Wrestling: HWS Tournament information, stats, picks

What: 16th 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.; championships, third-place and fifth-place consolation finals (3 mats) to follow.

Teams (18): Belvidere, Delaware Valley, Hackettstown, High Point, Hopatcong-Lenape Valley, Hunterdon Central, Kittatinny, Newton, North Hunterdon, North Warren, Phillipsburg, Pope John, South Hunterdon, Sparta, Vernon, Voorhees, Wallkill Valley, Warren Hills.

Returning champions (6, this season's weights): Jr. Joseph Rowinski, Hackettstown (first-2025, third-2024, 120); Sr. Augie Szamreta, Warren Hills (first-2025, second-2024, second-2023, 126); Sr. Dalton Weber, Pope John (first-2025, first-2024, third-2023, 132); Sr. Cole Dunham, Pope John (first-2025, 175); Sr. Kevin Buonocore, Phillipsburg (first-2025, 190); Sr. Gavin Mericle, High Point (first-2025, fifth-2024, 285). 

Returning placewinners (38, this season's weights): Jr. Cayden Wadle, North Hunterdon (second-2025, 106); Jr. Steven Vidal, Hackettstown (sixth-2025, 106); So. Zack Swingle, Phillipsburg (third-2025, 113); So. Cole Dahl, Voorhees (fifth-2025, 113); So. Owen Fol, North Hunterdon (fifth-2025, 113); Jr. Nicholas Delcalzo, Wallkill Valley (sixth-2025, 113); Jr. Anthony Pettinelli, Phillipsburg (second-2025, fifth-2024, 120); Sr. Reid Buzby, North Hunterdon (second-126); So. Logan Takach, High Point (fourth-2025, 126); Sr. Conor Hallowich, North Warren (fourth-2025, fourth-2024, 126); So. Giovanni Gutierrez, Hackettstown (sixth-2025, 126); Jr. Aidan Yarussi, North Hunterdon (second-2025, third-2024, 132); Sr. Davey Rhinehart, Warren Hills (fourth-2025, fifth-2024, sixth-2023, 132); So. Matthew Velez, Phillipsburg (fifth-2025, 132); Jr. Bryan Dougherty, Hackettstown (third-2025, 138); Sr. Massimo Gonzalez, Phillipsburg (third-2025, third-2024, 138); Jr. Kieran Raley, North Hunterdon (sixth-2025, 138); Sr. Ryan Hrenenko, Sparta (third-2025, third-2024, 144); Sr. Michael Hasson, Delaware Valley (fifth-2025, 144); Sr. Christian Bollette, Voorhees (sixth-2025, sixth-2024, sixth-2023, 144); Jr. Owen Garriques, Phillipsburg (fourth-2025, fifth-2024, 150); Jr. Cole Castles, North Warren (fourth-2025, sixth-2024, 150); Sr. Sebastian Dobak, Delaware Valley (fifth-2025, sixth-2024, 150); Jr. Daniel Arroyo, Pope John (sixth-2025, 150); Sr. Jayden Ruplall, High Point (fourth-2025, fourth-2024, 165); Jr. Lukas Kastigiannis, Pope John (fifth-2025, 165); Sr. Gavin Geleta, Phillipsburg (third-2025, fourth-2024, sixth-2023, 175); Sr. Olivier Paul, Delaware Valley (third-2025, 175); Sr. Jack Kithcart, High Point (second-2025, 190); Sr. True DiGiuseppe, Vernon (fourth-2025, third-2024, fourth-2023, 190); Sr. Owen Dandeo, North Hunterdon (fourth-2025, fourth-2024, 190); Jr. Matthew Sutton, Pope John (sixth-2025, 190); Sr. Liam Hassloch, Sparta (second-2025, 215); Sr. Ben Ellis, Phillipsburg (second-2025, 285); Jr. Trevor Greenwood, Kittatinny (third-2025, 285); Sr. Declan Joyce, Hunterdon Central (fourth-2025, 285); Sr. Luken Alberdi, Delaware Valley (fifth-2025, 285); Sr. Pedro Isaque Dos Santos, Belvidere (sixth-2025, 285).

