Wrestling: HWS state roundup by the numbers

As we put a bow on the high school wrestling season, let's take one final look by the numbers at the 91st New Jersey State Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City -- boys and girls edition. 

Lots of interesting stuff involving wrestlers from Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area, plus some statewide stats and info, as well as the never-ending Public vs. Non-Public debates.

Hawk (fourth from left) is 110-19 overall

11 -- Pope John junior Carson Walsh (132) and Phillipsburg junior Gavin Hawk (150) were the only local finalists on the boys side, but they'll have another shot at state gold next season. It won't get any easier as there were 11 underclassmen who won titles, including four from St. Joseph-Montvale. Two juniors -- Adrian DeJesus and Zach Ballante -- kept HWS off the board as DeJesus, a two-time champ, handed Walsh an 8-4 loss in their 132-pound final, while Ballante, a three-time medalist, knocked off Hawk for the second straight week with an 8-4 victory following a 3-1 win in overtime in the Region 2 finals a week earlier. Juniors Ryan Burton (175) and Rocco Dellagatta (285) also won title for St. Joe. Delbarton has three champs returning in freshmen Cameron Sontz (106) and Ryan DeGeorge (126), as well as junior Alessio Perentin (165). St. John Vianney junior and three-time champion Anthony Knox (120) and Brick Memorial junior Harvey Ludington (190), a two-timer, also return along with a pair of first-time champs in St. Peter's Prep junior Caedyn Ricciardi (138) and Rumson-Fair Haven freshman Sonny Amato (144).

7 -- High Point freshman Ella Poalillo became the second at her school to win a state title in the six-year history of the girls tournament -- scoring a 3-1 win over Sussex County-rival and Newton sophomore Eva Barry in their final 138 pounds. Poalillo, who went 4-2 vs. Barry this season and is just the second freshman girl from the area to win a title (Sparta's Paige Weiss won at 107 in 2023), became the sixth winner from HWS overall. Noelle Gaffney was the first champion for the Wildcats with her victory at 165 in 2022. Phillipsburg's Jewel Gonzalez (2019-20), the area's only OW, and Hunterdon Central's Stephanie Andrade (2019-20), the first champ for HWS, are the lone two-time winners. 

Rossi is HC's first top-three placer since 2019 (Brett Ungar first at 106)

53 -- Wrestlers from public high schools accounted for 54 of a possible 112 medals (48 percent), including seven from the HWS area as Hunterdon Central seniors Anthony Rossi (third at 120) and Thomas Brunetti (fourth at175) placed for the first time in their fine careers after entering the tournament unbeaten. Delaware Valley junior Jaden Perez (fifth at 126), Hackettstown senior Nicolas Balella (fifth at 132) and Voorhees senior Logan Wiecoreck (sixth at 157) also became first-time medalists, along with Hawk, while Phillipsburg senior John Wargo (fifth at 285) became the first Stateliner "heavyweight" to place at least twice since Robert Melise captured three medals (fifth at 220 in 2015 and '17 and second in '16). P'burg now has an area-best 152 placewinners (61 finalists) in its illustrious history.  

32 -- Though the number of medals was a 58-54 split favoring the Non-Public schools, consider this: among the top-four finishers at each weight, Non-Publics accounted for 32 of the 56 (57 percent) medals. It revealed what we already knew in that the talent level is top-heavy in favor of the wrestlers from private schools. Pope John junior Jake Holly (eighth at 106) and sophomore Dalton Weber (third at 126) were among that group, along with Walsh, a three-time placewinner who broke his 0-for-2 skid in state semifinal bouts this season. Non-Publics, which accounted for seven medals at 138 and six at 175, had no fewer than three at every other weight but 144 (one). Region 7 led the way with 20 medals, followed by Region 2 and Region 5 with 19 apiece. Region 3 was next with 16, while Region 4 had 12. Region 1 had 10, Region 6 had nine and Region 8 rounds out the list with seven. 

Coesfeld is the 105th member of Sussex's 100-wins club

233 -- Rossi and Brunetti became the 28th and 29th wrestlers at Hunterdon Central to reach the century mark in wins -- no small feat as this year's seniors were the last of the COVID era in 2021. Rossi (43-1), whose only loss was 3-0 to Donovan Catholic runner-up Kurt Wehner in the state semis, picked up his first medal with a third-place finish. At 125-16 overall, the Virginia-bound Rossi ranks tied for sixth place with Vincent Romaniello (125-36 from 2015-19) on the Red Devils' all-time victories list, while Brunetti (43-2), who also reached the semis at 175 and got No. 100 in AC, finished at 102-22.

"That makes me really happy," Rossi said of putting his name up with some of the Central greats. "I wish it could've been higher, but things happen, COVID. Didn't get a lot of matches [9-3 as a freshman]. Just tried my best and gave my full effort." 

