You can't beat an old-fashioned quality dual meet when it comes to wrestling. But even to the most casual observer, these golden nuggets have become few and far between over the years -- at least in the public school ranks -- as it's evolved into more of a tournament sport.
Phillipsburg (11-0), ranked No. 10, leads the way once again in the latest New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20, released on Tuesday morning. Hunterdon Central (13-1) moves up one spot to No. 12 following a 35-34 win over No. 13 Mount Olive on Saturday. Delaware Valley (10-0), which has a big week on tap with matches against P'burg (tonight) and Central (Wednesday), rounds out the HWS area contingent at No. 14.
Once upon a time, Delaware Valley vs. Hunterdon Central or North Hunterdon vs. Voorhees or Warren Hills against these schools was standing-room only, as were colossal matches at The Pit involving Phillipsburg against whichever local team or statewide foe was on the upswing at the time. All were must-see events and involved legendary coaches and wrestlers.
The dual meet is part of the fabric in this locale, but not so much elsewhere in the Garden State. In my opinion, the Shore Conference is the only other area where the dual has been as important.
And sure, Phillipsburg vs. Easton in most sports means that much more to those communities. But to a passionate fan base, knocking off the Red Rovers in five straight meetings in wrestling for the first time since reeling off nine in a row from 1963-71, is a huge deal. It also was the closest margin of victory for either program since Easton's 27-26 win in 1984 -- a match that involved three-time PIAA Class AAA state champion Jack Cuvo for the Rovers and the Stateliners' Dave Boncher, a three-time New Jersey state finalist who went on that season to win the first of his two state golds.
Those were good days.
P'burg junior Derek Stone (17-7 at 190 pounds) took home the Brad Weaver Memorial Award (OW) and junior Luke Geleta (21-1 at 144) earned the Easton Lions Club Award (most aggressive), but in what other sport can you lose and still be a hero? That happened to be freshman Anthony Pettinelli, who battled to only surrender a major decision in the final bout at 106 pounds on Saturday.
Got to love wrestling.
Tough at the top
St. Joseph-Montvale, the No. 1 ranked team in the NJWWA Top 20, will have to scramble in order to have the 10 matches wrestled that are needed to be considered for qualification for the NJSIAA team tournaments, which begin on Feb. 5.
As of Monday morning, the reigning Non-Public A champion Green Knights had wrestled seven matches and only have two duals scheduled for this week. They wrestle at Old Tappan on Wednesday night and host No. 11 Bergen Catholic on Friday.
 |
| Delaware Valley eyes a three-peat in Group 1 |
The NJSIAA regulations for the team tournament read the following:
"Teams must have wrestled at least 10 dual meets against NJSIAA member schools to be considered for Power Point rankings. There will be no exceptions or waivers to this rule.''
NJSIAA wrestling tournament director Howie O'Neill had this brief statement on Monday afternoon:
"A school has contacted the NJSIAA questioning the number of matches needed and a response has been sent to that school,'' said O'Neill, who declined to comment further.
We'll see how this goes, but High Point received no quarter from the NJSIAA back in 2009, when the Wildcats, ranked No. 1 in the state at the time, were disqualified from entering the sectionals for not meeting the required 70 percent rule against in-state competition. That rule has since been eliminated.
St. Joseph-Montvale would have already had 10 matches in the books, but withdrew from the Catholic School Duals at Christian Brothers Academy on Jan. 6 due to injuries and illness amongst several of its wrestlers
The cutoff for qualification is Saturday. The tournament will be seeded on Jan. 30 and begin Feb. 5 with the public sectional quarterfinal and semifinal matches and conclude on Feb. 11 at Rutgers University's Jersey Mike's Arena, with the seven group championship matches.
 |
| P'burg will honor its 33 state champs on Saturday |
Key results
Among the notable results from last week that are reflected in this week's rankings are:
Don Bosco Prep, ranked No. 6, defeating Bergen Catholic, 32-30, for its first win over the Crusaders since 2010; No. 18 West Essex defeating No. 20 Seton Hall Prep, 30-23. That result enabled West Essex to enter the rankings for the first time this season.
Brick Memorial, which was ranked No. 20 last week, dropped out after a 36-27 loss to unranked Paulsboro.
Here is this week's NJWWA Top 20 with records and first-place votes in parentheses followed by total voting points.
Also receiving votes: West Deptford (13-1) 4; Kittatinny (12-1) 3.
Voting members listed in alphabetical order: Donald J. Brower (gardenstatehswrestling.com); Frank D’Esposito (shoreconferencewrestling.com); Steven Falk (Asbury Park Press and APP.com); Sean Farrell (The Record and NorthJersey.com); Tom McGurk (Courier Post and courierpostonline.com); Andy Mendlowitz (Courier News, Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com); Michael Weilamann (Open Mike and mikeopen.blogspot.com), Brad Wilson (lehighvalleylive.com/The Express-Times).
No comments:
Post a Comment