Local high school sports teams will be very busy this weekend as they participate in a variety of holiday tournaments throughout the state.
The wrestling scene continues to pick up steam following last weekend’s action, where a number of local teams kicked their seasons off with appearances in the Neptune Classic.
This weekend both Middletown South and Holmdel will be hosting their annual tournaments, while Red Bank Catholic will also host a quad meet.
The South Tournament, which begins on Saturday at 9 a.m., will feature a number of teams this year with quality wrestlers up and down their line-ups.
While the host Eagles always seem to perform well, their crosstown rivals from Middletown North have also faired well in recent years. Other local teams that will be participating include Freehold Township, Neptune, Long Branch and Lakewood. The remaining teams that will compete hail from Clifton, Point Boro, West Deptford and Woodbridge.
The Holmdel Tournament will be slightly larger this year, as 13 teams are scheduled to participate in the tournament, which also gets under way on Saturday at 9 a.m. with preliminary and quarterfinal action.
Among the local schools scheduled to compete are Freehold Borough, Keansburg, Keyport, Manasquan, Matawan, Monmouth Regional, Rumson-Fair Haven, Shore Regional, St. John Vianney and St. Rose of Belmar. In addition, teams from Monroe Township and Oakcrest will be making the trip down on Saturday to do battle.
The Casey Invitational will feature the host RBC squad, as well as Red Bank Regional, Cardinal McCarrick of South Amboy and St. Joseph’s of Metuchen. Action gets under way at 9 a.m. Saturday.
The Ocean Township Spartans will be traveling to Brick Memorial on Saturday to participate in the Mustang Classic. There is no team scoring in this meet, but wrestlers can compete for individual titles. The field includes wrestlers from Phillipsburg, North Hunterdon, Camden Catholic, Kingsway, High Point, Wall, Ocean, Point Pleasant Beach, Sterling and Toms River South. The big names include state champions Brandon Becker (145 pounds) of Kingsway, Ricky Frondorf (152) of North Hunterdon, Ivan Wiggins (115), Adam Cooney (215) of Sterling and two-time runner-up Ed Giosa of Camden Catholic at 112 and then 119.
Meanwhile, the Raritan Rockets will head north to take part in the Lenape Valley holiday tournament.
As for the Christian Brothers Academy wrestling team, they will follow up last weekend’s Colt Classic with a trip to Manchester this weekend to participate in the highly competitive Hawk Classic.
Local boy’s basketball teams will play in a variety of tournaments as well, starting with the Buc Classic at Red Bank Regional.
This year’s Buc includes teams from Red Bank, Long Branch, Middletown North, Monsignor Donovan, St. Joseph’s Colonia, St. Peter’s of Jersey City and Franklin. Franklin got the top seed, followed by St. Joseph’s and Mon Don. Middletown North got the No. 4 seed but may be the dark horse to take the title.
This year’s Bayshore Tournament will include the likes of Middletown South, Matawan, St. John Vianney, Rumson-Fair Haven and Monmouth Regional.
The Raritan Rockets will be playing in the WOBM Christmas Tournament at Ocean County College, while the Holmdel boys will be traveling to Arizona to play in a holiday tournament.
On the girls side of action, local teams will be spread out throughout the state this weekend. Both Rumson-Fair Haven and Red Bank Catholic will be playing in what should be a very competitive WOBM tournament, as will the Raritan Rockets. This tournament should give some of the Shore Conference’s best teams an early indication of who will be among the teams to beat this year.
However, the Shore’s top-ranked team, the Marlboro Mustangs, will not be present, as they will be looking to defend their title at the Kuhnert Invitational at Howell High School. The Matawan Huskies are the only local team that will be participating in that tournament.
Among the teams that will play in the Bayshore tournament are Long Branch, Monmouth Regional, Holmdel and Middletown North.
The St. John Vianney Lancers, another team that is expected to battle for conference supremacy this season, will be playing in the Boardwalk Classic in Wildwood, while their archrivals from Red Bank Catholic will travel to Delaware to play in the Diamond State Classic.