There are now 233 wrestlers from the HWS area to reach this milestone, including Phillipsburg's Hawk (110-19), Luke Geleta (102-25) and Wargo (102-18). This was the first time in program history that three Stateliners hit this mark in the same season. Former state runner-up Brian Meyer (131-35 from 2014-18) ranks first for the 'Liners in career wins. On the Sussex side, Kittatinny senior Bryce Coesfeld became the 19th at his school to hit the century mark (100-28) and first since Jackson Crawn (106-33 from 2017-21) with a 6-3 victory over Madison's Jack McCaffrey in the third round of wrestlebacks at 175. 

Weber and Perez on the podium at 126

44 -- Perez, who got hot at the right time during the postseason, added the 44th state medal to Delaware Valley's collection with his run to fifth place at 126 pounds. He's the Terriers' highest finisher since Kyle Lightner won the title at 195 in 2017 -- the school's ninth championship. Perez also gave his school medals in consecutive seasons (senior Matt Roche was eighth at 132 in 2023) for the first time since 2012-13. Along the way, Perez, who's 85-18 overall, avenged an earlier 16-9 loss to Weber in a highly-entertaining HWS Tournament final with a 10-9 decision in their Region 4 title bout. We were one win away from Round 3, but Perez lost 4-3 to Camden Catholic's Sammy Spaulding in the state consolation semis and Weber went on to deck Spaulding in 1:55 to place third. 

"It's not the result I wanted, but it's the result I got," Perez said. "I'm not mad [about] it, but there's definitely some stuff to work on [in the offseason] for sure. Hopefully, I can get that No. 1 next year."

72 -- Rossi and Brunetti were the first pair of semifinalists and top-four finishers for Central since 2000, when Mike Carr won the state title at 215 and Dan Eberstein placed fourth at heavyweight in the Meadowlands. Overall, the Red Devils now have 72 top-four state finishes in the program's 68 seasons.

"Obviously the semis didn't end how I wanted to, but things happen," said Rossi, a four-time state qualifier. "Big difference between this year and the other years is that I'm not treating it like a job. I'm really having fun out there. I'm scoring points and not worried about getting taken down. If I get taken down, I'm going to get out, get my points and have fun, try and get a takedown. 

"Good things come when you're not worried about aspects like that."

Zobian (2nd from left), Wiecoreck, Kurtz, Evans (far right)

32 -- A state medal was the one thing missing from Wiecoreck's resume as the senior became Voorhees' 32nd medalist and first since heavyweight Lewis Fernandes won back-to-back titles in 2018-19. At 118-25, Wiecoreck ranks fifth on the Vikes' career wins list -- behind Fernandes (153), Jadaen Bernstein (135), Kyle DiNapoli (127) and Eric Hall (120). It also helps having several Voorhees legends and former placewinners in your corner. Vikes assistant and former Bridgewater-Raritan head coach Greg Evans (third at 103 in 1988 and sixth at 102 in '87) was in the chair next to head coach Ricky Kurtz, a fourth-place finisher at 160 for Del Val in 2004, while Eric Zobian (seventh-eighth at 189 in '88) also is on staff. Evans and Wiecoreck are the only Vikes to earn sixth-place medals.

85 -- It's been awhile for the five schools in Warren County, which has produced 85 champions -- now fourth behind Bergen (140), Union (129), Sussex (121) and Morris (90) -- in the 91-year history of the State Championships. Washington-Warren Hills has 46 of those, which is second only to Newton (82) statewide, but none since Justin Colaluce won back-to-back titles in 1997-98. Phillipsburg's last and 33rd boys champion was Brandon Hull (220 in 2012). Morris County surpassed Warren with five champions (four from Delbarton) in this year's tournament -- including Mount Olive senior Tyeler Hagensen (113), the Region 2 OW, who ended his school's title drought. Anthony Guidi (152 in 1988) was the Marauders' first champ.

Balella (37-9), who finished 15 wins shy of 100, gave Hackettstown state medal winners 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 2009). Tigers coach Jim Berringer was a two-time placer for Hopatcong (sixth at 140 in 2000 and seventh-eighth at 130 in '99). Balella's uncle, Jim, a current assistant coach, also was a standout wrestler for Hackettstown.

"These coaches are [among] the best in the state, I truly believe," said Nicolas, who avenged a 6-5 OT loss in the semifinals to St. John Vianney's Patrick O'Keefe with a 4-3 win in their fifth-place bout.

"They are all really talented and push me in the [practice] room every day to get better. I really wanted to make the semis, that was my main goal, but we got set back in overtime. We continued to fight. I'm OK with fifth place. Not too bad."

Interesting story here as Aiden Scheeringa, who was sixth at 106 in '23, had one more year of high school eligibility at Hackettstown, but his family moved to South Carolina and he enrolled early at Liberty University. He competed at 125 pounds this season, going 16-17.