New Jersey high school competitors had a strong showing at what has become one of the premier in-season high school events — the Doc Buchanan. Over the weekend at Clovis High School in California, Delbarton, St. Peter’s Prep, and Bergen Catholic made the trip out west and all three schools finished in the top 12 in the team standings. Delbarton tied for fourth with 141.5 points, St. Peter’s Prep finished eighth with 106.5 points, and Bergen Catholic closed out in 12th place with 63.5 points. Check out how the top performers for New Jersey finished out at Doc B. 

Cameron Sontz (JR) — Delbarton, 120 pounds

After finishing fourth at the Ironman in December, two-time state champ Cameron Sontz had an impressive showing at the Doc B, where he scored bonus points in every match on his way to the finals at 123 pounds. In the title bout, #8 Sontz got out to an early 3-0 lead against second-ranked Rocklin Zinkin after an incredible scramble. Sontz led 4-2 with about a minute to go before Zinkin hit a beautiful cement mixer and picked up the fall in 5:02. 

Watch Sontz and Zinkin’s incredible Doc B Final

Gideon Gonzalez (SO) — Bergen Catholic, 144 pounds 

After closing his freshman season with a seventh-place finish at the New Jersey state tournament, Gideon Gonzalez is having an impressive start to his sophomore campaign. He put his skills on display at the Doc B after entering the tournament as the #10 seed at 147 pounds. After notching a pair of wins in his first two matches and dropping a 7-4 decision against #10 Jesse Grajeda, Gonzalez showed his mettle on the backside, racking up three straight wins before falling to #20 Drake Hooiman 4-0 in the third-place match. 

Nick Schwartz (SO) — Delbarton, 150 pounds

Returning New Jersey sixth-place state medalist Nick Schwartz established himself on the national stage this past weekend with a strong performance at Doc B. Schwartz entered the 153-pound bracket as the #5 seed and opened his tournament with a first-period fall and technical fall before pinning #4 seed Alias Raby in the quarterfinals. Schwartz fell 6-2 in the sems against #3 Joe Bachmann before notching a technical fall and posting an 8-2 win over #13 Ivan Arias to finish third at 153. The performance moved Schwartz into the national rankings at #10 at 150. 

Watch Schwartz’s third-place bout at Doc B

Joseph Ruiz (SR) — St. Peter’s Prep, 157 pounds

Joseph Ruiz made the podium at Doc B the hard way. He entered the tournament as the #11 seed but fell in his opening bout in the round of 64. Following that loss, Ruiz had to win five bouts in a row on the backside to make the podium, and that's exactly what he did. Ruiz closed out his tournament with an eighth-place finish at 160 pounds and picked up three falls along the way that were crucial for St. Peter’s Prep’s top-eight team finish.  

Jayden James (SR) — Delbarton, 165 pounds

U17 World Champion and #1 Jayden James continued his run of dominance this year after defeating #2 Melvin Miller for the 165-pound Ironman title last month. This past weekend at Doc B, James ran through the competition with two falls followed up by three technical falls, including an 18-2 technical fall over #16 Slava Shahbazyana in the finals to win the cowboy hat at 168 pounds. James is looking to close his high school career in March with his second New Jersey state title. 

Watch James dominate in Doc B finals

Hear from James after winning Doc B

Carl Betz (SR) — Delbarton, 190 pounds 

After an incredible run to the Ironman finals last month, #5 Carl Betz entered Doc B as the top seed at 193 pounds. Betz dominated to the semifinals with a fall and two technical falls before meeting up with #11 Ladd Holman. Betz fell 1-0 to Holman after getting ridden out in the third period. He battled back strong with two decisions, including a 5-2 win over #15 Jason Singer to finish third at 193 pounds. The Penn commit will pursue his second state medal this season.

New Jersey High School Premium Rankings

Check out the New Jersey High School Wrestling Premium Rankings, which are generated by using an athlete’s complete match history to predict a wrestler’s performance against others in their weight class by considering factors such as win-loss records, the quality of their victories (pins, technical falls, major decisions), the strength of their opponents, and overall historical performance patterns. 

The data is updated every Monday, sourced from the Trackwrestling season results. Since each team is responsible for maintaining its season results, any data discrepancies for a wrestler should be addressed by contacting their coach to manage the information within the season. This includes the weight class assigned. Wrestlers are eligible to be ranked after competing in five matches at a single weight.