Radical realignment of Shore wrestling divisions went too far. Here's a better plan.
The Shore Conference has radically realigned its wrestling divisions for the 2024-25 season and implemented an eight-division setup that emphasizes strength of program and competitive balance.
The realignment was based on returning state placewinners, returning region placewinners and power points, Shore Conference president and Shore Regional athletic director Harry Chebookjian said. .
Chebookjian said wrestling realignment will now be done every year.
Enrollment and geography – two aspects the conference had utilized for many years – were not factors.
The change in alignment puts wrestling more in line with what the conference has done in recent seasons with its football divisions
The headline division will be the A Division consisting of Christian Brothers Academy, Southern, St. John Vianney, Rumson-Fair Haven and Brick Memorial.
Those teams finished the season ranked 1-4 and 6 in the Asbury Park Press Top 15. Southern, St. John Vianney and Rumson-Fair Haven all won NJSIAA group championships and Brick Memorial won a sectional title.
The eight-division setup is two more than the conference had utilized for many years. Six divisions will have five schools and the last two will have seven schools.
This will create interesting scheduling issues because 30 schools will have only four divisional matches.
The alignment also eliminated historical rivalry matches as divisonal matches, like Southern-Jackson Memorial; Brick Memorial-Jackson Memorial and Brick Memorial-Toms River East. If those matches take place, they will have to be scheduled as nondivisional matches.
The Shore Conference will have 44 wrestling programs next season with New Egypt joining the conference.
2024-25 Shore Conference divisional alignment
A Division: CBA, Southern, St. John Vianney, Rumson-Fair Haven, Brick Memorial.
B Division: Red Bank Catholic, Howell, Middletown North, Point Pleasant Borough, Ocean.
C Division: Holmdel, Lacey, Jackson Liberty, Colts Neck, Wall.
D Division: Jackson Memorial, Long Branch, Raritan, Donovan Catholic, Matawan.
E Division: Red Bank Regional, Toms River East, Manasquan, Central, Middletown South.
F Division: Toms River South, Manalapan, Freehold, Keansburg, Brick.
G Division: Marlboro, Point Pleasant Beach, Toms River North, Freehold Township, Barnegat, Shore, Manchester.
H Division: Monmouth, Lakewood, Pinelands, Asbury Park, Neptune, New Egypt, Keyport.
What I would have done using the strength of program model
I would have cut the divisions to six. More divisional champions are not needed. This should not be about crowning as many divisional titles as possible. It should be about creating competitive balance with a geographical component to it. The conference did that with its football alignment for the 2024 season.
I would have four divisions of seven schools and two with eight.
I understand what the Shore Conference is doing. There have been too many lopsided divisional matches for many years, especially when the power schools wrestle a struggling program.
I like the idea of the power division, like the conference has used in football.
But, I think this setup has gone too far and created too many matches in the lower divisions that are not appealing from a fan standpoint when it comes to watching their team wrestle someone who is not from their geographical area.
It has also increased travel at a time when many school budgets are tight.
Here is my setup:
A Division: CBA, Southern, St. John Vianney, Rumson-Fair Haven, Red Bank Catholic, Brick Memorial, Howell.
NOTE: These were the consensus top seven teams in the Shore this past season and there are still some rivalry matches in there. I know the Shore Conference does not like to place more than two non public schools in the same division, but an exception should be made here if the goal is to try create competitive balance.
B Division: Middletown North, Ocean, Jackson Liberty, Point Pleasant Borough, Lacey, Colts Neck, Wall.
NOTE: Middletown North, Ocean, Jackson Liberty and Point Borough were the consensus 8-11 teams this past season. Lacey just missed the cut in the APP Top 15 and had wins over Point Borough and Colts Neck. Colts Neck was ranked 14th, was in a sectional final and won Class B North with a win over Ocean Wall has a talented freshman class and good classes on the way. Ocean and Point Borough were also sectional finalists.
C Division: Holmdel, Raritan, Long Branch, Middletown South, Manalapan, Donovan Catholic, Jackson Memorial.
NOTE: Holmdel, Raritan and Long Branch finished ranked 12, 13 and 15 in the APP Top 15. Both Holmdel and Raritan defeated Colts Neck and Long Branch defeated Lacey. Middletown South and Manalapan were middle of the pack in Class A North. Donovan Catholic was fourth in Class B South and Jackson Memorial was third in Class A South with a win over Point Borough and close losses to Lacey and Jackson Liberty.
D Division: Manasquan, Red Bank, Matawan, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Marlboro, Monmouth.
NOTE: This is a combination of the 4-6 teams in Class B North, the 6-8 teams in Class A North and the final team from Class A Central. Placing Monmouth is a difficult call because it has struggled in recent seasons.
E Division: Brick, Central, Toms River East, Toms River North, Toms River South, Barnegat, Manchester, Pinelands.
NOTE: This is a combination of the 4-8 teams from Class A South and the 5-7 teams from Class B South.
F Division: Point Pleasant Beach, Keansburg, Shore, Asbury Park, Keyport, Lakewood, Neptune, New Egypt.
NOTE: This is the conference’s six Group 1 schools teamed up with two Group 4 programs that have struggled in recent seasons. An argument could be made for placing Point Beach somewhere else because it has defeated larger schools over the years, but this makes sense from both a familiarity and geographical standpoint.
It is far from perfect, but it combines strength of program, geography and group size, especially in the bottom divisions. It also creates matches fans might be more interested in due to familiarity of opponent.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore Conference NJ wrestling radical division realignment went too far
