EXPRESS TIMES WRESTLING RANKINGS

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

Individual wrestling rankings
Cody BarbicheCody Barbiche
103 Name Record School Class
1 Darian Cruz 22-2 Beth. Catholic So.
2 Brett Marino 27-3 Liberty Sr.
3 Cody Barbiche 24-0 Delaware Valley Sr.
4 Matt Williams 23-6 Pen Argyl So.
5 Kyle Baker 18-7 Easton Fr.

Honorable mention: Fr. Pat Antonacci (17-1) Central Catholic, So. Jaryd Flank (16-8) Wilson, So. Bryan Israel (26-2) Saucon Valley, Fr. Ethan Lizak (19-8) Parkland, So. Matt Moncourtois (18-5) North Hunterdon, Fr. Dylan Nace (18-3) Hunterdon Central, Fr. Matty Richie (15-7) North Warren, Jr. Brandon Sommer (15-11) Northampton.

Notes: Cruz's 4-2 defeat of Marino Thursday settles things between them for the season and may well rule this class the rest of the way at the top unless Barbiche makes an outstanding case in the New Jersey postseason. Nace edged Montcourtois Friday; in any other season Nace, Israel and Antonacci would likely be ranked, but it's a tough year to be a 103-pounder in these parts. Williams and Cruz could meet in the District 11 Class AA duals, which would be a frisky match, as will Baker and Cruz be Wednesday.

Anthony CabreraAnthony Cabrera
112 Name Record School Class
1 Zeke Moisey 23-5 Beth. Catholic Fr.
2 Anthony Cabrera 26-3 Liberty Sr.
3 Ryan Nicotra 21-2 Hackettstown Sr.
4 Chase Zemenak 15-10 Nazareth Fr.
5 Gary Dinmore 16-1 Hunterdon Central Fr.

Honorable mention: So. Ian Evans (17-13) Parkland, Fr. Josh Evans (18-3) Palmerton, So. Zach Fisher (16-11) Phillipsburg, So. Matt Gilmore (17-4) Delaware Valley, Fr. Christian Okulicz (16-8) Voorhees, Fr. Justin Pidoto (16-9) Warren Hills, Jr. Peter Stanley (16-9) Easton, Sr. Jamie Welsh (19-5) Pen Argyl.

Notes: Moisey is now 2-0 against Cabrera this season after a 6-2 decision on Thursday and, like Cruz's situation at 103, that may set the top of this class for a long time. After watching Dinmore Saturday I had to find a spot for him; he is one very, very impressive freshman, so solid and physical for a ninth-grader. Welsh, Stanley and Palmerton's Evans will press for the No. 4 and 5 spots, though, as we head into the postseason. Welsh may get a shot at Moisey in the District 11 duals. Okulicz beat Pidoto, who beat Gilmore.

Grimaldi GonzalesGrimaldi Gonzales
119 Name Record School Class
1 Randy Cruz 25-5 Beth. Catholic Jr.
2 Mike Pongracz 24-1 Delaware Valley So.
3 Josh Ortman 20-7 Parkland Fr.
4 DeMarquis Holley 18-3 Dieruff Jr.
5 Evan Disora 17-4 Easton So.

Honorable mention: Sr. Lucas Dise (20-5) Northern Lehigh, So. Grimaldi Gonzales (20-7) Liberty, So. Andrew Kaluzny (16-10) Phillipsburg, So. Tyler Kozimor (10-5) Hackettstown, So. Dillon Massington (18-6) Palmerton, So. Mike Rodgers (19-7) Central Catholic, So. Jesse Thorsen (19-6) Belvidere

Notes: I feel badly for Gonzales, whose close 3-0 loss to Cruz Thursday shows he's Top 5 material but head-to-head losses to Holley and DiSora keep him out of the top bunch. A bit of weeding-out in honorable mentions here with some dropped due to bad losses. Dise edged Massington 7-4 in a goodie. Thorsen continues to impress. Disora could push Cruz Wednesday.

Devon LotitoDevon Lotito
125 Name Record School Class
1 Dylan Thorsen 22-1 Belvidere Jr.
2 Jaydon Rice 20-7 Beth. Catholic Sr.
3 Franco Ferraina 14-2 Nazareth Sr.
4 Devon Lotito 27-4 Liberty Jr.
5 Sam Oberlander 18-5 Palmerton
Jr.

Honorable mention: Sr. Nick Barzano (13-3) North Warren, Sr. Pat Boyle (15-8) North Hunterdon, Jr. Joseph Dalessandro (18-7) Pius X, Sr. Chris Davis (17-6) Voorhees, Sr. Mike Fake (15-4) Parkland, Sr. Kevin Guenther (19-6) Delaware Valley, Jr. Zane Heller (20-5) Northern Lehigh, Jr. Ethan Keichel (17-8) Northwestern Lehigh, Jr. Justin Lane (15-11) Phillipsburg, So. Robbie Rizzolino (19-7) Easton.

