Wrestling: Region recap for HWS by the numbers

We're on the final leg of the high school wrestling season, but before we turn our focus to the 93rd State Championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (Thursday-Saturday), let's take a look at some of the highlights from the five region tournaments that house teams from the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area.

North advanced a HWS-best 7 to AC (NH Facebook)

But before we do, a little PSA about the locale for Region 1. Full disclosure, I did not attend this year's festivities as in previous seasons at West Milford High School, which has hosted since 2018. But it's high time that Phillipsburg gets to host a region, simply because you can get four mats down in that massive facility in addition to providing plenty of room for wrestlers to warm up. It's really a crying shame that one of the state's most impressive venues is not being used at this level.

Due to northing numbers, Mount Olive, as a power school, would host Region 1 instead of Region 2, which in turn would shift to Phillipsburg. This is no slight to West Milford, but while always a gracious host, the Passaic County school just isn't big enough and the tournament dragged on, especially on Friday evening. Local coaches were grumbling that in today's wrestling world, you need to have four mats.

It's time. The state needs to bring a region to Phillipsburg. And, if so, one mat for championship finals!

Now, a recap of Regions 1 through 5 (also check out our district rundown):  

Boardwalk Hall awaits for 32 area wrestlers

32 -- We have that many wrestlers from the HWS area moving on to this week's state tournament (down six from 2023 and '25 and two from '24). In all, 12 advanced out of Region 4 at Union, including an area-best seven from North Hunterdon and five from Pope John. Delaware Valley (Region 5) got six through to AC, while Phillipsburg (Region 1) produced five qualifiers. Hackettstown pushed four on to Boardwalk Hall out of Region 3. Those five schools account for 27 of the 32 wrestlers moving on. Here are the total number of area qualifiers since realignment in 2017 -- 47 in '17, 48 in '18, 50 in '19, 37 in '20, 49 in '22, 46 in '23, 40 in '24, 38 in '25 and 32 in '26. As a side note, there have been 13 state medal winners who finished fourth in the regions (not including 2021) and five were from the HWS area -- North Hunterdon's Andrew Gapas (eighth at 132) in 2017, High Point's Brandon LaRue (sixth at 113), Pope John's Reece Mulduun (seventh at 182) in '18, Sparta's Spencer Stewart (eighth at 120) in '19 and Pope's Jake Holly (eighth at 106) in '24. There were none in 2022 and '23, two in '24 and one in '25 (Sowzrawca Tsay of Bergen Catholic eighth at 150).

135 -- Phillipsburg leads the way among HWS area schools in region champions as junior Owen Garriques became No. 135 in the storied program's history with his fine run at 150 pounds in Region 1, while senior Gavin Geleta (30-4 at 175) was a runner-up. Garriques (34-3), a runner-up as a freshman and third last season, picked up his 90th career win in the process with an 11-5 decision over Dumont's Joseph Petriello, a fourth-place finisher in 2025, in their title bout. Garriques one-upped his famous father, John, a three-time state medalist and currently the head coach at Centenary University, who was a two-time region runner-up (1996, '97) and third-place finisher ('95) for the Stateliners. Owen's uncle, Todd, was a region champion (1992) and two-time state placewinner (third at 145 pounds in '91 and fifth-sixth at 152 in '92) for Hackettstown under coach Rick Thompson, one of only six wrestlers and the first to win three region titles (1970, '71 and '73) for P'burg. Also punching tickets to AC were junior Anthony Pettinelli (23-12 at 120), third this season and a runner-up in 2025, along with and seniors and first-time qualifiers Massimo Gonzalez (30-4 at 138) and Ben Ellis (28-9 at 285). Ellis' father, Steven, was a region champion and state quarterfinalist at heavyweight in 1974 for the 'Liners.

Logan and Cayden Wadle (Jamie Wadle/Facebook)

81 -- North Hunterdon led the way for Hunterdon County for a second straight season as junior Cayden Wadle (32-3 at 106), who should be firmly in the state medal hunt next weekend, added a sixth region title to his family by winning his first and program's 81st in Region 4 on Saturday. Wadle's older brother, Logan, who claimed the school's 13th state championship in 2023, won two region golds, while their father, Rudy, is among just five North wrestlers to claim at least three as he won consecutively in Region 5 from 1991-93. Also advancing were sophomore Owen Fol (31-3 at 113) and senior Reid Buzby (28-9 at 126), both runners-up, along with juniors Aidan Yarussi (32-3 at 132), Kieran Raley (30-8 at 138) and senior Owen Dandeo (23-12 at 215), all third-place finishers. Junior Anthony DeSimone (24-14 at 285) placed fourth. Fol lost a heartbreaker in the finals as he was thrown to his back at the buzzer in a 4-1 loss to Johnson's Matty Ortega. Yarussi, also a medal contender, picked up his 100th career win with an 11-4 decision over Somerville's Aidyn Herrera in their third-place bout. He's the 15th and first to hit the century mark for the Lions since Logan Wadle (109-17 from 2019-23).

