Delbarton High School wrestling coach Bryan Stoll will always fit the Jack Welch Duals into his national schedule as long as Moorestown High School will have his team back.
There are many reasons but one is in the five-matches-in-two-days format, Stoll and and the Green Wave always find a couple key individual matches that go a long way for state tournament seeding and preperation.
In Saturday’s Jack Welch semifinals, sophomore Nick Schwartz, the third-ranked wrestler in the state at 150 pounds, took on Delran’s Jackson Weller, ranked second. If state champion Sonny Amato eventually drops to 144, Schwartz and Weller could be favored to meet in the state final.
Sixth-seeded Delran upset third-seeded St. John Vianney Friday to set up the semifinal matchup.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” said Schwartz of facing Weller. “I got a text last night saying (we were wrestling Delran), and I was really excited. I wanted it. I got real pumped up for it.”
After a scoreless first period, Schwartz took down and as he worked for a reversal, he locked in the cradle. The reversal came almost the same time as the back points, but points became irrelevant when Schwartz earned the pin midway through the frame.
“I had (the cradle) locked up, then I turned him and they gave me the reversal and I ended up in the fall,” said Schwartz. “I went crotch lock and crunched it up and once I get that locked up, nobody gets out of it.”
The win was the No. 1 Green Wave highlight on a day they rolled with a 70-3 win over the Bears in the semifinal and 61-12 victory over St. Augustine in the championship match.
“Schwartz has been on fire, he had a tough match against (Faith Christian’s Joey) Bachman in the semifinals of the Doc (Buchanan), but came back and knocked off three nationally-ranked guys,” said Stoll. “I’m sure Weller’s a nationally-ranked guy, and if he’s not he should be. We really like where Nick is right now. Hopefully he continues to climb, and the sky’s the limit for him.”
Delbarton wrestled without state Wrestler of the Year Jayden James, who was nursing a minor injury. The Green Wave also continue to be without 132-pounder PJ Terranova.
Stoll said James’ absence was precautionary, while Terranova received some good medical news and should be back within the next few weeks.
The Green Wave have some challenging matches ahead this week against Faith Christian (Pa.) and Malvern Prep (Pa.) with another big dual against Blair looming.
“(James) was a little banged up, and we have a really big week ahead of us, so we wanted him to be 100 percent, ready to go, so nothing concerning,” said Stoll. “We need to have everybody at their best. It was a game-time decision, and we just thought it best to have him for next weekend.
“I’m really excited (for the next week). We’re going to be able to create a really great environment two nights this week and hopefully we’ll get a couple wins against the top teams in the country.”
Even with the Fab 50 Duals and Catholic Duals now on their schedule, the Green Wave can still use the five matches against New Jersey competition the Jack Welch Duals provides and it remains a weekend Stoll looks forward to every year.
“I really like it, Moorestown is a class act and there’s a lot of great programs here,” said Stoll. “We need to get some in-state matches. It’s good to remember where our roots are, so I love it and we’ll keep coming back as long as they’ll have us.”
St. Augustine – wrestling in the tournament for the first time – notched an impressive 45-16 over short-handed Kingsway in the semifinals. Even though the Dragons were without several starters, the Hermits picked up some big wins from J.D. Christmann (113) and Casey Pekula (120) in the lightweights.
“We wrestled well and there were some battles in there, and we happened to win some of them,” said St. Augustine coach Bill Ward. “I’ve always tried to get in here, and the competition has always been pretty good. I’m happy with the way we looked today.”
Back in the days before the NJSIAA went to a statewide model for the Non-Public championships, St. Augustine often won South Jersey and took on the North Jersey power – frequently Bergen Catholic – in the state final.
“They’re just as good as those teams, I put them right on those levels,” said Ward. “Every weight class is a potential high placewinner at states. They’re tough. We told them go out and battle, and I don’t think we laid down.”
Kingsway defeated Delran, 35-34, in a thrilling third-place match that came down to Landon Pallies’ 8-5 decision on the final weight.
