PISCATAWAY, NJ (February 16, 2025) – A St. Joseph of Montvale team that felt slighted, a North Hunterdon pride striving for a repeat performance and a Delaware Valley squad that had come together all claimed state championships in the NJSIAA/IBEW Local 102 Team finals Sunday at Jersey’s Mike’s Arena on the campus of Rutgers University.

St. Joseph knocked off a Delbarton team that had sat atop the polls all season, 30-26, in the Non-Public A final, clinched with JoJo Burke’s 8-6 decision at 106 pounds, the last action on the mats after two sessions at Rutgers.

“We knew how good we were, we knew how good our kids are, we knew that doing matchups, nobody else knew. It wasn’t a surprise to us,” St. Joe’s Coach Tom Farinaro said. “Nobody picked us to win.”

Moments earlier, on an adjacent mat, Anthony DeSimone clinched the Group IV title for North Hunterdon with a 9-7 decision at 215 pounds, giving the Lions a 13-point lead with two matches remaining. After a pin by Phillipsburg’s Ben Ellis at 285, Cayden Wadle finalized the Lions 37-27 victory with a 4-1 decision at 106. 

During the noon session, Delaware Valley Regional rode a streak of five straight wins, totalling 28 points, to post a 44-16 victory over Hanover Park in Group I final.

Caldwell battled back to within a one-match deficit in the Group II final before falling to Rumson, the state’s top-ranked public school, 40-28.

Pope John also came close, losing the Non-Public B final 32-30 on a final match pinfall to Camden Catholic.

Group I
Delaware Valley 44, Hanover Park 16

Jayden Perez, who posted his 100th victory earlier this season, started the match with a 17-0 technical fall over Nick DiFrancescantonio at 126 pounds, a win Terriers Coach Andy Fitz said set the tone for his team.

The schools traded victories for the first four matches, with Delaware Valley holding a 10-7 lead before Jackson Bush, wrestling at 150 pounds, posted his 100th career victory and launched a series of three pins and two tech falls for Del Val.

Luke Sinkiewicz was named Performance Trophies Hammer of the Match for his pin at the 4:50 mark at 157.

Group II
Rumson 40, Caldwell 28

A pin by Matt Ruane at 106 pounds and a 7-4 decision by Carmine Sipper at 113 left Caldwell six points behind Rumson, 34-28, but a pin by Elijah Bayne of Rumson 41 seconds into the second period ended the Chief’s hopes and clinched the crown for Rumson.

Group III
Delsea 45, Brick Memorial 30

Delsea had a 33-0 lead after six matches and withstood a late five-match, 27-point run by Brick to win the Group III title, 45-30.

Group IV
North Hunterdon 37, Phillipsburg 27

“Heart,” was the reason North Hunterdon Coach Dave Bell gave for his team’s 37-27 victory over Phillipsburg, a team the Lions had beaten 34-24 at home on Jan. 29.

Sunday at 215 pounds, Anthony DeSimone of North Hunterdon and Kevin Buonocore of Phillipsburg were tied 6-6, the Lions clawing to hold a 10-point lead, after two periods. An escape gave Buonocore a 7-6 1:10 into the third period, but a DeSimone takedown with 22 seconds left gave him a two-point lead, drawing a roar from the bench, and his 9-7 decision gave North Hunterdon an insurmountable 13-point advantage with only two matches remaining.

DeSimone said when he saw that the dual would start at 113 pounds, he knew it could come down to his match.

“I try to stay calm,” DeSimone said.

Non-Public A
St. Joseph (Montvale) 30, Delbarton 26

“Everybody picked us to lose. Nobody knew who we were, we knew who we were,” Farinaro said after his team won eight weight classes Sunday.

“We came in here a little bit angry,” Farinaro said, citing the seed the Green Knights received, and the travel it forced, as well respect.

The Green Knights beat Seton Hall Prep 46-29 Feb. 11 and St. Peter’s Prep 39-21 Feb. 13, both matches on the road.

“We had a lot of injuries during, we had a lot of adversity during the year,” he said. “We finally  came together this past week.

“We wrestled at full strength,” he added. “We had a great tournament.”

Non-Public B
Camden Catholic 32, Pope John 30

Chase Martino of Camden Catholic scored a pinfall with nine seconds left in the first period of the final bout, a 120 pounds, erasing a 30-26 Pope John lead.

Access full results on TrackWrestling by clicking here