It hasn't been the strongest season for high school wrestling teams in the Jersey Sports Now area. But six area squads are on their way to the state team tournament, and at least a couple have a real shot at grabbing a sectional title.

Here's a look at the qualifiers and their chances of coming away with some hardware:

North Jersey Section 1, Group III:

Two local squads qualified for this section, and could meet in the semifinals. But for either team to advance to Sunday's group finals in Toms River would require a stunning upset.

Wayne Valley sneaked into the states as the #6 seed only because it beat the team that ranked 6th in power points. The Indians, fresh off winning the Passaic County title, will face Northern Highlands in the first round on Monday. The Highlanders beat the Indians by 10 points earlier in the year, but if Wayne Valley wrestles like it did in the county tournament, a reversal of that result is certainly possible.

If the Indians advance, they would face #2 seed Montville in Wednesday's sectional semifinal. The Mustangs have had another good year despite injury problems, and now that their lineup is coming together, they would have to be favored to reach the section final. The problem for Montville is that this section is still dominated by High Point, which many consider the best team in New Jersey despite an upset loss to Jackson earlier this week. For the Mustangs to beat the Wildcats would be an shocker far greater than that one.

North Jersey Section 1, Group I:

Pequannock moved up to the second seed in this section despite its disappointing loss to Madison in the final week of qualifying matches. The Panthers were missing their star heavyweight in that match, and will need a full lineup to have a shot at the sectional title. Pequannock will likely host Newton in the sectional semifinals, and that will be a very tough match. If the Panthers win, they would almost certainly travel up to meet top seed Kittatinny, a team ranked in the state's Top 20. It would be a major challenge, but the Panthers nearly upset another Top 20 team (Toms River South) without a full lineup; if they are healthy, they can be a dangerous team.

The other local squad to qualify in this section is Hawthorne. The state tournament appearance is a fitting prize for the Bears, who got the #5 seed after a a terrific season with only two dual-meet defeats. The bad news is that one of those losses was a fairly lopsided match against Emerson/Park Ridge, which is the #4 seed in this section and will host Hawthorne in Monday's first round.

North Jersey Section 2, Group I:

Boonton has quietly had a very nice season, including a win over Don Bosco Prep and an impressive third-place showing at the Morris County tournament. The Bombers drew the second seed in this section, and will take on the Madison-Belvidere winner in the sectional semifinals. Assuming third seed Madison moves on, that promises to be a very close match that could be decided by bonus points. If Boonton advances, top seed Caldwell should be the foe, and the Chiefs appear to be the favorite to take the sectional title.

Non-Public North B:

Thanks to a rule change, DePaul is not only eligible for the states but a huge favorite to repeat as sectional titlists. Until this year, teams had to have a .500 record to qualify for the wrestling states, but that rule was eliminated. Therefore, the Spartans qualified for the states at 7-8, and received the top seed thanks to a head-to-head win over second seed St. Mary of Rutherford. The rest of the teams in this section are very weak, so a DePaul-St. Mary rematch seems almost certain for the sectional title. That first match was early in the season, but DePaul won by nearly 50 points, and it's hard to imagine that much changing in six or seven weeks.

That's the good news. The bad news is that perennial power Camden Catholic remains in Non-Public B this year and will surely advance out of the South section. DePaul faced the Irish last year in the state final and it was a mismatch; this year appears no different. -- Paul Mencher for Jersey Sports Now