Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s wrestling team remained in contention to earn the top seed in the North Jersey Section 2, Group 5 state sectional tournament when it pinned a 49-28 victory over Hillsborough High School on Friday, February 6, at Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium in Bridgewater.
Bridgewater-Raritan, the defending North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 state sectional champion, owns a record of 16-7 and sits on top of the section with 37.67 power points. Union High School is second in the section with 33.69 power points.
If Bridgewater-Raritan remains on top with power points, then Coach Kyle Murphy’s squad will be the host again of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 state sectional tournament, which opens with the first two rounds on Monday, February 16. The state sectional final is scheduled for Wednesday, February 18, at the gym of the higher remaining seed.
The group state semifinals will be held at the gyms of the higher seeds on Friday, February 20, and the group state championships will be wrestled once again at Rutgers University’s Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway on Sunday, February 22.
Last winter, Bridgewater-Raritan won the North Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 state sectional title in its home gym before it went on to win the Group 5 state semifinals, also in Bridgewater, en route to the program’s first appearance in a group state title match.
Bridgewater-Raritan was defeated by Southern Regional High School, 58-18, in the Group 5 state final on February 16, 2025, at Rutgers. That result gave Southern its third straight Group 5 state title.
In the match against Hillsborough on a cold Friday evening, February 6, Bridgewater-Raritan pulled away from a 31-16 lead with three straight pins, a run that gave the Panthers a secure 49-16 lead with just two bouts left.
Carmine Vella launched the Bridgewater-Raritan pin surge with a fall at 165 pounds. Matthew McCann followed with a pin at 175 pounds and Dylan Quintana capped the run with his fall at 190 pounds.
Andrew Adell, a 113-pounder, 132-pound Michael Garcia and 138-pound Eli Barnwell also scored victories by a fall to contribute to Bridgewater-Raritan’s victory.