It was a state tournament showing that made Morris County proud – and it may have been the best showing Morris has ever had at the states.
At the very least, it is the best in recent memory.
- Coach Bryan Stoll’s Delbarton brought home three state championships (Cameron Sontz, OW Jayden James, Carl Betz) to Morris County. Sontz (120) beat St. Joe-Montvale’s JoJo Burke in the finals in OT, 8-1. James (165), arguably the OW, pinned St. John Vianney’s Ryan Gavrish in 1:23. Betz (190) beat Don Bosco’s Nevin Mattessich, 8-1.
- The Green Wave had an astonishing total of a New Jersey record seven finalists to equal the record they set two years ago. Other Green Wave wrestlers to reach the finals include Tommy Marchetti (126, who lost in the finals to CBA’s Paul Kenny in 3:38); 2024 state champion Ryan DeGeorge (144, who lost in the finals to CBA’s Robert Duffy, 14-1); Nicolas Schwartz (150, who lost in the finals to Rumson’s Sonny Amato, 8-0); and Gabe Logan (175, who lost a 10-1 decision to Don Bosco’s Santino Rodriguez).
- Delbarton had three other placers including Finn Anderson (seventh at 106), Peter Terranova (sixth at 132), and Trevor Jones (sixth at 157).
- Hanover Park’s Joey Monticello (157) reached the finals but lost in overtime to Bergen Catholic’s Joey Canova in OT, 6-2. The Hornets (35 team points) finished 21st overall, ninth among public schools.
- Mount Olive finished tied with Southern for 11th in the team points and tied for third among public schools. Marauders 215-pounder Nicolas Gonzalez finished second, losing in the finals to Howell’s Tanner Hodgins, 20-7.
- Other area placers include Parsippany Hills Logan Forgatch (seventh at 113), Mount Olive’s Cole Rebels (seventh at 120), Pope John’s Dalton Weber (third at 126), Pope John’s Cole Dunham (fourth at 175), Vernon’s True DiGiuseppe (eighth at 190), West Morris Tommy Borgia (third at 285) and Mount Olive’s Jared Martini (fourth at 285).
Delbarton had four champions in both 2024 (Sontz, DeGeorge, Alessio Perentin, Vinny Lee) and in 2023 (Tyler Vazquez, Perentin, Louis Cerchio, Simon Ruiz) but the Green Wave having seven in the finals for the second time in three years is quite an amazing feat.
And two more finalists from Morris County in Monticello and Gonzalez is downright astonishing for one county.
Historically, Newton once had six champions and two more in the finals, but that was in 1935, when the state finals had just 10 schools and were held at Union High School.
In 1946, Newton had six state champions under the great Henry Boresch and two more in the finals, but the state tournament had a grand total of five schools entered that year.
One year later, Boresch had eight champions and a state runnerup – but only 10 teams entered the state tournament that year.
And in 1948, Newton had seven champions and another finalist among the 10 teams entered.
Newton dominated the state wrestling scene and hats off to the Braves. But those feats pale in comparison to what Delbarton is doing now. High School wrestling has exploded since then and the talent is spread out – but much of that talent is located at Delbarton.
State Tournament team scoring
I cannot for the life of me figure out why there is no team championship awarded at the state tournament (or several prominent in-season tournaments, for that matter).
If there was team scoring at the state tournament, Delbarton would have won the team title for the sixth time in seven years, which is another amazing accomplishment.
This year, Delbarton had arguably the best showing a team has ever had in the state tournament in modern times. Winning Non-Public Group A is an achievement in itself, but the Green Wave also annihilated the rest of the state at the state tournament, scoring 235 points to beat out runnerup St. Joe-Montvale by a whopping 62 points.
Last year, St. Joe-Montvale won the team title over Delbarton (224-217), but the Green Wave won the unofficial team title at the states the previous five years:
2024-Delbarton (229 ½) outlasted Joe’s (226 ½) with Southern (134 ½) third..
2023-Delbarton (205) eked out the team title over Joe’s (203 ½). Bergen (133 ½) was a distant third.
