By Rich Chrampanis
There is no road to Atlantic City in high school wrestling this year but the detour to Phillipsburg still offers area wrestlers the chance to win an individual state championship. The 2021 state tournament does not have district competition but has four super regionals this weekend. Wrestlers who finish in the top four earn a spot in Phillipsburg the final week where 16 wrestlers will battle in 14 weight classes to compete for a state championship.
A total of 57 wrestlers will compete this weekend at Hunterdon Central High School looking to advance to next week’s finals at Phillipsburg High. Here are the local storylines to follow:
RUMSON-FAIRÂ HAVENÂ SENDSÂ SEVEN
The rise of the Rumson-Fair Haven wrestling program continues. The Bulldogs have three No. 1 seeds and a total of seven Bulldogs competing. COVID-19 caused RFH to miss two weeks of duals so it will be interesting to see how it responds after the layoff. Max Brignola, Shay Addison and Jack Kelly hold the top spots and are looking to earn state medals for a second straight year, but they need to advance this weekend. Another name to watch is freshman Hudson Skove at 195. He comes from a legendary New Jersey high school wrestling family with his father and three uncles winning state and NCAA titles.
FOOTBALLÂ FLAVOR ATÂ 170
RFH’s Shay Addison is the top seed at 170 pounds and he’ll have some football standouts in the bracket to deal with. Red Bank Catholic’s Sabino Portella, a sophomore who made key plays for the Caseys on the gridiron is the third seed while Colts Neck senior Joe Barsky, one of the state’s top running backs, is in the fourth slot.
CLAYTON, MAIDAÂ ONÂ TOP OFÂ BRACKET
Besides RFH’s trio as No. 1 seeds, Saint John Vianney’s Blake Clayton is atop the 195-pound bracket and Shore Regional’s Jack Maida is the No. 1 seed at 132 pounds. Maida is one of three grapplers in Blue Devils history with a state medal after his sixth-place performance in his sophomore season. The senior looks to punch his ticket to Phillipsburg for the chance to stand on the podium for a second time to close out his career.
CERBOÂ HASÂ TOÂ BEÂ ANXIOUS
Middletown North had just seven dual matches in this unique season and Nico Cerbo is a perfect 7-0. But the Lions 220-pound senior hasn’t seen much action, winning six matches by forfeit. His 3-1 decision against Long Branch April 1 is his only match thus far. The seeding committee factored a wrestler’s body of work, so Nico’s 26-3 record last year helped him get the second seed despite his limited action this spring.
This article originally appeared in the April 15-21, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
