BY JOE HOFMANN
SECTIONAL TALK
The first power-point rankings are out, and some familiar faces should have little trouble winning their sectional titles. Here is an early snapshot on what to look out for.
SECTION 1
Group 1—Kittatinny is a state Top 10-caliber team and should win the section handily.
Group 2—High Point has taken a step back from its glory days but still has plenty.
Group 3—Passaic Valley, Wayne Valley, and West Milford are all in the hunt in what is not a particularly overpowering section. The shame here is that Roxbury could have won this section had it remained here as it has in past years. The Gaels section – Section 2, Group III – is a whole lot different than this one (read below).
Group 4—Morris Knolls has an influx of strong freshman and could make a run against defending champion West Orange. The Golden Eagles would be the pick if 2012 MCT county champion Mike Rettino were healthy. He is out with a knee injury.
SECTION 2
Group 1—Hanover Park, which captured Section 2, Group I and reached the state Group I finals last year, is a good bet to repeat here.
Group 2—Voorhees, a traditional powerhouse many years ago, has emerged as the favorite.
Group 3—Roxbury would win a lot of sections in New Jersey, but not this one. South Plainfield is a huge favorite.
Group 4—Phillipsburg will not be touched.
NON-PUBLIC
North A—Delbarton is in the midst of another terrific season, and the Green Wave must be at their very best in New Jersey’s best section, which includes St. Peter’s Prep, Bergen Catholic, and Don Bosco.
North B—Morris Catholic is coming along, but the early nod goes to DePaul.
County Tournament time
Three Morris wrestlers will try and defend their 2012 Morris County Tournament championship: Delbarton’s Christian Innarella and Nick Anderson, and Roxbury’s Dillon Artigliere.
There will be 11 new county champions. One of those who has a good shot to make some noise is Jefferson’s Bryan Damon (113), a District 3 champion last year but who didn’t make it out of Region 1. Damon sure looked like he intends to place in ythe MCT – if not the entire state – on Saturday, when the junior beat Bergen Catholic’s Tyler Casamenti, 5-2, and Toms River South’s Kevin Corrigan, 2-0.
Casamenti, who won a first-round match in Atlantic City last year, captured the Bergen County Tournament championship last month. Corrigan, meanwhile, was the Region 6 champion and reached the state semifinals last year before finishing fifth.
In the MCT last year, he was the sixth–seed at 106 but was pinned in 5:26 in the quarterfinals to Hanover Park’s eventual county finalist and state champion Anthony Cefolo.
Damon took a huge step forward in the offseason and is now 15-0.
Cefolo has wrestled at 120 but is certified to wrestle at 113, so a Cefolo-Damon final in the MCT is a distinct possibility.
Wrestlers other than Innarella, Anderson and Artigliere who have the best shot at winning their weight include 182-pound Michael Burns (Morris Knolls), 170-pound Parker Meytrott (Montville), and Cefolo (depending on where he goes). The other weights seem to have at least two wrestlers with a realistic chance, if not more.
The deepest weight class appears to be at 120 with either Cefolo or Austin Nash of Hanover Park, Randolph’s A.J. Vindici, Delbarton’s Nick Farro, Roxbury’s Devon LaFranco, and West Morris’ Cory Fleming.
Delbarton is a heavy favorite to capture its fifth straight team title, which would be the third longest streak by one school in the MCT’s history since it began in 1986. Jefferson won seven straight from 1990-1996. Randolph then reeled off six straight from 1997-2002.
We’ll have our annual MCT selections next week.
MATCHES OF THE WEEK
No. 2 Roxbury travels to No. 1 Delbarton on Tuesday in a battle of Morris County’s two best teams
The Gaels are very strong in the lower through the middle weights, but the Green Wave have the edge in most weights. Neither is especially strong in the upper weights, so if Roxbury can keep it reasonably close until 170, it may have a chance to spring an upset.
In the weekly New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association poll, I almost slid Roxbury into the No. 20 spot before going with Don Bosco. If the Gaels can compete with the Green Wave, and if a New Jersey team in the lower teens falters, I would strongly consider Roxbury next week (provided the Gaels show they belong on the same mat with both Bergen Catholic and High Point in a tri-meet at Bergen on Saturday).
