PISCATAWAY -- It was one of those tough days at the office for Delaware Valley and Phillipsburg's wrestling teams.
For the first time since 2019, the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area went without a state champion as Delaware Valley came up short in a 33-25 loss to Paulsboro in the Group 1 title match, while P'burg suffered a 45-21 defeat against Southern in the Group 5 final on Sunday morning at Rutgers University's Jersey Mike's Arena.
"They wanted it more than us," said Del Val coach Andy Fitz, who became the school's all-time wins leader in the team's 81-0 rout of Point Pleasant Beach in the Central Jersey, Group 1 sectional title victory on Wednesday.
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| P'burg was seeking its first title since 2022 |
As a result, Paulsboro (22-2) extended its state record for titles to 34 and kept HWS off the board for just the fifth time since the tournaments began in 1982. The tri-county area also missed in 1993, 2007 and 2010.
"We won two very close matches the last two years," Fitz said. "[Paulsboro was] obsessed with winning this match and we weren't. I'll take the blame. I tried all year to convey to them ... what Paulsboro was doing ... and we weren't ready."
Paulsboro, which suffered brutal losses in early January at the hands of West Deptford (53-16 on Jan. 4) and Delsea (45-18 in the Boresch Duals final two days later), reeled off 17 in a row, including a 40-24 win over Kittatinny in Friday's Group 1 semifinal. Longtime coach Paul Morina said things started to turn after wrestling in Brick Memorial's Mustang Classic in late December.
"The kids talked about [those previous losses to Del Val] all the time that we have to get it this year," said Morina, whose teams are now 790-52-4 in his 40 seasons in charge at his alma mater. "It motivated us the whole year. In the offseason this was the goal.
"We lost a tough match early in the year [to West Deptford] and we kind of shook our heads. It was OK, though, because we had some things to work out in our lineup."
Things did not go well for Del Val out of the gate as Paulsboro got the toss and reeled off five straight wins to take a 15-4 lead after Terriers senior Anderson Olcott's match-opening 14-4 major at 190 pounds. The Red Raiders won a key 8-5 decision at 215 and another at 285, where Jared Hazel gave up a tying escape late before converting the winning takedown against Kyle Cooke for a 7-5 victory.
"Our kids wrestled hard," said Morina, who adeptly aligned his team on the scale. "They didn't quit in every situation and we won some overtime matches. That's big. Even the first kid we sent out [Luke Metz], we bumped him up and not getting pinned was a big bonus for us. Our heavyweight did a great job for us.
"The first three kids did a good job of setting the tone."
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| The Del Val-Paulsboro series is tied at 4-4-1 since 1989 |
In summation, Paulsboro was able to capitalize at four weights (215, 285, 106 and 113) where Del Val has struggled much of this season. The Terriers also lost a big one at 120, where Aundre Hill scored a 4-2 decision over Jake Taylor with a third-period takedown.
"We lost the toss, but we weren't ready and the credit goes to Paulsboro," said Fitz, who was less than pleased with the officiating, especially with several stall calls in the second bout at 215. We did want to win the toss. We worried about them doing what they did [bumping Willetts away from Olcott].
"I was surprised they weighed [Sawyer] Cabanas up, but it made sense. We lost the toss and we couldn't follow with Olcott. We lost a winnable bout at 215 with a lot of stall calls going against us. We didn't get the pin at 190, lost 215 and heavyweight. We were wondering what they'd do to compensate for their gap at 126, and they did exactly what I thought. They were the favorite at 106, 113 and 120 by staying down and take three of the four weights."
Those early losses forced Fitz to maneuver his lineup in the hopes of making up some ground. Inserting Tye Falkenstein at 126 produced six points and Jaden Perez pinned Keros Cooper at 132 to give Del Val a 16-15 lead.
After Sean Daniels nearly decked Del Val state placewinner Matt Roche with a cement job in an 11-7 loss at 138, Paulsboro essentially put the match away with Logan Sichelstiel's pin of Jackson Bush at 144. That put the Terriers in a 21-19 hole with four bouts to go and Kyere Harvey's 6-4 sudden-victory win at 144 further iced things with Red Raider stars Chase Bish, who scored a 6-3 win at 157, and Roman Onorato waiting in the wings. Onorato's quick pin in the 13th bout officially wrapped it up.
"They had the perfect recipe," Fitz said. "They could beat us at the top two [weights] and the lower two, and they had a couple hammers through the middle. That is the recipe to beat us. We were able to kind of hide that all year.
"Hopefully we can regroup and have a good individual postseason. Maybe we'll be back next year."
Ram tough
Phillipsburg's mission for the program's 24th state championship was much more difficult in facing the consensus No. 1 public school. The Stateliners (18-1), who were bidding for their first perfect season since 2014 and just the fifth in their history, ran up against a relentless Southern squad that just doesn't allow opponents to breathe up-and-down the lineup.
