Wrestling: North sweeps P'burg to win Group 4 title

PISCATAWAY -- North Hunterdon's transformation from sub-.500 team to championship club is complete.

In the process, coach Dave Bell's Lions pulled off a rare feat in beating Phillipsburg twice in one season as North won four of the last five bouts, including a clutch decision at 215 pounds, to score a 37-27 victory in the Group 4 state final on Sunday at Rutgers University's Jersey Mike's Arena.

North's 7 titles matched High Point and Pope John

North Hunterdon (17-6), which endured a 7-13 campaign last season, captured its seventh championship (third in Group 4) overall and third since 2020. It also gave Hunterdon County a pair of winners for the second time in three years after Delaware Valley cruised to the Group 1 title with a 47-16 rout of Hanover Park. The Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area went 2-1 on the day, as Pope John gave unbeaten Camden Catholic all it could handle in a 32-30 loss in their Non-Public B matchup.
  

"We started at a great weight [113 pounds] and got rolling early," said North senior Joshua Joubert, who halted Phillipsburg's three-bout run with a technical fall win at 165 pounds and gave the Lions, who won nine bouts overall, a 22-21 lead they would not relinquish. "The lightweights, I knew they would pull through and get bonus. We got pretty amped after [Celentano] got his pin. I think from there it was barbecue chicken."

Once again it was North sophomore Anthony DeSimone delivering a knockout blow -- much like he did in North's 34-24 win over P'burg on Jan. 29 -- with his clutch 9-7 win over HWS champion Kevin Buonocore that sealed the title with two bouts remaining. DeSimone (9-17), a second-year wrestler who seemed to be tiring late, trailed by a point in the third period after being hit with a second stall warning and converted the go-ahead takedown -- his first since a pair in the first period -- with 24 seconds left on the clock. 

North also beat P'burg twice in its 2020 title run

"I just got an underhook and threw it by to a single, brought [his leg] up and tripped him," said DeSimone, who scored a 12-7 win over Buonocore in the regular-season dual. "I knew I had to get something. My double-leg really wasn't working so I had to switch it up."

"We told him that we had a lot of faith in him," veteran coach Dave Bell said of DeSimone. "He's the guy we wanted out there."

North sophomore Cayden Wadle iced the cake with a 4-1 decision in the final bout at 106 to earn his second win over P'burg freshman Zack Swingle. The Wadle family now has been a part of four state titles for North as Cayden's older brother, Logan, won two (2020 and '23), while their father, Rudy, helped the Lions capture a Group 3 title in 1994. 

"It's awesome. "It's a great feeling to have that with my family," Cayden said. "But we're going to come back and win another one next year."

Phillipsburg (17-4), which was seeking its first title since winning the Group 5 championship in 2022, seemed to be in good shape early in the match. The 'Liners got the major they wanted in the previous meeting to start it off at 113, and nearly pulled off what would have been a huge upset at 126, as North junior Reid Buzby pulled out a 4-2 win over Massimo Gonzalez by converting a takedown with six seconds left on the clock in the third period.

North has won 5 of the last 8 vs. P'burg since 2020

That's when P'burg made a head-scratching move. Instead of bumping sophomore Owen Garriques to 138, as they did the last time, Stateliner coaches sent him out at 132, where much-stronger Lions sophomore Aidan Yarussi racked up six takedowns in a 20-7 win. Junior Kieran Raley followed with a 17-4 major and nearly decked Anthony Ashford with a half in the third period. 

Raley handed Garriques a 7-2 loss with the match already sealed in the previous meeting and Yarussi scored a tech, so both duals resulted in eight team points for North at those weights. Needing to make up a 10-point deficit from the last dual, most figured P'burg needed a split of those two weights and Yarussi rated a strong favorite against any 'Liner. 

"We thought there were a few things they could do," said Bell, who guided Bergen Catholic to 11 Non-Public A championships and became the first HWS area head coach to lead two programs to state titles since Mike Rossetti did it at Jefferson (Group 2 in 1992, '93 and '94) and P'burg (1996 in Group 3, '97, '98 and '99 in Group 4). 

"We thought they might send out [state finalist Gavin] Hawk against Joubert," Bell said. "That's why we [took the odd bouts]. We would have taken the [Brad] Kisselbach-[Dylan] McGuinness match. I don't know why they didn't got for that [option]."

Joubert's win started the four-bout run that led to a championship finish.

"It was pretty special going out there," Joubert said. "I honestly thought I was going to [wrestle] Hawk, but I'm plenty happy to go out there and get a tech for my team. That's what they needed. Obviously, they needed Evan [Kinney] to get a tech, too, or a pin. I'm glad we could deliver."

NORTH HUNTERDON 37, PHILLIPSBURG 27
113 -- So. Anthony Pettinelli (28-6), P, md. Fr. Owen Fol (20-15), 9-1.
120 -- Sr. Joseph Celentano (20-13), NH, p. Fr. Matthew Velez (12-18), 2:44.
126 -- Jr. Reid Buzby (26-8), NH, d. Jr. Massimo Gonzalez (25-10), 4-2.
132 -- So. Aidan Yarussi (30-4), NH, md. So. Owen Garriques (23-9), 20-7.
138 -- So. Kieran Raley (19-16), NH, md. Sr. Anthony Ashford (9-13), 17-4.
144 -- Sr. Luke Geleta (30-1), P, p. So. Matthew Esposito (13-10), 2:18.
150 -- Jr. Gavin Geleta (25-6), P, tf. Sr. Vincenzo Darrow (12-11), 19-2, 4:18.
157 -- Sr. Gavin Hawk (30-1), P, p. So. Dylan McGuinness (10-18), :55.
165 -- Sr. Joshua Joubert (22-13), NH, tf. Sr. Benny Mendoza (11-8), 16-0, 4:35.
175 -- Sr. Evan Kinney (28-3), NH, tf. Sr. Derek Stone (20-10), 17-1, 4:41.
190 -- Jr. Owen Dandeo (20-11), NH, md. Sr. Jesus Alfaro (16-17), 14-3.
215 -- So. Andrew DeSimone (9-17), NH, d. Jr. Kevin Buonocore (16-12), 9-7.
285 -- Jr. Ben Ellis (20-12), P, p. Sr. James Turner (6-11), 2:41.
106 -- So. Cayden Wadle (25-8), NH, d. Fr. Zack Swingle (23-8), 4-1.
Records -- Phillipsburg 17-4; North Hunterdon 17-6.
Officials -- Cris Ormsby and Joe Venuto.