46 -- Delaware Valley had a strong consolation round in Region 5 at Franklin, as the Terriers moved six onto AC, including senior Michael Hasson (39-3 at 144), a runner-up and the Terriers' lone finalist. The Group 1 champions had one third-place finisher in junior Vincent Rainey (26-12 at 106) and a quartet of fourth-placers in seniors Julian Bednar (24-9 at 132), Tye Falkenstein (28-12 at 138), along with two-time state qualifiers Sebastian Dobak (33-5 at 150) and Olivier Paul (35-6 at 175). In all, Hunterdon County led the area with 14 qualifiers as Hunterdon Central freshman phenom James Fearon (31-10 at 126) finished third in Region 5. The Red Devils were denied a champion for only the 13th time in program history and have gone back-to-back seasons without a gold for the first time since 2001-02. Voorhees senior Christian Bollette (33-7 at 144) saw his career end with a sixth-place finish in Region 4. Bollette ranks fifth on the school's career wins list at 119-39, one shy of Eric Hall (120-19 from 1992-96), a former head coach and state runner-up for the Vikes and their only four-time region champion.  

Rowinski makes school history at R3 (Hackettstown wrestling Facebook)

11 -- In all, Warren County sent one shy of a dozen to AC. Hackettstown, which had no finalists and has gone without a champion since 2018 -- Alex Carida and Joe Andes became Nos. 15 and 16 for the Tigers -- logged four qualifiers, including junior Joseph Rowinski (41-4 at 120), who picked up his 100th career win in Friday's quarterfinals and finished third, along with junior Giovanni Gutierrez (37-10 at 126), who is sitting on 95 career victories. Rowinski matched his head coach, Tyler Kozimor (102-40 from 2009-13), for ninth place on the school's career wins list. Finishing fourth were juniors Steven Vidal (36-9 at 106) and Bryan Dougherty (34-9 at 150). Warren Hills seniors Augie Szamreta (35-7 at 126) and Davey Rhinehart (32-8 at 132) also moved on to Boardwalk Hall by finishing second and fourth, respectively. Szamreta, a three-time finalist and the Blue Streaks' all-time wins leader at 127-35 overall, was seeking his second title and first since 2024 after a runner-up finish in '25 en route to an eighth-place state medal at 120 pounds. Rhinehart, the school's career pins leader with 84, makes his second trip to AC. Hills' total number of region champs remained at 61 after being shut out for the sixth time in the last 11 seasons. North Warren senior Conor Hallowich (33-10 at 126 pounds), who was a region finalist as a sophomore, finished sixth in Region 1. Hallowich (106-53) is one of just three Patriots to reach the century mark for wins, along with Kevin Brown (124-33 from 2006-10) and Matt Ritchie (103-36 from 2010-14).

Weber (far left) on the podium in AC in 2025

7 -- Pope John carried the flag for Sussex County as the Lions moved five out of Region 4, including first-time champion and senior Cole Dunham (26-6 at 175), who scored a 6-5 win the second tiebreaker over St. Peter's Prep ace Anthony Verdi, a two-time state placewinner. Also moving on for Pope John are seniors Dalton Weber (29-6 at 126), a four-time state qualifier and two-time medalist, along with juniors Braydan Lombreglia (12-4 at 150), Lukas Katsigiannis (31-3 at 157) and senior Nick Mignone (14-6 at 215). Weber, who finished third, was denied in his bid to become just the fifth at his school to capture at least three region titles after winning in 2023 and '25. In all, Sussex, which led the area a year ago with 15 qualifiers, advanced only seven to AC as High Point senior Gavin Mericle (30-2 at 285) finished third and Vernon senior True DiGiuseppe (33-2), who is coached by former High Point star Billy Talmadge, took second in Region 1. DiGiuseppe, whose promising junior season was cut short by injury, is a feel-good story as he became the Vikings' first region semifinalist since 2012 (David Tlatelpa at 220 in 2012) and their first finalist since 2007 (Brian Hoyt at 112 pounds). DiGiuseppe, who was bidding to become Vernon's fifth region winner and first since Don Quimby (1996) heads to AC with a career mark of 98-18. Jan Michaels (1977 and '79) and Joe Stoll (1984) are the only other Vikes to win region golds.

33 -- Also of note, Kittatinny did not produce a state qualifier for the first time since 1992, snapping a string of 33 straight region tournaments, as junior Michael Witowski was the Cougars' highest finisher (sixth at 175). Sparta senior Ryan Hrenenko (39-4), a runner-up in 2025, saw his fine career end with a sixth-place finish at 144 pounds in Region 1. Hrenenko, who ranks second on the school's all-time wins list at130-28 overall, was looking to become the Spartans' 21st champ and first since Phil Takacs-Senske (189 pounds in 2006). Newton did not advance a wrestler for only the third time since 2005. High Point leads the county with 52 champions overall, followed by Pope John (42), Newton (41), Kittatinny (34), Sparta (20), Lenape Valley (12), Wallkill Valley (10) and Vernon (4).