Hanover Park and High Point brought home sectional championships last year. Mount Olive and Kittatinny came close, and so did Delbarton and Pope John.
The Morris-Sussex area is loaded with great teams once again, and here is an in-depth look at the best teams.
1. Delbarton. Coach Bryan Stoll’s team returns two-time state champion Cam Sontz and returning state champion Jayden James, who won his weight at the Ironman over the weekend. If that were not enough, there is 2024 state champion Ryan DeGeorge, returning third-placer Tommy Marchetti, fourth-placer C.J. Betz, fifth-placer P.J. Terranova, sixth-placer Nick Schwartz, 2024 fourth-placer Gabe Logan, eighth-placer Trevor Jones, and state qualifier August Moser.
2. Mount Olive. Coach Sean Smyth’s Marauders reached the sectional finals in North 1, Group IV before losing to Phillipsburg. Much of the team returns from a talented squad that finished 15-4, including returning state fourth-place finisher Nico Gonzalez (215), and state qualifiers Anthony Piemonte (132), who is a two-time state qualifier, and state qualifiers Colin Smyth, Drew Coppolo, Justin Bullock, and Jared Martini. In addition, Cole Rebels (113), a three-time New Jersey youth state champion, figures to make a huge impact.
Martini won his weight at the Robin Leff Tournament, majoring St. Augustine’s Braden Shields in the finals, 8-0. Smyth, Bullock, and Gonzalez were second at Robin Leff.
3. High Point. Bill Smith’s Wildcats are as deep and as talented as ever, with Carter Drouin (120), Logan Takach (126), Gerard Empirio (150), Jayden Ruplall (165), Gio Dureny (175), Jack Kithcart (190), Rioghnan Wood (215), and Gavin Maricle (285) leading the way.
4. Pope John. The Lions lost to Camden Catholic in the Non-Public B finals last year and Mark Piotrowsky’s team has what it takes to finish the job this time with the likes of state contender Dalton Weber (26-6 at 132), state qualifiers Lukas Katsigiannis (22-9 at 157) and Cole Dunham (32-6 at 175), Michael Marston (10-3 at 150), Daniel Arroyo (12-7 at 150), David Thomson (26-11 at 190) and Jacob Campbell (23-12 at 113) leading the charge.
5. West Morris. Chris Marold’s Wolfpack are in the hunt for a sectional crown in North 2, Group II and have a deep lineup led by returning state seventh-placer Tommy Borgia (285), Brody Neill (132), Chris Kowalik (190) and Jacob Harrison (144). West Morris hasn’t won a sectional crown since 1988 and this could be the year they win one.
6. Morris Knolls. The Golden Eagles finished 19-5 under coach Anthony Vasile and are loaded with 12 returning starters, including talented veterans in Luke Shivas (36-5 at 175), Dominic Litterio (26-12 at 113), Nate Gomes (24-14 at 120), Tyler Kot (22-12 at 157), Kaden Montoya (23-12 at 165), and Lucas Nagua (18-14 at 215).
Morris Knolls swept through the NJAC-National last year and its “reward” is moving up to the rugged NJAC-American, which consists of Morris Hills, Mount Olive, Pope John, Sparta and West Morris.
7. Hanover Park. Tyler Branham’s Hornets will be led by three-time state qualifier Nick DiFrancescantonio, who advanced to the blood round and narrowly missed placing in the Top 8 in Atlantic City the last two years. Another Hanover wrestler to keep an eye on is Don Bosco transfer Joe Monticello, another state tournament qualifier. Aedon Hamilton, who won 25 matches as a heavyweight and qualified for the regions last year, is down to 215 pounds. Alex Spagnulo (106), a youth state champion, will give the lower weights a boost. So will Franco Furfaro, a region qualifier who transferred in from DePaul
8. Kittatinny. Legendary coach John Gill (668-219-5) is back for another year and the Cougars will look to Kyle White (113), Callum Trilling (132), Niko Martinez (157) and Trevor Greenwood (285) to build around. Look out for Mike Witowski (175) and Justin Bradley (150). The Cougars do not have stars but do have more depth than most.
9. Newton. Coach Eric Bollette has some talent to work with, namely Layne Smith (120), Tyler Morodan (157), Joey Milillo (175), and Sean Brown (285) and Tim McNamara (165) returns after an injury sidelined him last year. In addition, brothers Carson and Caulder Tellbuescher (144 and 150, respectively), Cooke brothers (Ethan at 175, Michael at 190), and Matt Habbits (190) have made strides.
10. Montville. Coach Brian Kapral’s Mustangs, who finished 20-6 and won District 8 on their home mat last year, are in the hunt to bring home a sectional championship this year. Montville will be led by Luke Manieri, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Frank, Gage Dembowski and Alex Husti. That group consists of some of the team’s best wrestlers and they all spent much time on the mats in the offseason honing their skills.
11. Roxbury. The Gaels finished 13-8 last year and hope for even more success this winter as three of the team’s best wrestlers – Charlie Bacinsky, Nolan Monaghan, and Jaedon Montalvo – made strides in the offseason. In addition, Trace Roberts and Christian Tummino have shown improvement in the early going.
12. Morris Hills. Coach Brian Bollette’s team will look to 190-pound Frank DiMarzio, who was fourth at the stacked Robin Leff Tournament at Southern over the weekend. Meanwhile, district champion Alex Casarrubias (157) looks to make his mark this winter, and so do Matthew Ochoa (215), Josh Levin (132), Kalan Acevedo (126) Dom Lombardi (113), Ethan Smolinski (150), Andrew Mucci (144), and Tyler DiSanto (175).
STATE WRESTLING TOP 20
1. Delbarton
2. St. Joseph (Montvale)
3. Christian Brothers Academy
4. Camden Catholic
5. Bergen Catholic
6. St. Peter’s Prep
7. Paramus Catholic
8. Southern
9. Mount Olive
10. Delsea
11. Rumson-Fair Haven
12. North Hunterdon
13. Howell
14. Don Bosco Prep
15. St. Joseph (Metuchen)
16. Phillipsburg
17. Pope John
18. Immaculata
19. Seton Hall Prep
20. St. Augustine.
NJWWA voting members 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 (Home News Tribune, Courier News and MyCentralJersey.com); Michael Weilamann (Open Mike and mikeopen.blogspot.com); Brad Wilson (lehighvalleylive.com/The Express Times).
