Wrestling: Walsh, Hawk ride wave to state finals

ATLANTIC CITY -- The third time was definitely a charm for Pope John junior Carson Walsh, one the three-time state medalist hopes will lead to gold.

Walsh, who lost two previous semifinal appearances, finally got off the schneid with a 3-2 victory over Southern junior Bryce Manera at 132 pounds to highlight action in the 91st State Wrestling Championships on Friday night at Boardwalk Hall. 

"I'm hot right now and it's good," said Walsh (38-3), who has reeled off 30 straight wins since a 3-1 loss to 2024 Rhode Island state champion David Perez of Ponaganset High School in the Sam Cali Invitational finals on Dec. 28, 2023. 

Walsh will next face St. Joseph-Montvale junior Adrian DeJesus, a three-time medalist and 2022 state champion, in Saturday afternoon's finals slated for approximately 3:45 p.m., following the girls championships.

Hawk is Phillipsburg's 61st state finalist

Also earning his first state championship finals appearance was Phillipsburg junior Gavin Hawk, who decked Bergen Catholic senior Jayden Iznaga with a cradle in 3:26 of their 150-pound semifinal. Hawk declined to be interviewed following his victory.

Not as fortunate was teammate and senior John Wargo, who was pinned by St. Joseph-Montvale junior Rocco Dellagata at 285 pounds as the Stateliners put two in the state semis for the first time since Brandon Paetzell (132) and Robert Melise (220) finished as runners-up in 2016.

Hunterdon Central seniors Anthony Rossi (120) and Thomas Brunetti (175) both suffered their first losses of the season in the semifinals, while Pope John sophomore Dalton Weber (126) and Delaware Valley junior Jaden Perez (126) also came up short in their bids to reach the finals.

In all, 10 wrestlers from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area secured medals earlier in the day as the locals went 7-2 in the quarters and 3-3 in the consolation Blood Round. That was after an 0-6 start to Day 2 in the second round of wrestlebacks.

Pride of the Lions

How hot has Walsh been of late? Of his 10 postseason wins, five have been by technical fall, to go with one pin and one major decision as he cruised to District 11 and Region 3 titles. Walsh, who scored a 5-3 win over Delbarton's Chase Quenault in the quarters, joined three other Pope John wrestlers -- Mike Frick (1969-72), JoJo Aragona (2016-19) and Eddie Ventresca (2017, '19 and '20) -- as the only ones to win at least three region crowns. Frick and Aragona are the only Lions to win four. 

"I know wrestling-wise, I can hang with anybody," said Walsh, who was sixth at 113 as a freshman and fourth at 126 as a sophomore in AC. "The mental [part] is the biggest different this year. It's a mental game, one match at a time. Lock [in this win] and be ready to go tomorrow."

Walsh is now 11-5 all-time at Boardwalk Hall

Walsh, a University of Pittsburgh commit, has looked to some heavy hitters in the sport for advice in his quest to become Pope John's 10th state champion and fifth since 2019, when Robbie Garcia, Aragona and Ventresca all won that year. Nick Lodato (2021) is the last Lion to win a state gold.

According to Walsh, former Middletown South great and three-time state champion Glenn Pritzlaff shared a story with him during his club practices about not getting caught clock-watching and keeping up the intensity on offense, while Aragona, a four-time medalist and two-time finalist, has helped immensely with the mental approach. 

"All this mental stuff comes from [Aragona]," Walsh said. "He's been on this stage many times. He's watched me wrestle all year and he knows no one can go with me on the mat. But when I'm not myself, I'm not the same."

Walsh took a 1-0 lead into the third period against Manera and converted what ended up being the difference-making takedown while later not giving up two on a wild scramble with 20 seconds left on the clock.

"I was just looking for offense," Walsh said. "What [Prtizlaff] wanted me to know by telling that story is to always look for my offense no matter what the score is because when I do that, I'm dangerous."