Notes: Say hello to Oberlander, the first Blue Bomber to make a Top 5 this season. He topped Heller 6-3 to earn a promotion. Lotito went up to 130 and handed Rich Cruz of Bethlehem Catholic a 3-0 loss in their dual meet. Guenther drops from 130. Lane, one clutch wrestler, enters the honorable mention as a perfect example of an outstanding dual meet competitor; his key 6-0 win over Hunterdon Central's Grady Orr Saturday made a huge difference in that Stateliner win. The top three roll along, but this is a class where there still could be a lot of movement in the upcoming weeks.
Mason RyzoffMason Ryzoff
130 Name Record School Class
1 Zach Horan 27-0 Nazareth Sr.
2 Calvin Daly 19-7 Easton Sr.
3 Matt Lane 19-6 Phillipsburg Sr.
4 Matt Ortiz 18-4 Northwestern So.
5 Damien Hopper 15-1 Central Catholic Sr.

Honorable mention: Sr. Matt Boylan (14-9) Hunterdon central, Sr. Mike Crawn (15-5) Bangor, Jr. Rich Cruz (13-9) Bethlehem Catholic, Jr. Javier Rivas (14- 6) Dieruff, So. Mason Ryzoff (13-3) North Warren, Fr. Jesse Snyder (14-5) Palisades, Sr. Forest Touchberry (16-9) Parkland, Jr. Keith Wanamaker (15-10) Warren Hills.

Notes: Cruz lost 3-0 to Liberty's Devon Lotito, who bumped up from 125, but is not, in being dropped to Honorable Mention, being penalized for a quality loss. Rather, after being reminded of our own rules, Hopper has wrestled at 130 and should be ranked here, not at 135. And Hopper pinned Cruz in early January. So, welcome, Damien Hopper. Daly and Lane will meet after the deadline for the rankings so any change will be made for next week. Ortiz beat Crawn 9-2. Matt Lane's technical fall over Boylan Saturday shows he's No. 1 of the New Jersey group; the Star-Ledger has him No. 5 in New Jersey overall.

Greg NollGreg Noll
135 Name Record School Class
1 Mike Racciato 28-2 Pen Argyl So.
2 Jason Stephen 24-7 Northampton Jr.
3 Greg Noll 21-7 Nazareth Sr.
4 Vince Pellechia 24-1 Catasauqua Jr.
5 Derek Zehnbauer 21-4 Delaware Valley Jr.

Honorable mention:Sr. George Dalessandro (18-10) Pius X, So. Mike Marano (17-12) Parkland, Jr. Jose Morales (12-7) Dieruff, Jr. Aaron Morekin (20-6) Whitehall, Sr. Rob Napolitano (17-6) Hackettstown, Jr. Tom Scerbo (13-6) Hunterdon Central, Sr. Paul Schwartz (16-10) Freedom.

Notes: No changes here as everybody pretty much did what they had to. Noll went up to 145 (and won) against Freedom in a selfless move to allow as many Blue Eagle seniors to wrestle on Senior Night as possible. That was a wonderful and thoughtful gesture. In the why-records-are-not-the-be-and-all of rankings department, Marano edged Morekin 1-0.

Luciano BurriesciLuciano Burriesci
140 Name Record School Class
1 Joey Rizzolino 26-3 Easton Sr.
2 Zack Wilson 16-9 Northampton Sr.
3 Ryan Todora 21-6 Beth. Catholic So.
4 Luciano Burriesci 25-7 Pen Argyl Sr.
5 Nikko Stevens 19-5 No. Lehigh Sr.

Honorable mention: Sr. Colby Barrett (15-6) Pius X, Sr. Billy Butka (15-10) Warren Hills, Jr. Cody Grohotolski (13-7) Palmerton, Jr. Ronnie Honickel (21- 1) Voorhees, So. Eric Matz (17-4) Catasauqua, Sr. Eric Seals (14-8) Allen, Sr. Rylan Watson (18-8) Phillipsburg.

Notes: Rizzolino majored Wilson 13-3 Friday night and was in no way threatened; he will almost surely finish as No. 1 here barring several stunners. Then again, One could come Wednesday against Todora. Watson had a big week and could push Stevens at No. 5 but Stevens does own that win over the Stateliner. Todora and Burriesci could meet in the District 11 duals but something tells me not to count on that.

Cole SheptockCole Sheptock
145 Name Record School Class
1 Mitch Minotti 24-2 Easton Jr.
2 Chris Cancelliere 21-2 North Hunterdon Jr.
3 John Lynch 21-4 Saucon Valley Sr.
4 Justin Heller 17-7 Parkland Sr.
5 Cole Sheptock 19-6 Northampton Jr.

