Our picks to win the NJSIAA sectionals, groups

Although they actually got underway Monday night, it’s time for The Trentonian’s annual picks for the NJSIAA wrestling sectionals and groups that conclude on Sunday at Rutgers University.

Because the biggest story in the area figures to be Delaware Valley’s drive to a second straight dual-match state championship, let’s start with Group I and work up to Group V.

GROUP I

Following up on its win over Warren Hills two days before, Delaware Valley really laid down the hammer last Monday night by beating visiting Phillipsburg for the first time since 2006 to set off an explosion in its jam-packed gym.

It was a match that brought back memories of the 1993 classic in which DelVal stormed back from a 24-0 deficit to beat “Slick” Rick Thompson’s stunned Liners. That was also the year DelVal proved it was the best team in New Jersey, even though it was deprived of the state title because of a disgraceful dive by Jefferson coach Mike Rosetti.

Putting that aside, defending champion DelVal certainly looks primed for a 21st sectional title and 10th group crown. The Dogs already own comfortable wins over projected sectional winners Kittatinny and Hanover Park, and in both of those victories they were not yet at full strength.

Hanover Park owns a 35-34 victory over Kittatinny but lost to projected South Jersey champion Paulsboro, 37-34. If the above four mentioned teams wins sectionals, DelVal will host Hanover Park Friday and Paulsboro will make the twoand-a-half ride to Kittatinny.

Paulsboro does seem to be wrestling a little bit better of late and you can be sure Paul Morina will have his team ready, but Cough City is going to have to pull off some big surprises to avoid losing to DelVal for the second year in a row.

Should it run the table, Andy Fitz’s Delaware Valley team will have a very legitimate claim to be the No. 3 ranked public school team in the state.

GROUP II

This sure looks like Raritan for the second straight year. The Rockets have been battle tested by a tough schedule and are well coached by Rob Nucci, who is in high demand by world-famous celebrities when they decide to tie the knot.

Meaning no offense to Central Jersey’s Raritan, but quite frankly there’s also just not a whole lot standing in its way.

This isn’t a typical High Point team by its lofty standards, while Caldwell and South Jersey’s Haddonfield don’t exactly install fear in the opposition as well. If those four win sections, Raritan would host Caldwell in the semis.

GROUP III

Because second-ranked Delsea (21-1) is an overwhelming favorite to win it all, the real intrigue in this group concerns which team will win the other sections. This is particularly true in North Jersey 2 where Warren Hills, Cranford and West Morris are all in the field.

Warren Hills is not nearly as solid as last year when it lost an epic group final to Delsea, but the Streaks probably have enough to again face South Jersey’s Crusaders in a repeat of last year’s championship match. If they get there they will have to pull off something special because they have already lost to Delsea, 39-15, at the Jack Welch Duals.

Other than the group semifinal pairings, it matters not a lick which team comes out of North 1. On the Central Jersey front, there’s a story of local interest because for the first time Mercer County kingpin Hopewell Valley is a top seed. In order to get to the sectional final, Hopewell had to get past Somerville and the winner of the Allentown-Ocean match Monday night.

Heading up the bottom part of the bracket is South Plainfield, which is also down, but does have a victory over North Hunterdon on its resume. South Plainfield could very well end up at Delsea on Friday night.

Although Delsea has just the one loss (to Delbarton) on its record, it’s the general consensus it should be the secondranked public school team in the state behind Southern.

GROUP IV

This is the one — many would say the only — group that is truly up for grabs. The sectional picks here are Mt. Olive, North Hunterdon, Brick Memorial and Shawnee. If those four come through, Shawnee would at North Hunterdon and Brick Memorial will travel to Mt. Olive in the semis.

Defending group champion Mt. Olive would appear to have the most balanced team of the four, but it has not exactly lived up to its pre-season expectations.

On the area front, Shawnee must navigate its way through a South Jersey section that includes Moorestown and Northern Burlington.

Burlington County hasn’t had much success in sectionals with just seven titles. Lenape, which was coached by Russ “The Magnificent” Minuto, has the most with three. No Burlington team has won a group title.

Mercer County, meanwhile, has just two sectional champs (Hamilton in 1992 and Robbinsville in 2010) and no group champions.

In terms of the area, it all stands in stark contrast to the four schools in Hunterdon County, which have produced a staggering 75 sectional and 19 group championships.

Hunterdon Central has the most sectional champions with 22, but just one group title. Delaware Valley has 20 sectional and nine group titles. Voorhees has 17 sectional and four group titles, while North Hunterdon has five group and 16 sectional crowns.

GROUP V

With only a loss to Delbarton, which nearly beat Blair Academy last week, South Jersey’s Southern looks to be pretty much unstoppable. It has already smashed Phillipsburg, 42-12, and there’s no reason to think a rematch will be a whole lot closer.

Especially after Phillipsburg got picked off by Delaware Valley last week. Truth be told the Stateliners coaches could have handled their lineup better in terms of the upperweight match-ups, but no amount of juggling would make much of a difference against Southern.

The real intrigue in Group V is in Central Jersey. At one point Hunterdon Central was the favorite, but it got shut down last week by skin issues and whether it would be ready for a potential sectional semi against dangerous Old Bridge on Monday was unclear.

The other sectional semifinal pitting Howell at Hillsborough could also be very competitive. While Howell is rebuilding — the word is plenty of help is on the way from the talented sixth and seventh grade teams — it might just have enough to again advance to groups.

Hunterdon Central would host Phillipsburg if it wins its section. The status of their canceled regular-season match is up in their air and it is possible it could ask the state for a special waver to wrestle it between groups and districts. It is, after all, for a division title of the Skyland Conference.

The semifinal groups pairings will hinge on which team comes out of Central Jersey. Believe it or not, Passaic Tech actually has a higher point total than Old Bridge.

If it’s Phillipsburg at Hunterdon Central on Friday, the other semifinal could pit Passaic Vo Tech at Southern. That bus ride would be every bit as ridiculous as Paulsboro’s trip to Kittatinny.

It’s time to go back to four public school groups and hold the group semifinals and finals on the same day.

PAROCHIAL A

Other than the schools involved, who cares?