2022-Delbarton (178 ½) had an easier time, winning the title with Bergen (157 ½) and Joe’s (144 ½) finishing second and third, respectively.
2021-In the COVID year, Delbarton (144 ½) still won the team title, beating Brick Memorial (104) with Bergen (93) and Joe’s (93) tied for third.
2020-Delbarton (193) easily beat Bergen (149 ½) and Joe’s (113 ½).
Here and there
I’ll be publishing our annual Big State Sports All-Morris, All-Sussex, and All-Area teams later this week. Here are some of the candidates for:
TEAM OF THE YEAR – To not even think of Delbarton as worthy of Team of the Year is ridiculous. I know they attract kids from a wider area than any other school, but so are the schools the Green Wave are competing against (Joe’s, Bergen, Bosco, CBA, St. Peter’s, etc. plus a national schedule).
As stated in this space many times, it is not easy to win a Group championship because there are so many great programs throughout the state. That is why the Public Team of the Year nod clearly goes to Mount Olive, which became just the seventh public school from Morris County to win a Group championship – and the Marauders did it convincingly with wins over P-Burg, North Hunterdon and Toms River East.
WRESTLER OF THE YEAR – Delbarton had three kids win state championships in Sontz, James and Betz. So in most years, I would have probably given them Co-Wrestler of the Year. But not this year.
COACH OF THE YEAR – Three candidates caught my attention more than others:
1 Bryan Stoll, Delbarton. I can recall the days when the Green Wave would have 1-2 state contenders and little else in the early 2000s. Enter Stoll, who built up the program to become one of the best – if not THE best – not only in New Jersey but nationwide. He has coached a state-record 28 state champions.
2 Sean Smyth, Mount Olive. The Marauders toppled an incredible PBurg dynasty along the way and then cruised past North Hunterdon and Toms River East to win Group IV. When Smyth took over the program, it was always a good-not-great program, but Smyth has turned the Marauders into a Top 10 program – with homegrown wrestlers. Catholic schools attract wrestlers in one way, and there are some public school powerhouses around New Jersey (Delsea, Southern, Rumson … Paulsboro of old) who attract wrestlers in a different way than Mount Olive does. Not saying what they do is illegal, but they have a decided advantage over schools who do not attract their athletes in the same way. So kudos to Smyth and his terrific staff for what they have been able to accomplish.
3 Tyler Branham, Hanover Park. The Hornets lost 10 starters from last year’s sectional champions. Branham mixed and matched and brought home another.
Final State Coaches Poll
- Delbarton
- CBA
- St. Peter’s Prep
- Bergen Catholic
- St. Joe-Montvale
- Southern
- Camden Catholic
- Bergen Catholic
- Delsea
- Mount Olive
- Howell
- Pope John
- Delaware Valley
- Phillipsburg
- Rumson
- Seton Hall Prep
- Immaculata
- North Hunterdon
- St. Joe-Metuchen
- West Essex
- Don Bosco
- St. Augustine
- Lower Cape May
- Red Bank Catholic
- Old Bridge
KUDOS
Hats off to the schools who stepped out of the area to win sectional or Group championships.
- Hanover Park won North 2, Group I for the fourth straight year. The Hornets have now won eight sectional titles in Group I and nine in Group II.
- Mount Olive won its second state Group IV crown and first since 2020. That doesn’t happen too often. The Marauders joined Jefferson (1992-94), Randolph (1993), Montville (2020) and Hanover Park (2015) as the only Morris public schools to have ever won state Group titles.
- Delbarton won the state Non-Public A title for the third time since 2020 and fourth overall. The Green Wave won it all in 2011.
Here and there
It appears that next year’s state tournament will return to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Word is it will be held one week before the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference hosts its postseason tournament the weekend of March 6. That would mean the states will be held the final week of February (Feb. 25-27).
So the schedule for the postseason next year would be:
State sectionals: Week of Feb. 1
Districts: Feb. 13
Regions: Feb. 19-20
States: Feb. 25-27