Honorable mention: So. Tyler Cote (12-5) Hunterdon Central, Jr. Victor Embardino (15-4) Notre Dame-Green Pond, Sr. Matt Gotzon (11-4) Southern Lehigh, So. Connor Hedash (14-8) Northern Lehigh, Sr. Kyle Kilpatrick (16-8) Wilson.

Notes: No huge changes in a fairly thin class. Minotti handled Sheptock 8-0 via complete control on his feet and on top. Cancelliere fell to Ray Bethea of Trenton Central but as Bethea is state-ranked he'll not be dropped yet. Lynch majored Gotzon and could be No. 2 soon. Embardino pinned Kilpatrick. Sheptock posted an 11-second pin of Washington's Jacob Abney at the Konkrete Duals.

Beau VranckenBeau Vrancken
152 Name Record School Class
1 Kyle DeHaut 16-6 Beth. Catholic Sr.
2 Bobby Clymer 24-4 Northwestern Sr.
3 John Lambert 20-4 Northampton Sr.
4 Beau Vrancken 18-3 North Hunterdon Jr.
5 Chris Carey 18-4 Hunterdon Central Sr.

Honorable mention: Sr. Matt Bonshak (19-5) Whitehall, 4. Sr. Dan Brockerhoff (17-8) Phillipsburg, So. Travis Buddock (12-4) Saucon Valley, Jr. Billy Christiansen (19-3) Wilson, So. Ty Herzog (21-4) Northern Lehigh, Sr. Josh LaBar (25-4) Pius X, 5. Sr. Rex Lutz (20-6) Pen Argyl, Jr. Justin Marsh (18-2) Palisades, Sr. Anthony Minotti (17-6) Easton, Jr. Mike Staufenberger (16-6) North Warren, Sr. Mike Rogers (15-11) Delaware Valley, So. Josh Young (17-5) Freedom.

Notes: I want to give up sometimes. This week Carey, Vrancken and Brockerhoff would all meet and thus settle the New Jersey side, right? Uh, no. Brockerhoff beat Vrancken Monday to avenge an earlier loss. Vrancken beat Carey Friday. And on Saturday ... yep, Carey beat Brockerhoff. Of course. Brockerhoff's ace in the hole is a win over Lambert who has been more and more impressive and dominated Minotti 10-2 Friday. The mob at honorable mention grows with the addition of Marsh from 160. Clymer defeated Lutz 3-1, his second win over Lutz this season. Clymer's only loss to an area wrestler is to John Lynch of Saucon Valley, who is now at 145, so he bumps up to second. DeHaut's pedigree keeps him first. Vrancken had two quality losses which is almost unfair to penalize him for in a class like this. Carey should be in the Top 5, I suppose. On current form, I'll pump Lambert up to No. 3. There's no logical way to squeeze the trio of Jersey standouts into the last two places, but ties are for wimps, so ... on the principle of head-to-head among the trio (Vrancken 3-1, Carey 1 -2, Brockerhoff 1-2) Vrancken, who is 5-0 against Carey the last two seasons, gets No. 4 and Carey's 3-2 win over Brockerhoff Saturday puts him No. 5. Brockerhoff, of course, yes, I know, has beaten No. 3 and No. 4 (but also lost to them). I have a feeling he'll be back.

Jon BlankJon Blank
160 Name Record School Class
1 Mike Ottinger 20-1 Parkland Sr.
2 Elliot Riddick 23-6 Beth. Catholic Sr.
3 Ryan Krecker 15-1 Nazareth Sr.
4 Mason McIntyre 13-1 Easton Sr.
5 Jadaen Bernstein 22-0 Voorhees So.

Honorable mention: Jr. Jon Blank (19-2) Notre Dame, Jr. Nathan Dow (19-4) Belvidere, Jr. V.J. Delmonico (18-9) Phillipsburg, So. Dave Fenton (15-9) Hunterdon Central, Sr. Luke Gotzon (18-3) Southern Lehigh, Sr. Tim Kunkel (13 -8) Northampton, Jr. Nick Maddalena (14-3) Delaware Valley, Sr. Jason Rothman (18-4) Hackettstown, Sr. Kyle Sorensen (21-7) Northwestern Lehigh, Jr. Richard York (13-5) Saucon Valley.

Notes: After the zoo at 152 nice to see everything calm here. The top three enjoyed a very quiet week, Bernstein went 3-0 and McIntyre looked very strong and dominating in a 9-4 thumping of Kunkel, who had pinned Kyle DeHaut of Bethlehem Catholic last week. In other classes wrestlers such as Blank, Dow, Gotzon and Rothman would be ranked but this, with 103, is the strongest area class. This week could see shakeups from a McIntyre-Riddick meeting.

