A major shakeup seemed inevitable when it comes to the turbulent world of state team rankings.
Phillipsburg (7-0) remained at No. 10 overall and the state's third-ranked public school after the host Stateliners won their county-record ninth team championship at the 15th HWS Tournament on Saturday in Lopatcong Township.
The Warren County school produced a tourney-best 11 placewinners, including senior ace Gavin Hawk (157), who became just the fourth wrestler and first for the 'Liners to win four individual titles. Luke Geleta (144) won his third HWS championship, while junior Kevin Buonocore (215) captured his first county gold medal.
"Not bad at all," said P'burg coach Tim Longacre of his team's overall performance. "Kevin Buonocore put a smile on my face. To see where his confidence has grown and what you saw [in the tournament] is fantastic."
Hawk (16-1), a returning state finalist and 126-20 overall, is closing in on another milestone as he's just five wins shy of matching former state runner-up Brian Meyer (131-35 from 2014-18) atop the school's victories list. Hawk currently sits third behind Meyer and former state medalist Max Elling (128-37 from 2011-15).
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| P'burg is 39-7 all-time vs. DV since 1975 |
Phillipsburg rolled to a 52-15 win over Hanover Park, which is among the Group 1 title favorites, on Monday night at home as Hawk added to his program pins record with No. 82. The 'Liners will next host Hillsborough on Wednesday before a showdown at Delaware Valley on Friday in Alexandria Township.
Longacre, whose team scored a 39-22 win over Del Val last season, is looking for his 'Liners to keep taking that next step forward.
"I'm never satisfied. We need to be a lot more sharper, a lot more polished," he said on Saturday. "I think we're wrestling as expected. So we're still waiting for the wow factor. Who's going to wow us. Kevin [did that at HWS]. That was a good moment, so that's what we need to keep building on every day."
All signs point North
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| North finished second at the Boresch Duals |
Sophomores Cayden Wadle (13-2 at 106) and Aidan Yarussi (14-3 at 132), junior Reid Buzby (12-5 at 126) and seniors Joseph Celentano (8-7 at 120), Josh Joubert (9-8 at 165) and Evan Kinney (14-2 at 175) were runners-up for North, which did not produce a county champ for only the third time in tourney history (2018 and '24 were the other years).
North's only losses are to the state's top two public schools -- No. 8 Southern (55-18 on Dec. 18) and No. 9 Delsea (65-11 on Jan. 4). The Lions are gearing up to host No. 12 Rumson-Fair Haven on Friday before facing High Point and Ocean Township in a quad at DePaul on Saturday.
Also receiving votes: Delaware Valley (8-1) 7; Cranford (9-2) 5; Ridge (9-2) 5; Wayne Valley (10-0) 1.
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).
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