UNION COUNTY, NJ — Cranford wrestling, which last month captured a seventh consecutive Union County Tournament title, has never won a state championship.
The Cougars, winners of the North 2, Group 3, sectional crown in 2017, will attempt to pin down that lofty goal next week.
One of the highest-ranking teams in North 2, Group 3, once again, Cranford and fellow Union County schools Roselle Park in North 2, Group 1; Governor Livingston in North 2, Group 2; and Westfield in North 2, Group 5, will seek to make statements when the wrestling team state tournaments commence on Monday, Feb. 7.
For the first time, the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be wrestled on the same day, with the competition scheduled to commence with those first two rounds on Monday, Feb. 7.
That means that the sectional finals will be wrestled on a Wednesday — Feb. 9 — for the first time.
The group semifinals have been moved up to Friday, Feb. 11, and will take place at the higher-seeded teams’ home gyms.
That also leaves, for the first time, just the group finals to be contested on Sunday, Feb. 13. Those state championship matches are scheduled to take place at Franklin High School in Somerset and should all be finished before the Super Bowl kicks off later in the day in Los Angeles.
Cranford, projected to get the third seed in North 2, Group 3, behind top-seeded Warren Hills and second-seeded West Essex, began the week with a 13-4 record. West Essex won the section in 2019 and then won the overall Group 3 title that season. The Knights repeated as North 2, Group 3, sectional champions in 2020.
Cranford lost at West Essex 40-28 on Saturday, Jan. 15. Head coach Pat Gorman reported that the Cougars had their full lineup but just didn’t wrestle well enough.
“We’ll learn from that match and be much more prepared in the future,” Gorman said.
The snowstorm on Friday, Jan. 28, postponed Cranford’s big Watchung Conference match at Westfield, which was rescheduled for this Saturday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m.
Cranford won at Scotch Plains–Fanwood High School 78-0 on Tuesday, Jan. 25, and then defeated Plainfield High School at home, 72-9, on Wednesday, Jan. 26.
Cranford senior heavyweight Kevin Shriner suffered his first loss of the year, as he was pinned by Plainfield’s Josue Cordoba in 3:26.
Cranford senior Colin Murray continues to be undefeated at 165.
Roselle Park was projected to earn the top seed in North 2, Group 1. The Panthers began the week at 8-2 after beating Johnson 59-24 at home on Wednesday, Jan. 26.
Roselle Park last grabbed the North 2, Group 1, championship in 2018, for the 18th time, which is the most any school has won it.
Roselle Park won the first two N2G1 crowns, in 1980 and 1981, and then won a record eight in a row from 1984 to 1991. Roselle Park won the section again in 1993, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2010, 2014 and 2018.
The Panthers also captured Central Jersey, Group 1, crowns in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011, giving them a total of 22 sectional state championships.
Roselle Park captured the overall Group 1 state championship outright the first year it was contested, 1982, and shared the 1997 title with Paulsboro.
Roselle Park’s only two losses heading into this week were home vs. Westfield, 37-35, on Friday, Jan. 7, and then at Cranford, 45-26, on Wednesday, Jan. 12.
Roselle Park had the most county champions with five, including Matthew Griffin at 106, Mayson Harms at 132, Angel Mejia at 144, Julian Alston at 150 and John James Ranieri at 175. In the team standings, Roselle Park finished fourth.
Governor Livingston, which finished second in the Union County Tournament and had one champion in senior Scott Rayack at 120, began the week at 11-2 and had losses only to River Dell and Westfield. The Highlanders are scheduled to host Cranford on Friday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m.
Governor Livingston is projected to be the second seed in North 2, Group 2, behind top-seeded Hanover Park.
The Highlanders won the first two North 2, Group 2, sectional crowns in 1980 and 1981.
Westfield is projected to be the second seed in North 2, Group 5, behind top-seeded Phillipsburg. The Blue Devils began the week at 10-5.
Westfield is scheduled to wrestle at Plainfield on Thursday, Feb. 3, and on Friday, Feb. 4, has a match scheduled at Rahway at 6 p.m.
The only loss junior Michael Murphy has suffered so far this season was by the ultimate tiebreaker score of 2-1 to Hunterdon Central’s Tanner Peake. That was the day before the UCT at Johnson.
At the Union County Tournament, Murphy not only won his first UCT title, capturing the 157-pound class, but he was also named the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler for the upper weights.
Wrestling team state tournaments:
Monday, Feb. 7: Sectional quarterfinals and semifinals for the top and second seeds; Wednesday, Feb. 9: Sectional finals for the top seeds; Friday, Feb. 11: Group semifinals for the higher seeds; and Sunday, Feb. 13: Group finals at Franklin High School.