Three victories in its own gymnasium this week will produce the first state sectional wrestling tournament championship since 2016 for Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
Bridgewater-Raritan received the top seed and will serve as the host at Vaughn Stapleton Gynasium when the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 sectional tournament opens on Monday, February 10.
Bridgewater-Raritan Coach Kyle Murphy was a senior on the 2016 Panther team that won that state sectional title in 2016.
In the first round on Monday at 5 p.m., Bridgewater-Raritan will meet 8th-seeded Kearny High School and fourth-seeded Columbia High School will wrestle fifth-seeded Elizabeth High School. The winners of those bouts will meet an estimated 10 minutes later in the state sectional semifinals.
The winner will then go on to wrestle the survivor of the other half of the bracket on Wednesday, February 12, at 6 p.m. The remaining top seed will serve as the host that evening in the state sectional title match.
Top-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan is favored to advance to the state sectional championship match. Union High School, the second seed, is the host to Monday’s first two rounds and is expected to reach the state sectional final on Wednesday.
Union wrestles seventh-seeded Piscataway High School and third-seeded Bayonne High School meets sixth-seeded East Side High School from Newark in the opening round on Monday in Union.
If the seedings hold up, Bridgewater-Raritan will be home to justify the program’s first No. 1 seed in the state sectionals and bid to win its first state sectional title since 2016.
“For the first time since Bridgewater-Raritan East and Bridgewater-Raritan West merged (1992), we are a top seed and we are excited for the opportunity to take home our first state sectional title since my senior year,” Coach Murphy declared. “I am confident with the group of kids we have, now we just have to finish the deal.”
The North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 champion will wrestle in the Group 5 semifinals on Friday, February 13, against a team and site to be determined.
The three other No. 1 seeds in the Group 5 sections—Old Bridge High School in Central Jersey, Southern Regional High School in South Jersey and Passaic County Technical Institute in North Jersey, Section 1–are all favored to advance to the Group 5 semifinals.
Old Bridge defeated Bridgewater-Raritan this season, 40-36, on January 15 in Bridgewater. Southern Regional is the defending Group 5 state champion.
On Sunday, February 16, all five public school groups and the two non-public groups will wrestle for the seven state championship at Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway.