It was a year to remember in the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference as the league saw a state runner-up and four additional medalists on the podium at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
On the team front, 12 of the conference’s 22 squads competed in the sectional tournament.
Below, find our postseason honors for the NJIC, including Wrestler of the Year, Coach of the Year, Team of the Year, the final rankings and the top storylines throughout the season.
Wrestler of the Year: Connor Scuilla, Hasbrouck Heights, Sr.
Scuilla went 44-4 and along the way registered a gold medal at the Matthew Joskowitz Tournament, a runner-up finish at the Bergen County Tournament, silver-medal showings at District 5 and Region 2, and a third-place effort at the state tournament in Atlantic City. Scuilla dropped down from 190 to 175 for the postseason.
The 44 wins is tied with Lower Cape May sophomore Chase Hansen for the second-most in the state. Nutley senior Brandon Toranzo went 46-1 on his way to a bronze-medal effort at 285. Some of his impressive individual wins came against Phillipsburg junior Liam Packer, Southern senior Mitch Bivona, Hunterdon Central senior Thomas Brunetti, Emerson-Park Ridge senior Jacob Shannon, Westwood junior Aidan Dugan and Ramapo junior Zak Darwish.
Scuilla’s four losses came to two of the best grapplers in the state. St. Joseph (Mont.) junior Ryan Burton defeated Scuilla in the finals at districts and regions before upending him in the semifinals at Boardwalk Hall.
Girls Wrestler of the Year: Leeana Mercado, Lodi, Sr.
Mercado’s road to glory and her second 107-pound state championship started long before December.
The senior wrestled on the international level in Puerto Rico, where she qualified for the country’s national team in April. She then competed in Santiago, Chile in July at the 2023 U-20 Pan American Games.
It all geared her up for her road back to the top of the podium in Atlantic City and a one-loss campaign. Her lone loss came out of state at the Queen of the East. She won almost all of her in-state matches by bonus and rallied from off her back to defeat Montville sophomore Madelyn Carmichael by 8-6 sudden victory in the North 1 Region semifinals.
Coach of the Year: Scott Mahoney, Pompton Lakes
Pompton Lakes was one Group 1′s best stories this winter.
The Cardinals finished with a league-high 22 wins and wrestled in the NJIC semifinals against Hasbrouck Heights. They took the Aviators down to the final bout where Scuilla recorded a pin for a 38-35 win. Their season ended with a 45-21 loss to Emerson-Park Ridge in the North 1, Group 1 semifinals, but it was only beginning for Scott Mahoney and company.
They send three wrestlers in senior Nick Laccitiello (157), freshman Chad McConnell (165) and junior Mason Brancato (285) to the Region 1 Tournament in West Milford and advanced all three to the state tournament. Laccitiello was fourth, McConnell was third and Brancato stunned the bracket and took the title as the No. 7 seed. Laccitiello and McConnell were third at districts and Brancato was runner-up.
Freshman 144-pounder Christian Murcia added to the successful season for the Cardinals with a Passaic County title, but his year came to an end following the sectional semifinals. On his way to the county gold, he pinned West Milford state medalist Ben Marchetto.
Team of the Year: Emerson-Park Ridge
The Cavos always seem to find a way.
Head coach Joe Mazzeo and company outlasted a highly-competitive NJIC for their seventh-consecutive conference championship.
EPR defeated Rutherford in a 51-18 final in the league semifinals before a 36-33 victory over Hasbrouck Heights in the title match on a pin from senior Matthew Constante. The Cavos defeated the Aviators in a 48-30 dual in the regular season, which was part of an 8-0 year in league play. One of the wins came in the sectional semifinals – a 45-21 victory over Pompton Lakes.
Hasbrouck Heights finished its campaign 19-5. The losses came out of conference to Pascack Valley (37-33), River Dell (39-27), Raritan (40-30), Bridgewater-Raritan (52-24) and then Kittatinny (35-21) in the sectional championship.
Final NJIC rankings
- 1-Emerson-Park Ridge (19-5)
- 2-Hasbrouck Heights (20-5)
- 3-Pompton Lakes (22-8)
- 4-Butler (14-10)
- 5-Rutherford (12-12)
- 6-Leonia-Palisades Park (11-6)
- 7-New Milford (8-11)
- 8-Hawthorne (6-9)
- 9-Glen Rock (10-12)
- 10-Becton-Wood-Ridge (13-11)
Final North Jersey rankings
- 1-Delbarton (17-4)
- 2-St. Joseph (Mont.) (12-1)
- 3-St. Peter’s Prep (16-5)
- 4-Phillipsburg (18-1)
- 5-Don Bosco Prep (14-5)
- 6-Paramus Catholic (10-3)
- 7-Bergen Catholic (7-7)
- 8-Mount Olive (16-5)
- 9-Caldwell (23-2)
- 10-West Essex (15-2)
- 11-Seton Hall Prep (7-5)
- 12-Kittatinny (19-4)
- 13-Jefferson (17-6)
- 14-Passaic Valley (17-3)
- 15-Emerson-Park Ridge (19-5)
- 16-Pope John (11-8)
- 17-Clifton (20-5)
- 18-Wayne Valley (15-9)
- 19-Hanover Park (14-10)
- 20-High Point (10-9)
