Wrestling – Group Updates

On the final day of the dual-meet season last year, Delbarton was stunned and lost its grip on
the No. 1 spot in New Jersey to St. Joe’s-Montvale..
This time, the Green Wave turned the tables and upended St. Joe’s on the last day.
The Green Wave finished 2024 as the best team in New Jersey after a 30-22 win at Rutgers
Sunday.
At the Morris County Tournament two weeks ago, Delbarton wrestlers told me that they’d never
experienced the closeness and unity that this year’s team has shared. In addition, Coach Brian
Stoll’s team showed a preseason work ethic that was unmatched.
Meanwhile, other Morris-Sussex area schools – namely, Mount Olive, Jefferson, Hanover Park,
Kittatinny – had terrific seasons but found out just how difficult it is to win a Group title in New
Jersey.
Here are five takeaways from the Group and Sectional championships.

Several Green Wave wrestlers told me earlier this year that this group is more tight-knit
than any other group they’d been around. When you’re going against a team that relied
on several transfers, that togetherness sure comes in handy. Also, Delbarton’s freshman
class (namely, Cameron Sontz, Ryan DeGeorge and Gabe Logan) came up huge when
needed. How top-notch a class is this? When you watch them work, you’d swear they
were seniors. Their technical ability on the mat, especially for ninth graders, is second to
none. In addition, Delbarton’s schedule, which included 11 schools ranked in the Top 40
(including Blair and Wyoming Seminary) came in handy during the tighter matches
against Joe’s. It was Stoll’s third state Group title. The Green Wave won it all in 2011
and 2020 and would have likely won it all in 2021 but COVID kept that from happening.
Come to think of it, the Green Wave’s football counterparts may have been the best
team in New Jersey in 2021 before the pandemic ruined any chance of a state
championship. There were no playoffs that year.
Mount Olive, seeking its second Group title in three years, had a brilliant season before
succumbing to Ridge in the state Group IV final, 35-33. Coach Sean Smyth’s team had a
30-12 lead before Ridge roared back. The Basking Ridge school didn’t exactly come out
of nowhere this year. The Somerset County program returned 11 district medalists from
last year. Mix that in with a strong offseason regiment and you see why the Marauder
coaches kept tabs on Ridge all year. You won’t find all too many Ridge wrestlers on the
podium at Boardwalk Hall, but that is missing the point: Ridge was a deep team and that
is what counts when the sectionals roll around. As for Mount Olive, this was another
terrific season that included a 30-26 win over Brick Memorial in the state Group IV
semifinals, a 41-23 win over North Hunterdon, and a 39-24 win over state three-time
state Group III champion Delsea. Which leads to an interesting scenario: Should the
Marauders be ranked ahead of Delsea in the state’s final rankings? I believe so.
NJWrestle.com had Delsea ranked 12th to end the year in its final Top 15 and didn’t
have Mount Olive ranked. I hope the state sports writers poll gets it right. They had St.
Joe’s ranked ahead of Delbarton until the final match – even though Joe’s chose not to
compete in the Catholic School Duals because of injuries. Imagine a football team trying
to pull that off? “Sorry, we’re a little banged up, we won’t play you this week!” The Star-

Ledger had the guts to switch No. 2 Delbarton and No. 1 St. Joe’s but the New Jersey
Sportswriters chose to go with the status quo. Weak!.

Jefferson lost in the state Group II finals to powerhouse Rumson, 60-15. It was the
Falcons first appearance in the Group finals since 1994, when the team won its third
straight Group II crown. Jefferson fielded a team that was similar to Ridge in a lot of
ways. While Ridge returned 11 district medalists, the Falcons brought back nine for first-
year coach Chris Lantz. Jefferson had the daunting task of unseating mighty High Point,
which was not only the returning Group II state champion but came into the year with
one of the best wrestling resumes in all of New Jersey. The Wildcats had won 20
sectional titles in Group III before coming down to Group II and winning nine more (10
altogether in Group II, 30 overall). In addition, this was the swan song of longtime coach
Johnny Gardner, who stepped down after 26 years so he can coach the girls program.
But the Falcons depth ruled the day and they beat High Point, 32-29, before topping
Lower Cape May in the state semifinals, 45-24.
Hanover Park added to its dynasty – thanks to Hornets heavyweight Luke Stephenson,
who came from behind and beat Hasbrouck Heights’ Matt Quish, 2-1, to tie the match
before the Hornets won on criteria D (most matches won). As an aside, the Aviators are
coached by Kurt Freund, who wrestled for Roxbury (and whose father Buddy was the
longtime Gaels coach). It was the Hornets 15th sectional title and 10th in the last 13
years. The program won the state Group II title over Lenape Valley in 2015, a year after
losing a heartbreaker (surrendering four straight pins to close out the match to High
Point in a one-point loss). Hanover ran into Delaware Valley in the state semifinals and
suffered a 55-16 loss (the second loss to DelVal this year).
Kittatinny kept its amazing run of winning a sectional title (beating Emerson, 35-21)
going under legendary coach John Gill, who guided the program to its 25th sectional
crown overall. The Cougars fell in the state semifinals to eventual Group I champion
Paulsboro, 40-24. Gill, in 44 years as the head coach, improved to 655-207-5. Think
about that! Paulsboro, by the way, is 34-5 in state Group I championship matches, which
is truly remarkable.