Wrestling: John Goles Invitational preview, info

What: John Goles Invitational Tournament (65th).

When: Thursday.

Where: Warren Hills Regional High School, Washington Township.

Participating teams (13): Columbia, Delaware Valley; Hopewell Valley; Kearny; Newton; Northern Highlands; Nottingham; Passaic Tech; Ramapo; Southern; Verona; Warren Hills; West Morris.

Schedule: Preliminaries (four mats), 9 a.m.; Quarterfinals (four mats) to follow; Wrestlebacks one (four mats) to follow quarters; Wrestlebacks two to follow; Semifinals (main gym) and consolation semifinals (auxiliary gym) to follow; Consolation finals on four mats (third-fourth in main gym and fifth-sixth in auxiliary gym) to follow; Championships (one mat) in main gym to follow.

Returning champions (6, 2023 weights): Jr. 

Delaware Valley eyes its first Goles title since 2016

Charlie Piccione, Warren Hills (120, two-time John Goles champion, District 12 second, Region 3 second, State Wrestleback two); Jr. Mark Montuore, West Morris (120, District 11 third); Jr. Jaden Perez, Delaware Valley (126, District 15 first, Region 4 fifth); Jr. Jackson Bush, Delaware Valley (144, 2021 John Goles champion; District 15 first, Region 4 fourth, State Wrestleback two); Jr. Brandon John Dean, West Morris (157, District 11 first, Region 3 first, State sixth); Sr. Anderson Olcott, Delaware Valley (District 15 first, Region 4 second, State Wrestleback one).

Others to watch: Fr. Brody Neill, West Morris (106); So. Augie Szamreta, Warren Hills (106, John Goles third, District 12 third); Jr. Dean Meissner, Hopewell Valley (106, John Goles fourth, District 18 first); Fr. Aidan Webb, Warren Hills (113); Sr. Jake Taylor, Delaware Valley (120, Two-time John Goles second, District 15 first, Region 4 second, State Wrestleback two); Sr. Matt Roche, Delaware Valley (132, District 15 first, Region 4 second, State eighth); Jr. Tyler Redfield, Warren Hills (132, Two-time John Goles second, District 12 first, Region 3 second, State Wrestleback one); Jr. Joey Fulco, Ramapo (132, District 2 second, Region 1 sixth); Sr. Josh Baeza, Kearny (138, District 9 second, Region 3 sixth); Sr. Ben Levy, Delaware Valley (150, District 15 second, Region 4 sixth); Jr. James Conklin, Passaic Tech (150, District 6 second, Region 2 third, State Wrestleback two); Sr. Omar Tarecky, Passaic Tech (157, District 6 second, Region 2 third, State Wrestleback two); Jr. Aaron Stone, Newton (165, District 3 second); So. Tommy Borgia, West Morris (215, District 11 second, Region 3 fourth, State Wrestleback two); Sr. Ethan Mendel, Northern Highlands (215, District 2 third, Region 1 third, State Wrestleback two).

Notes: Once the nation's second-longest consecutive holiday tournament, the John Goles was not held for the first time since its inception in 1958 due to the pandemic in 2020 -- thereby losing the streak and annual label. The Hunterdon Central Invitational, which had been the nation's longest consecutive holiday tourney by one year, also skipped 2020 before resuming in '21. ... Southern is a new entry in the field, though the split-squad Rams, ranked as the top public school at No. 6 in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20, have most of their top wrestlers at the rugged Powerade Tournament in Pennsylvania. ... Thus, No. 13 Delaware Valley, the Group 1 champion in 2022 and '23 with a pretty balanced lineup, rates a huge favorite to win its first team title since 2016 ... Hard to think about the Goles without remembering longtime tournament director and Warren Hills icon Bill Lunger, who died in October 2019. Lunger, who served as the school's public address announcer and was the voice of the Blue Streaks for many decades, loved this tournament with a passion. A plaque bearing his name is awarded to three-time champions. He continues to be missed. ... Speaking of three-time winners, Piccione looks to become

Who will be the Streaks' 200th Goles champion?

only the 39th wrestler in tournament history and first for the Streaks to win at least three titles since Matt Valli (2013, '15, '16). Anthony Lusardi (1986-88), Earl Cornine (1987-89) and Ryan Kanewski (1993-96), the program's lone four-time champion, are the only Streaks to win titles in their first three high school seasons (freshmen were not allowed to compete on the varsity level for the Warren County school at one time). ... Washington-Warren Hills has produced 18 wrestlers to win at least three championships overall, including John Rhinehart (1966-68) and Rob Rhinehart (1973-75), the grandfather and great uncle of Hills sophomore Davey Rhinehart, a runner-up at 113 pounds as a freshman. Another great uncle, Rick, won a title in 1969. ... Warren Hills senior Josh Lee, a two-time finalist and champion in 2021, will miss this year's event due to an ankle injury. His older brother, Jared, now wrestling at 149 pounds for the Rochester Institute of Technology, was a three-time finalist and champion in 2021. Washington-Warren Hills has a tournament-best 199 champions overall. The Blue Streaks haven't gone without at least one gold medal since getting shut out in 2002, while they've won or shared 24 team championships, including back-to-back titles in 2021 and '22. The Streaks haven't won three straight since 1989-90. Current assistant coach Marty White, a 1991 New Jersey state champion at 130 pounds, was a member of those teams and a two-time Goles winner in 1989 and '90. ... Delaware Valley has won 11 of the previous 24 team titles, including eight in a row from 1998-2005. ... Newton has produced at least one champ in all but four tournaments since 2000 -- missing in 2004, '12, '15 and '22. Speaking of which, ace assistant coaches Andy Iliff (1985-86) and Ted Sibblies (1987-88) were two-time winners for the Braves. Del Val assistant coach Gregg Wiseburn (1999-2000) was a two-time champ for Warren Hills.

Championship picks: Augie Szamreta, Warren Hills (106); Aidan Webb, Warren Hills (113); Charlie Piccione, Warren Hills (120); Jaden Perez, Delaware Valley (126); Matt Roche, Delaware Valley (132); Josh Baeza, Kearny (138); Jackson Bush, Delaware Valley (144); James Conklin, Passaic Tech (150); Brandon John Dean, West Morris (157); Aaron Stone, Newton (165); Jake Gray, Northern Highlands (175); Anderson Olcott, Delaware Valley (190); Tommy Borgia, West Morris (215); Jason Dixon, Passaic Tech (285).

Team champion: Delaware Valley.