Previous placewinners (2, this season's weights): Sr. Tristan Fawthrop, Delaware Valley (sixth-2024, 120); Sr. Tyler Morodan, Newton (sixth-2024, 157).

Notes: Pairings were not released on Friday evening as expected (not a huge surprise) due to technical errors and misinformation. But as has been the case in recent years, several former placewinners are absent from this year's event due to injuries. It should be a three-way battle for the overall team championship between North Hunterdon, Pope John and host Phillipsburg. Pope John may be without two returning medalists in Braydan Lombreglia and returning champion David Thomson, who had to injury default in his team's dual meet against Morris Hills on Wednesday. ... Weber (16-3), who is 111-21 overall, is looking to become only the 11th wrestler in tournament history to win at least three titles and the fifth at his school, which has produced three four-time winners including current assistant coach JoJo Aragona (2016-19), who was the first of only four to do so in this event. Eddie Ventresca (2017-20), Carson Walsh (2022-25) and Jake Rotunda (2016-18) are the only other Lions to win three or more. Only 39 wrestlers have won two or more titles in HWS history, while there have only been five

Phillipsburg leads the field with nine team titles (2011-15, '19, '22, '23, '25).

wrestlers to make four championship finals appearances -- Hunterdon Central's Dylan Nace (2011-14) and Phillipsburg's Gavin Hawk (2022-25), along with Aragona, Ventresca and Walsh. Pope John has had at least one winner since 2016 (no finalists in '15). ... P'burg has produced a record 40 individual champions and at least one every year since missing in 2010, followed by Pope John (30), North Hunterdon (24) Hunterdon Central (22), Kittatinny (14), Delaware Valley and Warren Hills (12), which has produced a finalist in all but one of the previous 15 tournaments (2011), and High Point (10). No other school boasts double-digit winners. Reigning Group 4 champion North Hunterdon did not produce a champion in the previous two tournaments. ... Vernon is the only school without a champion, but that could change this season as DiGiuseppe, whose promising junior campaign was cut short due to injury, is primed for a title run at 190 pounds. He's also looking to become the second to win at least 100 career bouts for the Vikings, joining former state medalist Brian Hoyt (114-31 from 2003-07). ... Newton has produced at least one finalist in 11 of the previous 15 tournaments, missing only in 2016, '23, '24 and '25. There was no tournament in 2021 due to the pandemic, while there were no fifth-place consolations contested under a shortened format in '22. ... Two wrestlers are closing in on the century mark for wins -- Bollette (99) and Rhinehart (96) -- as they bid for their first HWS titles. Bollette recently became the winningest wrestler in his wrestling-rich family. His father, J.P. is a former state placewinner for Kittatinny, along with uncle, Eric, who is the head coach at Newton. Another uncle, Brian, who is the head coach at Morris Hills, logged 98 career wins for the Cougars, while Eric amassed 81 under legendary coach John Gill. ... Kittatinny is looking to extend its streak of 15 straight HWS Tournaments with at least one finalist. ... Hrenenko, who recently joined his older brother, Logan, in Sparta's 100-wins club at 104-25 overall, seeks the first title in his family after Logan's runner-up finish at 138 pounds in 2025. ... There are several up-and-coming freshmen to keep an eye on, including Hunterdon Central's James Fearon (126) and High Point's Luke Tompkins (157), who should be in the title hunt.

Championship picks

106 -- Cayden Wadle, North Hunterdon
113 -- Owen Fol, North Hunterdon
120 -- Anthony Pettinelli, Phillipsburg
126 -- Reid Buzby, North Hunterdon
132 -- Dalton Weber, Pope John
138 -- Massimo Gonzalez, Phillipsburg
144 -- Ryan Hrenenko, Sparta
150 -- Owen Garriques, Phillipsburg
157 -- Luke Tompkins, High Point
165 -- Lukas Kastigiannis, Pope John
175 -- Cole Dunham, Pope John
190 -- True DiGiuseppe, Vernon
215 -- Liam Hassloch, Sparta
285 -- Gavin Mericle, High Point

Team champion: Phillipsburg.

