2019-20 New Jersey High School Rankings

New Jersey High School Rankings: Team

By Brendan Scannell

The 2019-20 season looks to be the year of the private school.

I spoke in my “Teams to Watch” article about the very real competition that will be Bergen Catholic vs Delbarton this year, so it should be no surprise to see these two squads leading us off.

History tells me I have to give the nod to Bergen Catholic here. But don’t be fooled. I’m very woke on Delbarton potentially dethroning the Crusaders this year. I can’t wait for this dual. Both squads wrestle brutal schedules and are certain to cross paths at some of the country’s biggest tournaments. This won’t be the last you’ll hear me talk about this matchup . . .

But wait. Could St. Joe’s make a move into this conversation? St. Joe’s Montvale kids are flooding the rankings, and the addition of Alex Almeyda to the lineup this year is huge. St. Joe’s will likely get the first shot at Bergen in the Non-Public A playoffs, with Delbarton getting the winner. All three of these teams are absolutely loaded with studs.

A bit of a shocker here in the top 10 might be that I went with Camden Catholic over Paulsboro. Yeah, every season Paulsboro is one of the most difficult teams to beat in a dual, but I really like this CC team. It enters the year with four ranked guys and might have fewer holes in the lineup than Paulsboro. It’s a little different than the Camden Catholic all-star teams of the past. This is a fairly young team that continues to get better.

As I’ve mentioned before, these two teams don’t wrestle. So, we don’t know how a dual meet would go. But for now, Camden Catholic looks to have a little more depth than Paulsboro.

Last year, CC knocked off Pope John in the group playoffs and we can expect to see that matchup once again this year. I give a slight edge to the Irish, considering Pope John graduated two state champs.

Howell was one of the state’s hottest teams last year until losing a crazy playoff match to Southern. This year, Howell looks to have the edge as it returns a lot and Southern loses some firepower. Redemption will be on Howell’s mind as it eyes a rematch.

Hunterdon Central may not have lost talent to graduation, but the loss of state champion Brett Ungar to transfer definitely hurts. Lucky for them and Southern, both are well-coached, established programs that always reload. Since some question marks remain, I have those two and a proven Kingsway team rounding out the top 10

Questions or comments? Contact Brendan via email (BSBrendanBS@gmail.com) or Twitter (@thescan_man).