Wrestling: North Hunterdon at Phillipsburg preview

What: North Hunterdon at Phillipsburg Stateliners.

Where: Phillipsburg High School, Lopatcong Township.

When: Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Conference: Skyland Delaware Division.

Records: North Hunterdon 4-5 overall, 0-0 division; Phillipsburg 2-1, 0-0.

State rankings: (NJWWA Top 20): North Hunterdon No. 11; Phillipsburg No. 17.

Coaches: Dave Bell (28-24. third season, 2-1 vs. P'burg); Tim Longacre (37-6, third season, 1-2 vs. NH)

Series history: Phillipsburg owns a 59-13-1 edge dating to 1961, including a 7-5 mark in postseason meetings. Lions swept both meetings last season -- 34-24 in a regular-season clash on Jan. 29, 2025, at the Lions Den (snapping the Stateliners' three-match win streak) and 37-27 in the Group 4 final on Feb. 16 at Rutgers University's Jersey Mike's Arena. North is eyeing a third straight win in the series for only the second time in program history and first since snapping their 17-match skid in the series with a 30-24 win on the road in 2020 and a dominating 37-12 win in the North 2, Group 4 sectional final en route to the Group 4 state title and the program's only unbeaten season. The Lions, who completed a three-peat with 32-23 win at home in 2021, had logged consecutive wins in the series on only one other occasion in 1961-62. North's other wins came in the Group 3 finals (1982, '84 and '93), and regular-season dual meets in 1961, '62, '65, '75 and 2007.

Note: North Hunterdon wrestlers listed first with season records in parentheses.

106 -- Jr. Cayden Wadle (11-2) or So. Thomas Wade (0-2) vs. Fr. Rocco Munzipapa (1-2).

113 -- So. Owen Fol (11-2) vs. So. Zack Swingle (9-4) or Fr. Jack Flynn (2-5).

120 -- Fr. Daniel Snyder (0-11) vs. Jr. Anthony Pettinelli (6-4).

126 -- Sr. Reid Buzby (8-6) vs. Fr. Noah Regemann (3-6).

132 -- Jr. Aidan Yarussi (12-1) vs. So. Matthew Velez (0-5).

138 -- Jr. Kieran Raley (11-3) vs. Sr. Massimo Gonzalez (10-2).

144 -- Jr. Matthew Esposito (9-5) vs. So. Mason Hawk (7-2). 

150 -- Jr. Ian English (8-6) vs. Jr. Owen Garriques (11-2).

157 -- Jr. Luke Charbonneau (6-7) vs. Sr. Brad Kisselbach (7-6).

165 -- Fr. Nicholas Romaniello (1-6) or Jr. Dylan McGuinness (3-3) or Sr. Sebastian Santos (2-8) vs. Jr. Seth Wolfinger (1-3).

175 -- McGuinness or Romaniello or Santos vs. Sr. Gavin Geleta (10-1).

190 -- Sr. Owen Dandeo (5-4) vs. Sr. Kevin Buonocore (2-4).

215 -- So. Dajinder Dillon (4-6) vs. Fr. Ian Jankowski (4-4).

285 -- Jr. Andrew DeSimone (7-6) vs. Sr. Ben Ellis (8-4).

Breakdown: The 74th meeting has the potential to be a real nail-biter, at least on paper, and should decide this season's Delaware Division championship. Interestingly, both teams are coming off tough losses to Howell, which beat North, 35-29, in the Boresch Duals semifinals on Saturday before heading back up the Parkway on Monday to score an impressive 46-29 win at The Pit. North is the odds-on favorite and Phillipsburg has been slow out of the gate this season due to a pre-holiday layoff because of skin issues, but one look at the matchups and it's clear that there could be as many as four or five tossup bouts. North is strong from 106-144, but the Lions have struggled a bit in the middle weights and up top. Phillipsburg is fighting through some varsity inexperience in the middle of its lineup, but the uppers, anchored by Geleta who was a round shy of placing in last season's individual state tournament, are seasoned for the most part with the freshman Jankowski showing immense potential thus far.

P'burg is 234-44-2 all-time vs. Hunterdon-Warren teams

North has a bit more depth and could make a few moves, starting at 106, where Bell may opt to run Wadle up against Swingle, who dropped both of their meetings last season (8-5 SV and 4-1), and insert Wade, who pinned Munzipapa in a recent junior varsity matchup, though the 'Liner was winning handily before the fall so that could be a bit of a gamble on North's part. Depending on where the match starts, Wadle could stay down where he'd be eyeing big bonus points. Fol also went 0-3 against Pettinelli last season and would be giving up weight to move up. Straight up, North is favored at 106, 113, 126, 132, 144 and 190. P'burg has the edge at 120, 150, 175 and 215. Call 138, 157, 165 and 285 tossups. To pull off the upset, I think the 'Liners need all of the tossups -- or an upset elsewhere -- and limit the damage down low. It's a lot to ask, but it's not out of the question and would be a huge momentum builder for a young squad (six starters with 20 or fewer career varsity bouts). But North is the reigning Group 4 champion and has been a bit more battle tested thus far. That should be the difference in a good one!   

Prediction: North Hunterdon, 33-28.

Wrestling: Big HWS tilt, tourney on tap (NJWWA poll)

We're only one day away from perhaps the first of what could be two installments of the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area's most fiercest rivalry.

North Hunterdon will aim to log another program milestone when it travels to Phillipsburg for a huge Skyland Conference matchup at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Lopatcong Township. 

The reigning Group 4 champion Lions (4-5), who have wrestled arguably the state's most rugged early-season slate among public schools, are seeking a third consecutive win over the Stateliners (2-1) for only the second time in their history and first since doing so in 2020-21.