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.

Wrestling: HWS schedule for Dec. 23-Jan. 3

Tuesday, Dec. 23

(All matches 3 p.m., unless noted)

Independent

Belvidere at Mendham, 6 p.m.
Kittatinny, Lenape Valley, Vernon, Wayne Valley, Raritan in Kochakji Duals at West Milford

Saturday, Dec. 27

(All events 9 a.m.)

Voorhees at Hunterdon Central Invitational
Hackettstown, Vernon, Wallkill Valley at Lenape Valley Tournament
Belvidere, North Warrren, Sparta in Linn Crawn Classic at Kittatinny

Sunday, Dec. 28

Phillipsburg at Bethlehem Holiday Classic, 9 a.m.

Monday, Dec. 29

(All events 9 a.m., unless noted)

Delaware Valley in John Goles Invitational at Warren Hills
High Point in King of the Castle Classic at Sussex Central (Del.), 10 a.m.
Pope John at Parsippany Hills Tournament
Phillipsburg at Bethlehem Holiday Classic

Tuesday, Dec. 30

(All events 1 p.m., unless noted)

Vernon, Bridgewater-Raritan, Whippany Park at Hackettstown, 9:30 a.m.

Independent

Kittatinny at Hanover Park

Wednesday, Dec. 31

Independent

South Hunterdon at Metuchen, 9 a.m.

Saturday, Jan. 3

(All events 9 a.m., unless noted)

North Hunterdon, Delsea, Governor Livingston, Hanover Park, Holmdel, Howell, South Plainfield in Boresch Duals at Newton
Phillipsburg, Cranford at Old Bridge, 10 a.m.
Belvidere, Clark, Hillside at Roselle Park, 9:30 a.m.
Hackettstown, North Bergen at Livingston
High Point, Nutley at Middletown North, 10 a.m.
Delaware Valley, Mendham, Morris Knolls at Kittatinny
Lenape Valley in Minutemen Classic at Elizabeth
North Warren, New Milford, Northern Highlands at Jefferson, 10 a.m.
Camden Catholic, Don Bosco Prep, Paramus Catholic at Pope John
Hunterdon Central at Williamstown Duals
Sparta, Butler, Kinnelon at Ramsey
North Plainfield, Passaic at Wallkill Valley
Warren Hills, Clearview, Jackson at Hillsborough
Voorhees, Cumberland, Eastern, Pemberton, Pinelands, Red Bank Catholic, Toms River South at Cinnaminson Duals

Independent

Vernon at Tenafly
South Hunterdon at Mountain Lakes

Wrestling: Which HWS teams grace NJWWA poll?

We're back and so is high school wrestling across the Garden State. Pardon the interruption as Open Mike was on extended hiatus and will post as time permits during the 2025-26 campaign. But continue to check back here each week for your trusted source of what's happening across the Hunterdon-Warren-Sussex area.

Tournaments were the name of the game during the first week of action, particularly the rugged Robin Leff Invitational, which saw a number of the state's top teams battle it out at Southern Regional High School on Saturday.

North is eyeing the program's 8th state team title

North Hunterdon, which went 17-6 and captured the Group 4 title last season with a season sweep of Phillipsburg, enjoyed a strong showing with four top-three individual medals, including champion Aidan Yarussi (132 pounds, 72 career wins), along with runners-up Cayden Wadle (106) and Reid Buzby (126) and third-place finisher Owen Fol (113). Buzby (71 career wins) scored an impressive 7-5 win over two-time Southern state medalist Anthony Mason (second in 2024 and fourth in '25) in the semis.

