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Wrestling rankings: This week's area Skyland and UCC Top 10

andy mendlowitz, mycentraljersey.com
·3 min read

The inclement weather wiped away some intriguing matches, but there was still a lot of action this past week.

NOTE: The Courier News area consists of Hunterdon and Somerset counties, with parts of Middlesex (South Plainfield, Piscataway, Middlesex/Dunellen) and Union (Governor Livingston, Plainfield, New Providence, Scotch Plains-Fanwood, Westfield).

Wrestling: Daily box scores for Middlesex, Somerset, Hunterdon and area Union counties

Courier News Area Top 10

(Records through Monday, Jan. 22)

1. Hunterdon Central (13-1) – last ranking No. 1: The Red Devils keep rolling with a 4-0 week highlighted by a classic 35-34 win over fellow state-ranked Mount Olive and a 44-19 victory over rival North Hunterdon. Hunterdon Central also won big over good Middlesex County teams in Sayreville and St. Thomas Aquinas. Does it get any easier? No. On tap this week are state-ranked Delaware Valley and Delsea.

Hunterdon Central's Jackson Call wrestles in the Hunterdon Central Invitational on Dec. 30, 2023
Hunterdon Central's Jackson Call wrestles in the Hunterdon Central Invitational on Dec. 30, 2023

2. Delaware Valley (10-0) – last ranking No. 2: It’s almost like a Big Ten wrestling schedule – there’s just seemingly no easy matches. Last week, Del Val did make it look easy with comfortable victories over No. 4 Ridge and No. 6 Watchung Hills. The Terriers now get state-ranked Hunterdon Central and Phillipsburg this week.

3. Governor Livingston (15-2) – last ranking No. 3: So, so, close. The Highlanders nearly knocked off Cranford in the Union County Tournament but fell just short for the third-straight season with a second-place finish. Cranford held a 223.5 to 217 edge. GL had 12 medalists led by champions Jake Kreisberg (157) and Nathon Faxon (215), as well as runners-up Christian Sabatino (113), Henrique Ribeiro (126), Joe Dasti (150) and Cristian Gioia (165).

4. Ridge (10-2) – last ranking No. 4: Fresh off a third-place finish in the Virginia Duals, the Red Devils got a key Skyland Raritan Valley Division win over Voorhees (57-15), then fell to No. 2 Delaware Valley (53-16). Hey, coaches and wrestlers want that tough competition. That’s good, because action this week includes matches against No. 3 Governor Livingston, No. 8 Bridgewater-Raritan and No. 9 Bernards.

5. North Hunterdon (4-8) – last ranking No. 5: While North Hunterdon is in sort of a rebuilding mode with several new starters, the Lions still have that ultra-tough schedule. So, the final result isn’t always going to reflect the improvements. North Hunterdon lost to state-ranked Hunterdon Central and West Essex last week and dropped a thriller to High Point, 35-34, on criteria.

6. Watchung Hills (9-6) – last ranking No. 6: The Warriors swept a quad by posting impressive wins over Monroe, Somerville and Manalapan. You want more quality opponents to prepare for the postseason? Watchung Hills has a quad with Hunterdon Central, High Point and Delsea slated for Saturday.

7. Hillsborough (6-6) – last ranking No. 7: Old Man Winter postponed last Friday’s dual against Bridgewater-Raritan until Feb. 9. That left a Saturday tri-meet that the Raiders split by beating Matawan and losing to Middletown North. Things heat up this week with state-ranked Rumson-Fair Haven and challenging Immaculata, Warren Hills and Pope John on the slate.

8. Bridgewater-Raritan (9-5) – last ranking No. 8: The Panthers claimed a quality Skyland Delaware Valley Division win over Warren Hills with five pins (39-31) and swept Montgomery and Hamilton North on Saturday. The Panthers should get tested against No. 4 Ridge and No. 10 Voorhees this week.

9. Bernards (10-2) – last ranking No. 9: The Mountaineers piled up the wins in a 4-0 week, which included topping Skyland Raritan Division opponent Pingry. Bernards was set for a challenging dual Wednesday with Manalapan and Montgomery over the weekend.

10. Voorhees (7-7) – last ranking No. 10: The Vikings topped improving North Plainfield, as well as Belvidere and Barringer to bounce back after the Ridge loss. Johnny D`Andrea (Fr., 113) and Christian Bollette (So., 120) and seniors Logan Wiecoreck (165) and Trevor Zabroski (215) give balance to the lineup, and each has at least 18 wins.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ wrestling: This week's area Skyland and UCC Top 10