Chasing No. 34

Phillipsburg's state championship drought is an annual topic of conversation during this time of year and really throughout the regular season and offseason with the diehard 'Liner faithful. It's amazing to think that P'burg has only produced two state champions in 28 years -- Marc DeFrancesco in 1996 and Brandon Hull in 2012, the 33rd and last on the boys side when he captured the 220-pound title here. 

Making it even more remarkable is when you consider that since '97, the 'Liners have won 14 of their 23 state team championships. All of this was not lost on first-year head coach Tim Longacre and ace assistant Brad Gentzle, who both mentioned the high importance of getting that 34th state gold.

Hawk (38-2), who ranks 13th on the school's all-time wins list at 110-18, locked up a cradle during a takedown attempt and flattened Iznaga as the throng of P'burg fans roared in approval. Hawk is the Stateliners' first finalist since Brian Meyer finished second at 152 pounds in 2018.

Wargo (34-2), who joined Hawk and junior Luke Geleta, a 2023 medalist who fell in the Blood Round, as the first P'burg trio to win their 100th career bout in the same season on Thursday, lost to Dellagatta, a 2023 fourth-placer at 175, for the second time in as many weeks. 

Dellagatta (34-4) racked up five takedowns in an impressive 10-4 win in their Region 2 finals encounter last Saturday at Mount Olive High School. The start of this one was exactly the same, only Wargo was able to execute a single-leg attempt out of the gate for a quick lead. But the momentum quickly shifted as Dellagatta escaped and converted an inside-trip for a takedown before turning Wargo with a bar and a half for a 6-2 lead through one period. He added two more second-period takedowns before getting another turn for the pin.   

Back points

Perez helped Delaware Valley put a wrestler on the podium in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2012-13, as he rallied for a 9-7 win in sudden victory over Shawnee's Luke Sherlock, who led 6-2 during their quarterfinal matchup. In '12, Mike Pongracz (fifth at 126) and Will Van Doren (eighth at 170) earned medals, while Pongracz also took fifth at 126 in '13. Senior Matt Roche, who did not make it out of Region 4, had snapped the Terriers' six-year medal drought since those two with an eighth-place finish in '23. 

For the first time in seven years, HWS collected 10 medals. Here are the totals since 2011 -- (9) 2023; (9) 2022; (13) 2021; (10) 2020; (16) 2019; (18) 2018; (11) 2017; (8) 2016; (6) 2015; (9) 2014; (4) 2013; (7) 2012; (7) 2011. As you can see, our area has boosted the count considerably post-realignment starting in '17.

Here is the statewide breakdown by region: R7=20; R2 and R5=19; R3=16; R4=12; R1=10; R6=9; R8=7. Of the 112 medals, 58 were earned by the Non-Publics to the 54 for public school wrestlers.

As a side note, there are now 12 state medal winners who finished fourth in the regions (not including 2021) and five hail from the HWS area as Pope John junior Jake Holly (106) became the latest to do it on Saturday. The other locals are: 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 and '23.

A year ago, Hunterdon Central did not have a placewinner for the first time since 2015. But Rossi and Brunetti secured their first state medals with quarterfinal wins. Rossi (41-1) came up short in the semis with a 3-0 loss to two-time Donovan Catholic placer Kurt Wehner, while Brunetti (42-1) ran into a buzzsaw in reigning Delbarton state champ Louis Cerchio, who scored a 21-6 win by technical fall in their 175-pound semifinal.

Voorhees senior Logan Wiecoreck (157) and Hackettstown senior Nicolas Balella (132) also earned their first state medals with wins in the Blood Round. 

Wiecoreck is the 32nd placewinner for the Vikes and first since Lewis Fernandes won back-to-back titles at 285 pounds in 2018-19, while Balella is his school's 13th. It also gave the Tigers medals in consecutive seasons for the first time in 15 years (Cory Vernon-seventh and Zach Ulm-eighth in 2007, Owen Vernon-third in '08 and Corey Kozimor-seventh in '09).