The well-balanced Lions, looking to become the first group to win back-to-back state team titles in program history, are once again sectional and Group 4 favorites. Coach Dave Bell's team, which opens at No. 12 in the season's first New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20, gears up for a pivotal early-season clash against reigning Group 5 champion Southern at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the Lions' Den. They'll also host the Fab 50 Duals on Saturday, which includes several national powers, including Delbarton (No. 1 in New Jersey) and Blair Academy.

Phillipsburg, which produced three top-three finishers on Saturday at Southern, checks in at No. 16, followed by No. 17 Pope John as the HWS area reps in our preseason poll. 

P'burg was hit hard by graduation, but last season's Group 4 runner-up still has plenty of talent up-and-down the lineup, including Robin Leff champion Gavin Geleta (175), who is looking to make noise in Atlantic City come March. The Stateliners will take on No. 9 Mount Olive and unranked Middletown North in a high-powered tri-meet following the 10 a.m. opener between the visitors on Saturday in Lopatcong Township. The nightcap against Mount Olive will be a rematch of last season's North 1, Group 4 sectional title match -- a 31-29 win for P'burg, which also scored a 32-30 win in the regular-season matchup.  

Pope John, which was the Non-Public B runner-up last season, also should make another run to the state championship match at Rutgers in February. The Lions opened with an impressive 44-31 win over No. 18 Immaculata on Saturday as part of a tri-meet, despite the absence of senior Dalton Weber, a two-time state medalist who is sitting on 95 career wins.

Keep an eye on Delaware Valley and High Point as both teams figure to make a push for a Top 20 ranking.

A cut above 

The two teams which have contested for the Non-Public A championship and taken turns finishing as the No. 1 ranked team in the NJWWA Top 20 the past three seasons begin 2025-26 in the top two spots.

Delbarton, which finished No. 1 in 2024, sits in the top spot, followed by St. Joseph-Montvale, which finished No. 1 in '25 and '23.

Senior Jayden James, one of the country's best pound-for-pound wrestlers, leads a Delbarton team that has two returning state champions and another who won a state title in 2024.

James, last year's 150-pound champion and a Penn State recruit, began his season by capturing the 165-pound title at the prestigious Ironman Tournament in Ohio. James defeated Bishop McCort (Pa.) standout and Virginia Tech recruit Melvin Miller, 8-5, in sudden victory in the final.

Delbarton finished third in the team standings at the Ironman. The Green Wave's other returning state champion is junior Cameron Sontz. Sontz won at 106 in 2024 and 113 last season He is a Lehigh University recruit. Junior Ryan DeGeorge, who won at 126 in 2024 and was the runner-up at 132 last year, is the Morristown-based school's other past state champion. DeGeorge is a Rutgers University recruit.

The Green Wave have five other returning state medal winners in their lineup in Tommy Marchetti, Carl Betz, Peter Terranova, Nicholas Schwartz and Trevor Jones.

St. Joseph-Montvale has three returning state runners-up in its lineup in seniors Johnathan McGinty, Charlie Esposito and Cristian Alvarez.

McGinty, a two-time runner-up and three-time state top-five finisher, is an Oklahoma University recruit. Esposito, a two-time top five finisher, is a Rutgers recruit. Alvarez, a heavyweight, is a University of Massachusetts recruit in football. He helped the St. Joseph football team win the Non-Public A championship.

What could be the best team Christian Brothers Academy has had sees the Colts ranked No. 3. Junior Paul Kenny, last year's 120-pound state champion and an Iowa recruit, leads a team has five other returning state medalists and several talented freshmen. Kenny finished second in the Ironman at 126 pounds. CBA was eighth in the team standings.

Southern, the three-time defending Group 5 champion, is the top ranked public school team at No. 8. The Rams have two returning state medalists in senior and Bucknell recruit Mason and sophomore Cade Collins. They also have two other returning region champions and several talented freshmen.

Six of last year's seven group champions -- St. Joseph-Montvale, Camden Catholic (Non-Public B), Southern, Delsea (Group 3), Rumson-Fair Haven, which has won Group 2 the past two seasons, and North Hunterdon (Group 4) are ranked.

