2020-21 New Jersey High School Rankings

2020-21 New Jersey High School Rankings: P4P

As fears of COVID-19 and a potential second wave grow, it is difficult to confidently look ahead to the 2020-21 high school wrestling season. News changes by the day and it’s impossible to know what to expect in the upcoming weeks, months, and even years. Still, I try to remain optimistic. Hopefully businesses and schools will open back up safely and we can return to the sports that we all know and love.

In the meantime, who doesn’t love a fresh set of rankings?

For this first set of 2020-21 rankings, I decided to keep all of the wrestlers at the weight where they competed at the conclusion of last season. Obviously, the global pandemic forced the cancellation of a number of offseason tournaments and the upcoming season remains in jeopardy. When and if competition picks up and the season approaches, we’ll have a much clearer picture of how all these weight classes shake out.

The top of the P4P list goes mostly unchanged.

Defending two-time champ Dean Peterson leads the way. He hasn’t lost in New Jersey since the state finals his freshman year.

He’s followed by another two-timer, Joey Olivieri. Both guys will be staying in-state for college with Peterson off to Princeton and Olivieri committed to Rutgers.

The Santaniello brothers, both state runners-up this year, come in back-to-back at #8 and #9.

Alex Almeyda wrestled the toughest schedule in the state last year. Despite taking some losses, he also notched wins over #4 in the country, Cooper Flynn as well as Eddie Ventresca. To be honest, I was a little surprised to see Almeyda go 126lbs for the postseason, rather than opting for a rematch with Peterson - a Beast of the East semi that Peterson won in tiebreakers. The 126lb bracket in AC was brutal. His only losses there came to Robert Howard and Nardone. He’s now placed twice in two trips to AC and is a contender next year no matter what weight he goes.

Third-place finisher at 106 Tyler Vazquez rounds out the P4P list. He’s the only wrestler in the state with a win over the #1 guy in the country.

Questions or comments? Email Brendan Scannell about the New Jersey rankings at bsbrendanbs@gmail.com.