) were all runners-up. Sophomore Jackson Bush (28-10 at 138), also a first-time region medal winner, and senior Chris Colasurdo (27-7 at 150), a two-time qualifier, also placed for the Terriers, who haven't had a champion since 2018 and snapped a two-year skid without a representative in AC in 2022. 

Wadle can be NH's first 3-time state medalist since Ryan Pomrinca (2012, '14, '15)

16 -- Hunterdon County sent a total of 16 wrestlers, 12 out of Region 4, as North Hunterdon had a pair of champions -- four in 2022 -- in seniors Logan Wadle (30-2 at 106) and Brendan Raley (32-3 at 215), who both won their second titles -- Nos. 78 and 79 for the Lions. Wadle, a two-time state medalist, was one shy of his father, Rudy, who won three Region 5 titles for North (1991-93). Seniors Daniel DeLusant (31-3 at 144) and Alex Uryniak (34-2 at 190), a 2022 region champ, also moved on. Also in Region 4, juniors Logan Wiecoreck (38-4 at 157, second) and Cameron Baumann (38-4 at 285, third) advanced for sister-school Voorhees, which produced its first winning season since 2019  last season and went 19-10 in 2022-23 under former Del Val state medalist Ricky Kurtz, who has the program heading in the right direction. It also snapped the program's three-year skid without a state qualifier, which has happened just five times. The only other years the Vikes missed producing at least one state qualifier were in 2002 and '03.

13 -- High Point sophomore Nick Clayton (28-12 at 120, fourth) and senior Arik Hums (28-10 at 285, second) qualified for the 'Cats, who didn't have a champ for just the fifth time since 2005. In addition to Dalling, junior Reece Smith (25-6 at 144, third) medaled for the Cougars in Region 1, as Sussex County grabbed 13 medals. Sparta sophomore Logan Hrenenko (33-6) finished fourth at 144.. It was a travesty that Spartans coach Dan Trappe did not earn Region 1 Coach of the Year honors as he guided the program to a 20-7 mark and its first sectional final appearance since 2018 in North 1, Group 3 coming off a 2-22 campaign a year ago.

38 -- Pope John advanced five out of Region 1, including a pair of champions -- Dalton Webber (113) and Carson Walsh (126) who raised the program total to 38. Webber (30-5) made it back-to-back golds at 113 for the Lions, while Walsh (33-2), who had three pins in his title run last year, had a fall and a technical fall in his repeat performance, as the Sussex County school extended its string with at least one winner to eight straight seasons. Former state champs Mike Frick (1969-72) and JoJo Aragona (2016-19) are the only wrestlers in the program history to win four region titles. Junior Justin Holly (8-4) was a runner-up at 138, while sophomore Jake Holly (25-9 at 106) and senior Jack Nauta (24-11 at 132) finished third to earn their first trips to the state tournament.

DV's No. 11 ranking is its highest since No. 8 in 2017

5 -- Delaware Valley, the Group 1 champion and No. 9 in the final New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20, was voted the area's top public school and No. 11 in the state in the always politically-biased New Jersey Coaches Association Top 25, which was released on Sunday afternoon. In all, five teams from the HWS area graced the rankings as Group 5 runner-up Phillipsburg was one spot behind the Terriers at No. 12. Group 3 runner-up Warren Hills checked in at No. 13, two spots ahead of Hunterdon Central. Group 4 champion North Hunterdon checked in at No. 19. This was the first time since 2013 -- the only other season since the poll formed in 1971 -- that no team from HWS finished in the Top 10.