North, which holds the No. 11 spot in this week's New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20 released on Tuesday morning, knocked off No. 17 P'burg twice last season -- 34-24 at the Lions Den in a regular-season clash and 37-27 in the Group 4 final at Rutgers University's Jersey Mike's Arena. 

Phillipsburg, which is coming off a tough 46-29 loss to No. 10 Howell at The Pit on Monday, still owns a 59-13-1 edge in the overall series dating to 1961. Coach Tim Longacre's 'Liners, who recently returned to action after skin issues, are trying to navigate an always challenging schedule as the lineup features several varsity-level newcomers (six wrestlers with fewer than 20 career bouts including three freshmen). Sophomore Mason Hawk (7-2 at 144) is one to keep an eye on, while senior Gavin Geleta (10-1 at 175), who sits at 84 career victories, should be plenty motivated after a Blood Round loss in Atlantic City last season.

Howell has been tough on HWS foes this season as coach John Gagliano's Rebels handed North a 35-29 loss in the Boresch Duals semifinals on Saturday at Newton High School.

Pope John is one of the biggest movers of the week -- jumping five spots to No. 12 and rounding out the HWS contingent in the statewide poll. The Lions (4-2) scored a 35-31win over No. 14 Don Bosco Prep and suffered losses to No. 5 Camden Catholic (52-20) and No. 7 Paramus Catholic (50-22) in its own quad on Saturday in Sparta. Pope John star senior Dalton Weber (14-3 at 132 pounds), a two-time state medalist who recently became the 14th member of his school's 100-wins club, looks to become just the 11th wrestler to win at least three HWS Tournament titles on Saturday at Phillipsburg.

Duals scene  

The third Catholic School Duals this past weekend at Christian Brothers Academy confirmed what most scholastic wrestling fans already knew -- Delbarton is currently the state's best team, even though it wrestled without four starters in the final, including three past state medal winners.

However, the tournament resulted in a shakeup in which team should be ranked where just behind Delbarton.

CBA, which defeated then No. 2 St. Joseph-Montvale, 38-28, in the semifinal before it was defeated 41-26 by Delbarton in the final, moved up to No. 2.

St. Joseph-Montvale, which is the defending Non-Public A champion, wrestled without two starters, including JoJo Burke, last year's 106-pound state champion. The Green Knights were then defeated 44-25 by St. Peter's Prep in the semifinal.

What kind of lineups some of the Non-Public teams are able to put out during much of the regular season is going to be a continuing issue NJWWA voters are going to have to sort through.

St. Peter's Prep, which entered the tournament ranked No. 6, moves up to No. 3. The Marauders also defeated then No. 5 Bergen Catholic, 30-28, in the two-day tournament.

The Catholic School Duals also resulted in some changes at the bottom of the rankings as Immaculata, Seton Hall Prep and St. Augustine -- all ranked in the first poll of the season -- suffered defeats in the event that result in all three dropping out of the rankings.

Here is this week's NJWWA Top 20, with first-place votes in parentheses followed by voting points.
The poll will be posted each Tuesday at 5 a.m. through the dual meet season.

Rank	School	Record	Votes	Previous
1	Delbarton (8)	(8-0)	160	1
2	Christian Brothers Academy	(6-1)	150	3
3	St. Peter's Prep	(4-1)	145	6
4	St. Joseph-Montvale	(5-4)	135	2
5	Camden Catholic	(4-0)	129	4
6	Bergen Catholic	(4-1)	120	5
7	Paramus Catholic	(3-1)	111	7
8	Southern	(3-0)	103	8
9	Delsea	(5-0)	97	10
10	Howell	(7-1)	89	13
11	North Hunterdon	(4-5)	77	12
12	Pope John	(4-2)	68	17
13	Rumson-Fair Haven	(5-0)	66	11
14	Don Bosco Prep	(4-3)	56	14
15	Mount Olive	(1-2)	50	9
16	St. Joseph-Metuchen	(1-0)	44	15
17	Phillipsburg	(2-1)	33	16
18	Middletown North	(5-0)	21	NR
19	Washington Township	(4-0)	14	NR
20	Lower Cape May	(6-0)	5	NR

Also receiving votes: Immaculata (4-3) 4; Delaware Valley (8-0) 2; St. Augustine Prep (3-2) 2; Seneca (4-0) 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).  

Wrestling: HWS schedule for Jan. 5-10

Monday, Jan. 5

Independent

Howell vs. Phillipsburg at The Pit, 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 6

(All matches 6 p.m. unless noted)

Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference

Kittatinny at Hackettstown
North Warren at Wallkill Valley
Morris Knolls at Pope John, 7 p.m.
Parsippany at Sparta, 7 p.m.
Vernon at Dover

Independent

Delaware Valley at Bloomfield

Wednesday, Jan. 7

(All matches 7 p.m. unless noted)

Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference

West Morris at High Point

Skyland Conference

Hunterdon Central at Delaware Valley, 6 p.m.
North Hunterdon at Phillipsburg
Bound Brook at South Hunterdon, 6 p.m.
Voorhees at Somerville
Manville at Warren Hills
Rutgers Prep at Belvidere

Thursday, Jan. 8

(All matches 7 p.m. )

Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference

High Point at Lenape Valley-Hopatcong
Morris Hills at Pope John
Sparta at Mount Olive

Friday, Jan. 9

Independent 

Central Jersey College Prep Charter at South Hunterdon, 4 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 10

HWS Tournament at Phillipsburg, 9 a.m.