The St. Joseph (Montvale) wrestling team got its lineup together at the right time, and the result was a second NJSIAA Non-Public A championship and second No. 1 ranking in the final New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20 in the last three seasons.
St. Joseph also defeated Delbarton in the 2023 Non-Public A final and finished No. 1 in the NJWWA Top 20. Delbarton turned the tables last season.
The Green Knights, who were seeded sixth in the Non-Public A bracket, knocked off the top three seeds, capped by a dramatic 30-26 win over No. 1 Delbarton in the final. Before the Delbarton match, St. Joseph avenged a regular season defeat to No. 3 Christian Brothers Academy and defeated No. 2 St. Peter’s Prep.
The reason why the Green Knights were seeded so low was because of defeats to CBA and Bergen Catholic in the Catholic School Duals on Jan. 3-4, when it was missing several key wrestlers, and a defeat by forfeit to Don Bosco Prep due to the use of an ineligible wrestler. The defeat to Bergen Catholic was avenged a week later.
St. Joseph won eight bouts against Delbarton, including the final three from 215-106.
Anthony Harris (215), the state runner-up in 2023, when he was at St. Peter’s Prep, pinned and junior Cristian Alvarez (heavyweight) and highly-touted freshman JoJo Burke (106) both won by decision.
The swing bout came in the fourth one at 132 pounds, when Vincent Paino, a three-time state qualifier and state fifth-place finisher at 132 in 2023, defeated returning state champion Ryan DeGeorge 5-3 in the ultimate tiebreaker.
Delbarton, which had defeated national prep power Blair Academy on Jan. 30, and had overpowered all its in-state opponents before the final, had been ranked No. 1 all season.
Top public school
Rumson-Fair Haven, which won its second straight Group 2 championship, is the top public school in the rankings at No. 5.
The Bulldogs, who defeated Caldwell 40-28 in the Group 2 final, defeated Group 5 champion Southern, Group 4 champion North Hunterdon, Group 4 runner-up Phillipsburg, Group 3 runner-up Brick Memorial and Non-Public A semifinalist St. John Vianney in a 13-day span from Jan 15-28.
Other state champions
In addition to St. Joseph, Southern and North Hunterdon, other state champions were Delsea (Group 3), Delaware Valley (Group 1) and Camden Catholic (Non-Public B).
It was the third straight state title for Southern, which overpowered its five opponents in the state tournament by an average of 49.4 points. It was the seventh state group championship for the Rams, two behind Brick Memorial’s Shore Conference record of nine.
North Hunterdon defeated Phillipsburg 37-27 for its seventh state title and second win of the season over the Stateliners.
The Lions survived a scare from Middletown North in the North 2 Group 4 final as they rallied from a 12-point deficit over the final three bouts for a 32-31 win.
Delsea won its fourth straight state title and sixth overall with a 45-30 win over Brick Memorial. The Crusaders won their five state tournament matches by an average of 43.2 points.
Delaware Valley, which won its 11th state title with a 47-16 win over Hanover Park ran roughshod over its state tournament opponents. The Terriers won their five matches by an average of 57.6 points.
Camden Catholic capped its first unbeaten season in 50 years with a dramatic 32-30 win over Pope John on a pin by sophomore Chase Martino in the final bout at 120 pounds. It is the first unbeaten state championship team in Camden Catholic’s history (the state team tournament began in 1980) and its 19th state championship.
Congratulations to all the state team champions. It is now on to the individual part of the wrestling season, which begins Saturday with the 32 district tournaments.
Here is the complete final NJWWA Top 20 of the 2024-25 season with first-place votes in parentheses followed by voting points.
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).
- St. Joseph (Montvale) (14-3) (8) 160
- Delbarton (23-4) 152
- St. Peter’s Prep (16-3) 144
- Christian Brothers Academy (9-4) 136
- Rumson-Fair Haven (28-1) 128
- St. John Vianney (13-5) 120
- Southern (18-3) 109
- Bergen Catholic (11-3) 104
- Camden Catholic (17-0) 97
- St. Augustine (16-7) 87
- Delsea (21-2) 85
- North Hunterdon (17-6) 74
- Phillipsburg (17-4) 65
- Mount Olive (15-4) 57
- Brick Memorial (14-5) 47
- Cranford (20-4) 37
- Delaware Valley (18-3) 29
- Pope John (11-6) 27
- Caldwell (24-2) 20
- St. Joseph (Metuchen) (18-4) 16
Others receiving votes: High Point (19-6) 2, Middletown North (24-2) 2 Paramus Catholic (9-8) 1.
