Wrestling: Lion King: Wadle ends North's title drought

So much for 13 being an unlucky number. 

It sure was golden for North Hunterdon senior Logan Wadle as he ended the program's 20-year wait for another title with a 3-1 win over Bergen Catholic freshman Nathan Braun at 106 pounds in the 90th State Wrestling Championships on Saturday evening at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Wadle on top of the 106-pound podium (photo by Chris Hrunka)

Wadle (35-2) is North's 13th champion (tied with Hunterdon Central for the county lead and High Point for fourth place on Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex's all-time list) and its first since Lions great Ricky Frondorf, a four-time medalist, went back-to-back at 152 in 2002-03.
 

Frondorf, who's the school's only four-time region winner to go with four district titles and ranks No. 2 on the career wins list (124-6), was in attendance and still plays a big part in the program as a youth level coach with two young boys also involved in the sport.

"It's very difficult to win a New Jersey state title," said sixth-year coach Chris Hrunka, who joined the legendary Harold Vandermark (seven from 1963-71 including Dave Gaunt who's the only other two-time champ), Fred Pierro (three from 1983-88) and former Phillipsburg star Jason Hawk (Frondorf) as the only North coaches to produce a champion on their watch.

"You get [to the arena] at 7:30 [a.m.] to weigh in and you wait until about 5:30 [p.m.] to wrestle [in the finals]. That's a long time to think about the match. Logan was in a big spot with a lot of pressure as a No. 1 seed. He did what he needed to do to win every match."

Wadle, the lone Skyland Conference champion and one of three North medalists along with seniors Alex Uryniak (fifth at 190) and Brendan Raley (fourth at 215), opened the tournament with a pin and a 6-2 decision on Thursday, but had his hands full in the quarters on Day 2 -- a 5-3 sudden-victory win over St. Joseph-Montvale freshman Johnathon McGinty, who decked Hackettstown's Aiden Scheeringa in 1:16 with a toss in their fifth-place bout. Scheeringa, a junior who was bidding to be his school's fourth finalist and first since 1979, dropped a 4-2 decision to Wadle in the semis.    

"He [trailed] a bit in the quarterfinals, but we always felt he was in control," Hrunka said of the Lehigh-bound Wadle. "At times he probably needed to be more aggressive, but he did what he needed to do."

Against Braun (28-6), Wadle got ahead early with a double-leg takedown and allowed an escape as he was caught riding a bit high with just two ticks left on the clock in the second period. That's how it stood until Braun, needing a takedown to tie and perhaps force overtime, gave up the escape with 29 seconds left in the third to no avail --prompting a celebratory backflip center mat then a bearhug with Hrunka.

"He's always been good on top, but he beat guys on their feet [in AC], said Hrunka, who joined Pierro (1982, '84) this season as the only North coaches to win a pair of Group titles. "There wasn't really any earned takedowns [against Wadle], he probably decided to bail at times and didn't need to force it. He scored enough points to where [his opponents] needed to let him out [from bottom]."

Wadle with his coaches (Vidak 2nd from L and LaSpada 2nd from R)

Wadle, a runner-up in 2021 and third in '22 at this weight class, certainly had a wealth of state tournament experienced coaches in his corner with Bernards state champion Joe LaSpada (1971 at 106 pounds), considered one of the top assistants in the area if not the entire state, and former North star Chris Vidak (second in 1993 and third in '92 at 152 pounds). Hrunka was a region champ for Warren Hills in 2007.

Logan's father, Rudy, was also a standout for the Lions, winning three district and region titles to go with his pair of fifth-sixth place state finishes his junior and senior seasons in 1992 and '93.

"It's an immense amount of pressure. I was nervous, so I'm sure [Logan] had some nerves," Hrunka said. "But we talked to him a lot. He wanted to watch his teammates' matches. That's typical Logan."

How dedicated was Wadle, who is tied for fifth on the school's career victories list at 109-17, on winning that coveted title? Hrunka said that Wadle had a picture of the state finals placed on the center circle of the mat where he drills in practice.

Wadle, who is the HWS area's 244th champion and Hunterdon County's 41st champion, and first since Central's Brett Ungar (106) and two-time Voorhees heavyweight winner Lewis Fernandes took home golds in 2019, has done plenty of winning with his North teammates over the past four seasons. The program had its first unbeaten season going 23-0 in 2020 and a combined dual meet record of 59-10 to go with three sectional and two Group 4 championships (2020 and '23). But this first individual state title ranked right up there for Hrunka.

"It's a similar feeling [to winning a pair of Group 4 titles], but you take a lot of pride seeing how hard they work and how bad they wanted to win. This has been on his radar since he started [in high school]."