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| P'burg won its 41st sectional title on Wednesday |
Southern (18-2), which won its sixth championship overall and fourth since 2019, put a serious dent in P'burg's upset hopes when Bradford Birch decked Derek Stone in the opening bout at 190. Collin French followed with a pin at 215 as the Rams won four of the first five to grab a 19-6 lead.
With his team's hopes fading, first-year P'burg head coach Tim Longacre opted to forfeit at 132 and bump sophomore Gavin Geleta up to 138. But that didn't work either as Geleta dropped a 4-0 decision.
Junior Luke Geleta also lost a tough one -- 3-1 in sudden victory to Wyatt Stout -- in a battle of returning sixth-place medal winners in last season's state tournament. It was that kind of day for the Stateliners, now 23-12 all-time in state title matches, who won just four bouts as senior John Wargo (285), freshman Owen Garriques (120) and junior Gavin Hawk (150) registered pins, while senior Liam Packer (175) added a 5-4 decision over Mitch Bivona in a good matchup to close the proceedings.
Southern now owns an 11-7 edge in a series dating to 1997, including nine postseason meetings. The Rams, who have won three straight vs. the 'Liners, also prevailed in title matchups in 2023 (41-14) and '05 (30-25). P'burg, which scored a 27-25 win in the '22 Group 5 semifinals, was victorious in the '97 (53-9) and '14 (32-21) finals in Group 4.
GROUP 1
PAULSBORO 33, DELAWARE VALLEY 25
190 -- Sr. Anderson Olcott (26-2), DV, md. Sr. Luke Metz (17-14), 14-4.
215 -- Sr. Austin Willetts (18-8), P, d. Sr. Evan Newman (10-6), 8-5.
285 -- Jr. Jared Hazel (24-10), P, d. Sr. Kyle Cooke (18-9), 7-5 SV.
106 -- Fr. Will Cruz (16-6), P, d. So. Tristan Fawthrop (16-13), 10-4.
113 -- Jr. Hayden Holmes (24-7), P, d. Jr. Luacs Beyers (14-16), 9-3.
120 -- Jr. Aundre Hill (28-5), P, d. Sr. Jake Taylor (20-6), 4-2.
126 -- So. Tye Falkenstein (8-2), DV, p. Sr. Olivia Palmer (1-1), 1:53.
132 -- Jr. Jaden Perez (29-1), DV, p. Sr. Keros Cooper (17-3), 2:41.
138 -- Sr. Matt Roche (26-2), DV, d. Sr. Sean Daniels (15-8), 11-7.
144 -- Sr. Logan Sichelstiel (11-2), P, p. Jr. Jackson Bush (24-4), 3:27.
150 -- So. Kyare Harvey (14-4), P, d. So. Sebastian Dobak (6-6), 6-4 SV.
157 -- Sr. Chase Bish (29-6), P, d. Sr. Ben Levy (23-5), 6-3.
165 -- Sr. Roman Onorato (30-3), P, p. Sr. Mitchell Sutter (24-6), :47.
175 -- Sr. Kevin Roman (23-6), DV, injury, Sr. Sawyer Cabanas (21-5), 2:00.
Records -- Delaware Valley 20-2; Paulsboro 22-2.
Officials -- Doug Hesse and Rick Solofsky.
GROUP 5
SOUTHERN 45, PHILLIPSBURG 21
190 -- Sr. Bradford Birch (25-5), S, p. Jr. Derek Stone (23-9), 5:38.
215 -- Sr. Collin French (28-6), S, p. Sr. Nathan Smith (22-12), 3:41.
285 -- Sr. John Wargo (26-1), P, p. Jr. Caleb Counts (6-10), :41.
106 -- So. Anthony Mason (27-6), S, md. Fr. Anthony Pettinelli (22-10), 9-0.
113 -- Fr. Cash McVey (23-9), S, d. So. Massimo Gonzalez (20-7), 4-3.
120 -- Fr. Owen Garriques (19-12), P, p. Sr. Jacob Chambers (12-14), 5:39.
126 -- So. Attila Vigilante (14-4), S, p. Sr. Dawson McWilliams (14-4), 4:35.
132 -- Jr. Bryce Manera (27-4), S, forfeit.
138 -- Jr. Scottie Sari (24-7), S, d. So. Gavin Geleta (23-9), 4-0.
144 -- Jr. Wyatt Stout (27-4), S, d. Jr. Luke Geleta (28-2), 3-1 SV.
150 -- Jr. Gavin Hawk (29-1), P, p. Sr. Tyler Chase (11-4), 1:27.
157 -- Sr. Matt Henrich (30-3), S, md. Sr. Patrick Day (14-7), 13-3.
165 -- Jr. Hayden Hochstrasser (26-7), S, md. Sr. Johnathon Roth (23-10), 10-0.
175 -- Sr. Liam Packer (28-3), P, d. Sr. Mitch Bivona (21-6), 5-4.
Records -- Phillipsburg 18-1; Southern 18-2.
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