The NJSIAA released the district and region placement for the state’s wrestling teams on Thursday that spread out the balance of power throughout the state.
District and regions will be re-aligned every year going forward so this alignment will just be for the 2023-2024 season. The ranking criteria was used to evenly distribute the top non-public — and public — schools around the state.
Based on the new format, the top eight non-public schools were distributed one per region based on northing number. Then, the next top eight ranked non-public schools were assigned, one per region — with the goal to achieve competitive balance across the regions, while using the northing number to logically distribute teams.
When it comes to the district alignments, the NJSIAA took the top 32 ranked schools (public or non-public) and distributed one per district. Then, another 32 teams were assigned, one per district, based on northing number and competitive balance — with the idea that each district will end up with two higher-caliber teams competing.
After the top teams were assigned, all remaining schools were assigned locally based on proximity to the host school, striving to “maintain both traditional rivalries, where possible, and a consistent competitive balance across each district within each region,” according to the NJSIAA.
Region host sites
- Region 1 – West Milford
- Region 2 – Mount Olive
- Region 3 – West Orange
- Region 4 – Union
- Region 5 – Franklin
- Region 6 – Jackson Liberty
- Region 7 – Cherry Hill East
- Region 8 – Egg Harbor
Districts
District 1
Butler; Don Bosco Prep; Hawthorne; Jefferson; Kinnelon; Manchester; Northern Highlands; Pequannock; Pompton Lakes; Wayne Hills
District 2
Cresskill; Demarest; Dumont; Emerson/Park Ridge; Lakeland Regional; New Milford; River Dell; Waldwick/Midland Park; Warren Hills; Westwood
District 3
Glen Rock; Indian Hills; Mahwah; Old Tappan; Pascack Hills; Pascack Valley; Ramapo; Ramsey; Ridgewood; Seton Hall Prep
District 4
DePaul; High Point; Kittatinny; Newton; North Warren; Sparta; Vernon; Wallkill Valley; West Milford
District 5
Clifton; Elmwood Park; Fair Lawn; Garfield; Hasbrouck Heights; Lodi; Paramus; Passaic; Saddle Brook; St. Joseph (Mont.)
District 6
Dover; Hopatcong; Lenape Valley; Morris Knolls; Mountain Lakes; Parsippany; Parsippany Hills; Phillipsburg; Randolph; Roxbury
District 7
Bogota/Ridgefield Park; Boonton; Cedar Grove; Montville Township; Morris Hills; Mount Olive; Paterson Eastside; Paterson Kennedy; Wayne Valley
District 8
Bergenfield; Dwight-Morrow; Fort Lee; Hackensack; Leonia/Palisades Park; Passaic Tech; Passaic Valley; St. Thomas Aquinas; Teaneck; Tenafly
District 9
Becton/Wood-Ridge; Bergen Catholic; Caldwell; Cliffside Park/Ridgefield; Hoboken; North Bergen; Rutherford; Secaucus; Union City; Weehawken
District 10
Belleville; Bloomfield; Delaware Valley; Glen Ridge; Kearny; Livingston; Montclair; Nutley; Verona; West Orange
District 11
Belvidere; Columbia; East Orange; Hackettstown; Morristown; Newark Academy; Pope John; West Morris; Whippany Park
District 12
Barringer; Hanover Park; Irvington; Lyndhurst/North Arlington; Madison; Mendham; Newark Collegiate; Orange; St. Mary (Ruth.); West Essex
District 13
Brearley/Dayton; Johnson; Millburn; New Providence; Paramus Catholic; Ridge; Scotch Plains-Fanwood; Summit/Chatham; Union; Westfield
District 14
Bernards; Bridgewater-Raritan; Hunterdon Central; Middlesex/Dunellen; North Hunterdon; North Plainfield; Pingry; Somerville; Voorhees
District 15
Carteret; Colonia; Iselin Kennedy; J.P. Stevens; Linden; Plainfield; Rahway; St. Joseph (Met.); South Plainfield
District 16
Bayonne; Cranford; Elizabeth; Gov. Livingston; Hillside; Immaculata; Newark East Side; Roselle; Roselle Park; Watchung Hills
District 17
Bound Brook; Delbarton; Franklin; Hopewell Valley; Manville; Middletown South; Montgomery; Princeton; West Windsor-Plainsboro North; West Windsor-Plainsboro South
District 18
Edison; Howell; Metuchen; Middletown North; New Brunswick; Perth Amboy; Piscataway; Sayreville; Woodbridge
District 19
Hillsborough; Holmdel; Keansburg; Keyport/Henry Hudson; Marlboro; Matawan; Raritan; Red Bank Regional; Rutgers Prep
District 20
East Brunswick; Highland Park; Monroe; North Brunswick; Old Bridge; Red Bank Catholic; Rumson-Fair Haven; South Brunswick; South River; Spotswood
District 21
Ewing; Lawrence; Long Branch; Nottingham; Notre Dame; Robbinsville; St. Peter’s Prep; Steinert; Trenton
District 22
Asbury Park; Brick Memorial; Brick Township; Manasquan; Neptune; Ocean Township; Point Pleasant Beach; St. Rose; Shore; Wall
District 23
Allentown; Bordentown/Florence; Burlington City; Burlington Township; Donovan Catholic; Hamilton West; Hightstown; Jackson Memorial; Northern Burlington; Riverside
District 24
Colts Neck; Freehold Borough; Freehold Township; Jackson Liberty; Lakewood; Manalapan; Monmouth; New Egypt; Point Pleasant Boro
District 25
Barnegat; Central Regional; Lacey; Manchester Township; Pinelands; Southern; Toms River East; Toms River North; Toms River South
District 26
Cinnaminson; Delran; Gloucester City; Holy Cross; Moorestown; Palmyra; Rancocas Valley; St. John Vianney; Westampton Tech; Willingboro
District 27
Cherokee; Cherry Hill East; Cherry Hill West; Christian Brothers; Lenape; Maple Shade; Pemberton; Seneca; Shawnee
District 28
Audubon; Camden; Collingswood; Haddon Heights; Haddon Township; Haddonfield; Paul VI; Paulsboro; Sterling; West Deptford
District 29
Clayton/Glassboro; Clearview; Deptford; Kingsway; Lindenwold; Penns Grove; Pennsauken; Pitman; Salem; Washington Township
District 30
Camden Catholic; Eastern; Hammonton; Highland/Triton; Overbrook; St. Joseph (Hamm.); Timber Creek; Williamstown; Winslow
District 31
Buena; Cedar Creek; Delsea; Gateway/Woodbury; Millville; Pennsville; Schalick/Cumberland; Vineland; Woodstown
District 32
Absegami; Atlantic City; Egg Harbor; Holy Spirit; Lower Cape May; Mainland; Middle Township; Oakcrest; Ocean City; St. Augustine.
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Bill Evans covers the BCSL, Cape-Atlantic, Colonial, Olympic and Tri-County Conference. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BEvansSports.