Previews and picks for Emerson-Park Ridge vs. Audubon and Hanover Park vs. No. 13 Delaware Valley.
Mike Aversa of Audubon high fives his coach Mike Ahern after beating Logan Shipman of Paulsboro in the 138-pound bout of the South Jersey Group 1 Final at Paulsboro High School, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026.
On Wednesday, 20 public school sectional champs were crowned. Those champs will now wrestle on Friday night for a spot in Sunday’s state championships at Jersey Mike’s Arena on the campus of Rutgers University.Emerson-Park Ridge’s road to the semifinals: The Cavos have reached four finals with the last being in 2018, and they won their lone state title in 2016Audubon won its first-ever sectional title and became the first team in the 46-year history of the postseason to beat Paulsboro in a playoff match in its home gym. The Green Wave’s biggest test might be coming down off the emotion of the biggest win in their history. Audubon is strong on the top four weights though Emerson will hope to pick up 215 behind senior Chase Monahan. Emerson isn’t strong in the lightweights, though it could be a notch better than Audubon and stands a chance to pick up points where it is not accustomed. The match could come down to the middle weights for Audubon again. Against Paulsboro, RJ Bauman, Mike Aversa, Jimmy McSweeney and Joem Gonzalez all picked up bonus points and it could come down to that quartet again. Emerson is likely favored at 113 and will need some of its less heralded wrestlers to pick off Audubon’s lightweights, extracting as many points as possible, given Audubon’s strength in the middle. This is the first section title for Emerson coach Joe Mazzeo, who wrestled for the Cavos and was the longtime No. 2 to coach Stan Woods during the Cavos’ heyday. He knows the standard and seems to have his alma mater back on the path to being a Group 1 contender with its first section title since 2020. It may be an uphill battle in parts, and while Emerson may not win eight bouts like it did in the section final against Pompton Lakes, a few big wins here and there wouldn’t be a surprise for a group that’s been well tested with a strong schedule.Joey Monticello of Hanover Park wrestles Pierce Asfalg of Cedar Grove in the 157 pound bout during the NJSIAA North 2, Group 1 boys final wrestling match between Cedar Grove and Hanover Park at Cedar Grove High School in Cedar Grove, NJ on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.: Def. Highland Park, 75-5; Def. Asbury Park, 79-0; Def. Manville, 40-21: The Terriers have reached 19 state finals with 11 titles, including four since 2017 with one coming last year vs. Hanover Park: Delaware Valley is going for all-time win No. 900. Just what Hanover Park needed, a Del Val team with something to wrestle for. This is a rematch of last year’s final, which the Terriers won, 47-16. Hanover Park graduated 10 seniors from that squad, yet fought its way back this far. On Wednesday night, Hanover Park received unexpected wins from two sub-.500 wrestlers to help bump off Cedar Grove. The Hornets will need the same and more to give Delaware Valley a run. Hanover Park needs victories at 106 from Alex Spagnuolo and at 113 from Ethan Kaup. The Hornets will also be looking for bonus points from Nick DiFrancescantonio at 132 or 138 pounds. Delaware Valley, however, is favored in every bout from 144-190. We see DelVal winning nine of the 14 bouts.Ryan Patti covers high school football, wrestling and track & field for NJ Advance Media. He previously worked for Rivals covering college football recruiting and has worked in the industry since 2018. He...
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