Evan BrayEvan Bray
171 Name Record School Class
1 Colin Hedash 22-2 No. Lehigh Sr.
2 Jake Maffucci 15-2 Hunterdon Central Sr.
3 Ray O'Donnell 25-4 Saucon Valley So.
4 Will Van Doren 22-4 Delaware Valley Jr.
5 Levi Veppert 24-5 Northwestern Jr.

Honorable mention: Sr. Zack Bambary (8-7) Easton, So. Evan Bray (15-7) Belvidere, Sr. Tyler Horn (24-5) Pen Argyl, Jr. Eric Wolak (9-4) Nazareth.

Notes: Bit of a shakeup here. The red-hot Veppert's upset of Horn Saturday costs Horn a spot. Veppert can't come in higher because he can't beat O'Donnell (0-2 this season) and Maffucci and Van Doren have kept impressively winning. Much still up for grabs.

Dylan EvansDylan Evans
189 Name Record School Class
1 Ian Gimbar 26-2 Saucon Valley Sr.
2 Jovon Reyes 17-3 Dieruff Fr.
3 Dylan Evans 18-6 Pen Argyl Jr.
4 Luke Garner 19-1 Catasauqua Jr.
5 Zach Bohn 20-3 Voorhees Sr.

Honorable mention: Sr. Ben Bradley (13-5) Nazareth, Sr. Cory Bruder (17-5) Parkland, Fr. Fuad Haddad (15-8) Whitehall, So. Evan Kauffman (11-4) Freedom, Jr. Marcus Newsom (16-6) Northampton, Fr. Jose Ortiz (8-2) Bethlehem Catholic, Jr. Anthony Pare (11-6) Phillipsburg, Sr. Brandon Steele (17-10) Liberty, Sr. Kyle VanWingerden (13-7) Belvidere.

Notes: With Bradley and Bruder -- who will be ranked when they return -- on the sidelines and Steele falling to unranked Ortiz there are changes galore here. Garner, whose only loss is to Gimbar, and Bohn crack the top 5 a smidge ahead of the hard-charging Newsom. Ortiz doesn't have the body of work yet to be ranked. Behind the rock-solid Gimbar there has been much fluctuation here and that will likely continue.

Brian GuevaraBrian Guevara
215 Name Record School Class
1 Brandon Hull 22-4 Phillipsburg Jr.
2 Tarik Haddad 13-3 Parkland Sr.
3 Nick Sharga 26-4 Northampton Jr.
4 Tyler Greene 22-6 Easton So.
5 Kyle Nerger 16-6 North Hunterdon Sr.

Honorable mention: So. Josh Alpha (13-8) Bethlehem Catholic, Jr. Ryan Barry (19-7) Pen Argyl, Sr. Brian Guevara (16-3) Voorhees, Sr. Fred Jennings (21-4) Hackettstown, So. J.B. Lawson (14-8) Belvidere, Sr. Derek Knoop (13-9) Hunterdon Central, Jr. Kane Kralik (16-5) Palmerton, Jr. Dan Smith (20-4) Warren Hills, Jr. David Wilke (17-9) Nazareth.

Notes: Could have been big changes here, but Sharga held Greene off 10-8 in their dual; had the match been 20-30 seconds longer there may well have been changes, but Sharga did just enough to win. Nerger lost twice but to wrestlers with a combined 38-6 record (Hull and Franklin's Chike Okolo); strength of schedule plus head-to-head wins over Jennings and Smith keep him at No. 5. Smith has been on a roll lately and edged Guevara 1-0 Saturday. Jennings' 5-3 ultimate-tiebreaker win over Lawson was a classic. Kralik's loss was to Northern Lehigh's Colin Hedash.

Jalal PaigeJalal Paige
285 Name Record School Class
1 Jack Delia 20-0 North Hunterdon Sr.
2 Aaron Bradley 13-1 Nazareth So.
3 Jalal Paige 24-4 Easton Sr.
4 Steve Giraldo 21-4 Hackettstown Sr.
5 Shaquane Williams 22-5 Pius X Jr.

Honorable mention: Sr. Steven Farr (17-5) Dieruff, Sr. Jordan Gonzalez (9-3) Allen, Sr. Shaun Heist (15-9) Parkland, So. Chris Longyhore (12-10) North Warren, Jr. Kirby Mutton (18-7) Pen Argyl.

Notes: More same-old, same-old here. Delia was displaced as No. 1 in all of New Jersey by Billy Smith of High Point, according to the Star-Ledger but he's still No. 1 easily here. Giraldo posted a fine 3-2, 3-OT win over Newton's Evan Chrustic. Paige got Easton's win over Northampton under way with a rousing pin.

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