One of the most dramatic matches in the history of New Jersey scholastic wrestling determined who finished ranked No. 1 in the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association Top 20.
Bergen Catholic's win over then No. 1 Delbarton in the NJSIAA Non-Public North A championship match on Criteria J – most near fall points after a 23-23 tie – gave the Crusaders the inside track to No. 1. They then closed the deal with a 38-20 win over Christian Brothers Academy in the Non-Public A championship match.
Bergen Catholic finishes ranked No. 1 for the first time since 2019. Delbarton had finished No. 1 the last two seasons. The Crusaders had finished No. 1 six consecutive seasons from 2014-19.
The NJWWA, for the second straight season, will award trophies to both the top Non-Public Team and the top public school team. The trophies, which are donated by NJWWA president and Region 5 ranking chairman Ron Mazzola of Prestige Imaging in Old Bridge, will be presented at the NJSIAA Individual Championships March 3-5 at Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City.
Bergen Catholic will receive the Non-Public trophy. NJSIAA Group 5 champion Phillipsburg, off its late-season surge, will receive the public school trophy.
The Stateliners, who routed Howell 51-8 in the Group 5 championship match after knocking off then unbeaten Southern 27-25 in the Group 5 semifinal, finished ranked No. 4 overall.
GardenStateHSWrestling LLC voted Mount Olive as the top public school. My thought process?
1: A win over Group 3 runner-up Warren Hills, who handed the Stateliners one of its worst in state losses in recent memory.
2: Wins against Delaware Valley and Pope John (Both fellow state champions)
3: Handing Group 2 runner-up High Point one of its most lopsided losses.
4: Some other comparables. Mount Olive beat Hunterdon Central by 18 where Phillipsburg beat them by four.
5: I reached out to six coaches who have been in dual meets or at tournaments with both teams this season. Five out of six said Mount Olive would win and the sixth said it would come down to the coin flip.
Phillipsburg had a great season but that big loss is a blackeye on the overall credentials. Show me where Mount Olive had a loss like that? Don’t worry I’ll wait. I just think instead of being a reactionary vote to what people saw on Sunday it should be the entire body of work. In my opinion, I feel Mount Olive proved they were the best. It would be a hell of a dual meet also.
Here is the final NJWWA Top 20 for 2021-22:
|
Rank
|
School
|
Record
|
Previous
|
|
1
|
Bergen Catholic
|
(12-1)
|
2
|
|
2
|
Delbarton
|
(12-2)
|
1
|
|
3
|
St. Joseph-Montvale
|
(7-3)
|
3
|
|
4
|
Phillipsburg
|
(16-1)
|
13
|
|
5
|
Christian Bros. Academy
|
(18-3)
|
12
|
|
6
|
Southern
|
(17-1)
|
6
|
|
7
|
Mount Olive
|
(18-2)
|
7
|
|
8
|
Paramus Catholic
|
(12-3)
|
4
|
|
9
|
St. Peter's Prep
|
(8-2)
|
5
|
|
10
|
Kingsway
|
(11-2)
|
9
|
|
11
|
St. Augustine
|
(13-4)
|
NR
|
|
12
|
Delsea
|
(20-5)
|
10
|
|
13
|
Warren Hills
|
(17-4)
|
11
|
|
14
|
St. John Vianney
|
(16-4)
|
8
|
|
15
|
Brick Memorial
|
(19-4)
|
19
|
|
16
|
Howell
|
(22-5)
|
15
|
|
17
|
North Hunterdon
|
(16-5)
|
16
|
|
18
|
South Plainfield
|
(16-3)
|
17
|
|
19
|
Middletown South
|
(15-5)
|
14
|
|
20
|
Hunterdon Central
|
(17-4)
|
20
|
NJWWA voting members Listed 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); Jane Havsy (Daily Record and DailyRecord.com); “Screwy” Louie Lazzari (New Jersey wrestling historian); John Lewis (Burlington County Times and phillyburbs.com); Ron Mazzola (NJWWA president and Region 5 ranking chairman); Tom McGurk (Courier Post and courierpostonline.com); Andy Mendlowitz (Home News Tribune, Courier News and MyCentralJersey.com); Andrew Tredinnick (New Jersey Herald and njherald.com); Michael Weilamann (Open Mike and mikeopen.blogspot.com), Brad Wilson (lehighvalleylive.com/The Express Times).