The poll will run each Tuesday during the dual-meet season beginning Jan. 6.

Rank	School	Record	Votes
1	Delbarton (8)	(0-0)	160
2	St. Joseph-Montvale	(1-0)	152
3	Christian Brothers Academy	(2-0)	144
4	Camden Catholic	(0-0)	136
5	Bergen Catholic	(0-0)	128
6	St. Peter's Prep	(3-0)	120
7	Paramus Catholic	(1-0)	109
8	Southern	(0-0)	104
9	Mount Olive	(0-0)	97
10	Delsea	(1-0)	87
11	Rumson-Fair Haven	(2-0)	85
12	North Hunterdon	(0-0)	74
13	Howell	(0-0)	65
14	Don Bosco Prep	(0-0)	57
15	St. Joseph-Metuchen	(1-0)	47
16	Phillipsburg	(0-0)	37
17	Pope John	(2-0)	29
18	Immaculata	(1-1)	27
19	Seton Hall Prep	(1-0)	20
20	St. Augustine Prep	(0-0)	16

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). 

Wrestling: Central looks south for new coach

Hunterdon Central's search for only the fourth head coach in program history is over. And for the first time, the Red Devils have gone outside the ranks to find their new leader. 

Manahan

Ryan Manahan is leaving Cherry Hill East High School after just two seasons at the helm to take over one of the state's most storied programs. His hiring as the head wrestling coach and a Health and Physical Education instructor at the Hunterdon County school's was approved during Monday's Board of Education meeting, as first reported by Open Mike.

Manahan, 26, who guided CHE to an overall mark of 15-37 in his first head coaching gig after serving as an assistant for one season at rival Cherry Hill West for the 2022-23 campaign, replaces Jon Cantagallo-Rohm, who resigned last month upon being hired as Mendham High School's supervisor of athletics and activities, effective July 1. 

Manahan was a former Region 7 runner-up at Cherokee High School as a senior (2017) and a two-time district champion who went on to wrestle at The College of New Jersey. The young coach takes over the reins of a high-profile program for the first time -- one that's coming off the worst win-loss total in its 69-year history.

Hunterdon Central (4-19) endured its second losing season and first since going 12-13 in 2005-06, in. Cantagallo-Rohm's 11th and final season. He guided the Red Devils to an overall mark of 184-60, including four sectional (2015, '17, '19, '24) titles and three Group 5 runner-up finishes (2015, '17, '19), along with its only HWS Tournament championship in '24. He also oversaw a major milestone as Central captured its 1,000th win -- 46-30 over Washington Township on Feb. 15, 2020 -- joining Paulsboro and Roselle Park as the only other New Jersey schools to reach that mark. Phillipsburg, which won its 1,000th dual on Jan. 6, 2022, sits one victory behind Central (1,065) as the leaders among HWS programs. Delaware Valley will enter next season at 877, followed by Newton at 863 in 99 seasons. North Hunterdon (836), Warren Hills (829) and High Point (809) are the only schools to reach 800.

JCR (far left) with Washleski at the Beast of the East in 2024

Cantagallo-Rohm, who coached 93 district (42 champs), 53 region (13 champs) and 14 state placewinners, including Brett Ungar who became Central's 13th and last state champion in 2019 before transferring to Notre Dame-Green Pond (Pa.) after that historic sophomore season. Cantagallo-Rohm succeeded Steve Gibble (348-119 in 23 seasons) following the 2013-14 season. Legendary coach Russ Riegel (533-89-6 in 35 seasons), a four-time state finalist for Washington (Warren Hills) High School, founded the program in 1956.

Hunterdon Central is set to return 12 starters next season, including ace Rhett Washleski (41-5), the program's lone state qualifier this past season (seventh at 150 pounds) who is 111-15 overall and will enter his senior season needing 33 wins to surpass Hunter Graf (143-29 from 2014-18) as the school's all-time wins leader.