The New Jersey public and non-public team state championships are underway for the next week and a half. With that, we are about a month away from the 2026 NJSIAA Individual State Championships, which go down March 12-14 in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. With the individual postseason drawing near, let’s take a look at some of the top underclassmen in the state of New Jersey who are looking to make a statement in March. 

Rocco Caputo Jr. (Cedar Grove) — sophomore, 106 pounds 

Following a freshman campaign that ended with a trip to the state tournament, where he dropped both of his bouts, Rocco Caputo Jr. has returned with a vengeance this season. Caputo is currently 24-3 with 19 bonus-point victories and has established himself as one of the top contenders for the 106-pound NJSIAA State championship this season. Caputo fell to state title favorite Thomas Blewett by fall last week, but is still well on his way to making a run to the podium for the first time next month. 

Shiloh Joyce (Christian Brothers Academy) — freshman, 113 pounds 

After a bit of a slow start to the year, Shiloh Joyce turned things around at Powerade at the end of December. After winning his round of 32 bout, Joyce was majored in the round of 16 and dropped to the consolations, where he rattled off six straight victories, including one against two-time state medalist and returning runner-up Charles Esposito to finish third at 114 pounds. Joyce followed that up with another nice performance last month at Escape the Rock, where he finished seventh. Joyce is strong in his counter offense, along with working out of a front headlock and will look to continue to use that for success in his first high school postseason. Joyce is now 23-6 this season and is right in the mix with the top guys in the state at 113 pounds. 

JoJo Burke (St. Joseph Regional) — sophomore, 120 pounds 

Returning 106-pound NJSIAA champion JoJo Burke seems to be back and healthy for St. Joseph Regional. The sophomore has missed quite a bit of time this season, having just wrestled his first match since late-December. Despite that, Burke is 11-1 on the season and made his second straight Powerade final after defeating Fargo finalist Mateo Gallegos in the semifinals, and his lone loss this year came in that Powerade final to #1 Landon Sidun. Burke is looking to repeat as a state champion this year, but in order to do so, he will have to go through two-time defending state champion #8 Cameron Sontz of Delbarton. 

Tommy Marchetti (Delbarton) — sophomore, 126 pounds 

Returning state third-place finisher Tommy Marchetti suffered some heartbreaking bloodround losses at two of the nation’s toughest tournaments this season — Ironman and Doc B. Marchetti has seemed unbothered by these setbacks, however, as he has been mostly dominant through the rest of a brutal Delbarton schedule. Marchetti is a physical handfighter and extremely difficult to finish leg attacks on. He will need to use that strong defense and physicality in order to avenge his state semifinal loss from a year ago against #3 Paul Kenny of Christian Brothers Academy. 

Gideon Gonzalez (Bergen Catholic) — sophomore, 144 pounds 

Gideon Gonzalez is coming off a seventh-place finish at the state tournament as a freshman at 138 pounds. Gonzalez seemingly has made gains as he is currently 23-5 on the season and had strong performances at both the Beast Of The East and Doc B, where he finished in the bloodround at Beast and was fourth at Doc B. Gonzalez is another guy with strong short offense and used that in commanding wins over former state medalists Laudan Henry and Giovanni Schinina this season. Gonzalez will be competing against guys like #9 Robert Duffy and two-time state finalist and returning champion Ryan DeGeorge in order to climb higher on the podium this year at the state tournament. 

Nicholas Schwartz (Delbarton) — sophomore, 150 pounds

After finishing sixth at 144 pounds at the state tournament a season ago, Nicholas Schwartz has evolved with his game. Schwartz had an incredible run last month at Doc B, only falling to #6 Joe Bachmann in the semifinals before coming back to defeat #11 Ivan Arias for third-place at 153 pounds. That performance catapulted Schwartz up to #10 in the country at 150 pounds. Looking ahead, we could be looking at a showdown between Schwartz and two-time state medalist and 2024 New Jersey state champion Sonny Amato for the 150-pound NJSIAA championship. Both guys are willing to give up their legs and look to create scrambles, so if we are to get that matchup, it will likely be a high-scoring and exciting bout. 

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.