Seven wrestling teams from the Jersey Sports Now region qualified for the New Jersey team state tournament next week.  Six of the squads will begin action in the sectional quarterfinals on Monday, February 9, while one will wait until the semifinal round two days later.

In each case, the road to a sectional title will have to go through a team from the powerful Sussex County Interscholastic League.  Here is the outlook for the various teams:

North Jersey Section 1, Group 3:

Three local teams qualified in this section.  West Milford drew the #5 seed and will open on the road on Monday at 4th seed Paramus.  If the Highlanders can pull out the win there, they'll earn a trip to face top-seeded High Point, the defending state champion in this group and one of the top wrestling teams in all of New Jersey again this year.  The Wildcats defeated West Milford handily earlier this season.

Wayne Valley is the #3 seed in the bracket and will host a first-round match Monday against sixth seed Old Tappan.  If the Indians win, they will travel on Wednesday for a rematch against #2 seed Montville.  The Mustangs have a first-round bye and defeated Wayne Valley in January by a 33-21 score.  Whichever team comes out of this side of the bracket will almost certainly have the unenviable task of visiting High Point in Friday's sectional final.

North Jersey Section 1, Group 2:

Lakeland quietly put together a nice season and managed to slip into the state playoffs as the #6 seed in this bracket.  The Lancers will visit 3rd seed River Dell in Monday's opening round.  If they win, they will meet Mahwah in the semifinals.  The top seed in this wrestling bracket is Jefferson, an SCIL member, but this appears to be a wide-open section.

North Jersey Section 1, Group 1:

Based on the power points, the two local teams that qualified in this section would be facing each other.  But a switch in the seedings will have them facing different opponents.  #5 seed Pequannock will travel to Sussex County Monday to take on fourth seed Wallkill Valley.  If the Panthers can win that one, they would make another trip up Route 23 two days later to face the top seed and defending Group 1 state champion, Kittatinny.

Pompton Lakes would have been the 4th seed based on power points, but because the Cardinals beat Wallkill earlier in the wrestling season, the two teams swapped seedings.  As the #3 seed, the Cards host #6 Emerson/Park Ridge on Monday.  If Pompton Lakes wins, they would also travel to Sussex County Wednesday, but their opponent would be #2 seed Newton.  The switch isn't a break for the Cardinals;  many consider Newton the favorite not only to win the section but possibly the state title as well.  The Braves also beat Pompton Lakes in January.

North Jersey Section 2, Group 1:

Whippany Park is the defending sectional champion here and had a strong 12-2 record at the cutoff.  But that was only good enough to earn the Wildcats the #3 seed.  They will host sixth seed Elmwood Park on Monday.  Assuming Whippany wins that wrestling match, they will make a short trip Wednesday to take on 2nd seed Madison in the semifinal round.

The Wildcats should have a strong chance to reach the sectional final again, but winning the title this year will be much tougher.  That's because of a school that moved into this grouping for 2008-09:  top seed Lenape Valley, ranked in the state's Top 20 and another member of--you guessed it--the SCIL. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now