Wrestling: HWS Tournament information, stats, picks

What: 15th Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex Tournament.

Where: Phillipsburg High School, Lopatcong Township.

When: Saturday's schedule (approximate times): Preliminaries and pre-quarterfinals (four mats), 9:30 a.m.; pre-quarterfinal losers and second wrestlebacks (four mats), 10:30 a.m.; quarterfinals and third wrestlebacks (four mats), 11:30 a.m.; championship semifinals and wrestleback semis (4 mats), 1 p.m.; third-place and fifth-place consolation finals (4 mats), 2:30 p.m.; championship finals (one mat) to follow

Teams (17): Belvidere, Delaware Valley, Hackettstown, High Point, Hopatcong-Lenape Valley, Hunterdon Central, Kittatinny, Newton, North Hunterdon, North Warren, Phillipsburg, Pope John, Sparta, Vernon, Voorhees, Wallkill Valley, Warren Hills.

Returning champions (6, this season's weights): Sr. Jake Holly, Pope John (first-2024, first-2023, 113); Jr. Dalton Weber, Pope John (first-2024, third-2023, 132); Sr. Carson Walsh, Pope John (first-2024, first-2023, first-2022, 138); Sr. Luke Geleta, Phillipsburg (first-2024, first-2023, third-2022, 144); Sr. Jackson Bush, Delaware Valley (first-2024, fifth-2023, 150); Sr. Gavin Hawk, Phillipsburg (first-2024, first-2023, first-2022, 157).

Previous champions (1): Jr. Rhett Washleski, Hunterdon Central (second-2024, first-2023, 150)

Returning placewinners (34, this season's weights): So. Joseph Rowinski, Hackettstown (third-2024, 106); Jr. Augie Szamreta, Warren Hills (second-2024, second-2023, 113); Jr. Conor Hallowich, North Warren (fourth-2024, 113); So. Anthony Pettinelli, Phillipsburg (fifth-2024, 113); Jr. Tristan Fawthrop, Delaware Valley (sixth-2024, 113); Sr. Charlie Piccione, Warren Hills (second-2024, third-2023, 120); Sr. Joseph Celentano, North Hunterdon (fourth-2024, fifth-2023, 120); So. Johnny D'Andrea, Voorhees (sixth-2024, 120); Sr. Jaden Perez, Delaware Valley (second-2024, second-2023, 126); Jr. Massimo Gonzalez, Phillipsburg (third-2024, 126); Jr. Davey Rhinehart, Warren Hills (fifth-2024, sixth-2023, 126); So. Aidan Yarussi, North Hunterdon (third-2024, 132); So. Aidan Webb, Warren Hills (second-2024, 132); Jr. Ryan Hrenenko, Sparta (third-2024, 132); So. Owen Garriques, Phillipsburg (fifth-2024, 132); Jr. Christian Bollette, Voorhees (sixth-2024, sixth-2023, 132); Sr. Logan Hrenenko, Sparta (third-2024, third-2023, fourth-2022, 138); So. Cole Castles, North Warren (sixth-2024, 138); Sr. Gage Graziano, Hopatcong-Lenape Valley (third-2024, 144); Jr. Sebastian Dobak, Delaware Valley (sixth-2024, 144); Jr. Gavin Geleta, Phillipsburg (fourth-2024, sixth-2023, 150); Sr. Aiden McClain, Kittatinny (fifth-2024, 150); Jr. Grant Thompson, Hunterdon Central (second-2024, 157); Jr. Tyler Morodan, Newton (sixth-2024, 157); Sr. Joshua Joubert, North Hunterdon (third-2024, 165); Jr. Jayden Ruplall, High Point (fourth-2024, 165); Sr. Ethan Dalling, Kittatinny (second-2024, second-2023, 175); Jr. True DiGiuseppe, Vernon (third-2024, fourth-2023, 175); Sr. Nehemiah Bugasch, Hunterdon Central (fifth-2024, 175); Sr. Derek Stone, Phillipsburg (fifth-2024, 175); Sr. Kyle Blew, Belvidere (third-2024, 190); Jr. Owen Dandeo, North Hunterdon (fourth-2024, 190); Sr. Luke Brown, Sparta (sixth-2024, 190); Jr. Gavin Mericle, High Point (fifth-2024, 285).

Previous placewinners (4, this season's weight): Sr. Tyler Redfield, Warren Hills (third-2023, 138); Sr. Marc Pavese, Hopatcong-Lenape Valley (sixth-2023, 138); Sr. Luke Sinkewicz, Delaware Valley (fourth-2023, 157); Sr. Aaron Stone, Newton (sixth-2023, 175)

Phillipsburg leads the field with eight team titles (2011-15, '19, '22, '23).

Notes: Pairings were not released on Friday evening as expected. There were several scratches, most notably High Point senior Nick Clayton (150), a three-time HWS placer. No word on when he'll be back in the lineup ... As of Friday, there were a total of 171 wrestlers in the field. Kittatinny and Phillipsburg are the only schools with 14 entries. Delaware Valley and Voorhees are next with 13 apiece. Hunterdon Central, which won its first team championship in 2024, only has seven wrestlers in the tournament. ... Walsh and Hawk are looking to join former Pope John state champs JoJo Aragona (2016-19) and Eddie Ventresca (2017-20) as the only wrestlers to win four HWS titles. Hawk (15-1) became the Stateliners' first three-time winner in 2024. Only 37 wrestlers have won two ore more titles in HWS history, while there have only been three wrestlers to make four championship finals appearances -- Hunterdon Central's Dylan Nace (2011-14), Aragona and Ventresca. The Lions have had at least one winner since 2016 (no finalists in '15). ... P'burg has produced a record 37 individual champions and at least one every year since missing in 2010, followed by Pope John (26), North Hunterdon (24) Hunterdon Central (21), Kittatinny (13), Delaware Valley (11) and Warren Hills (10), which had produced a finalist in all but one of the previous 14 tournaments (2011). No other school boasts double-digit winners. ... Newton has produced at least one finalist in 11 of the previous 14 tournaments, missing only in 2016, '23 and '24. There was no tournament in 2021 due to the pandemic, while there were no fifth-place consolations contested under a shortened format in '22. ... Blew aims to join Dylan Thorsen (2012), Jesse Thorsen (2013), J.B. Lawson (2013) and Quinn Melofchik (2019) as the only HWS champs for Belvidere. ... Two wrestlers are closing in on the century mark for wins -- Piccione (97) and Logan Hrenenko (96) -- as they bid for their first HWS titles.

Championship picks

106 -- Joseph Rowinski, Hackettstown
113 -- Augie Szamreta, Warren Hills
120 -- Charlie Piccione, Warren Hills
126 -- Jaden Perez, Delaware Valley
132 -- Dalton Weber, Pope John
138 -- Carson Walsh, Pope John
144 -- Luke Geleta, Phillipsburg 
150 -- Rhett Washleski, Hunterdon Central
157 -- Gavin Hawk, Phillipsburg
165 -- Cole Dunham, Pope John
175 -- Ethan Dalling, Kittatinny
190 -- Kyle Blew, Belvidere
215 -- Donald Weiss, High Point
285 -- Gavin Mericle, High Point

Team champion: Phillipsburg.