SHP, Caldwell & Wessex Remain
Big 3 On Essex Wrestling Scene

The terrain in Non-Public A remains as fierce as ever for Seton Hall Prep, while Caldwell is seeking a third straight state sectional team crown and West Essex is still a team to watch, while all three remain ‘The Big 3’ as far as teams to watch as the 2025-2026 wrestling season continues to take form.

State place-winners Rocco Salerno of Seton Hall Prep (8th last season at 215) and Carmine Sipper of Caldwell (third at 113) lead the top individuals vying for county, district, region and state supremacy this winter, while another state contender in Reid Clausi of West Essex (175) leads the always-consistent Wessex Knights.

The 2026 Essex County Tournament is set for Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 21-22 at Codey Arena, where SHP’s Salerno will seek to enter rarified air as a 4-time county champion, while Pirates teammate Andre Morero (126 last season) and Caldwell’s Sipper will be seeking a third straight ECT title.

Salerno recently made SHP history by earning the highest-ever finish for a Pirate grappler in the prestigious 33rd Beast of the East at the University of Delaware as he was the runner-up at 215.

The SHP strongman, a sixth seed in the nationally-renowned mat event, pinned the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds before being decisioned, 7-2, in the final by Cash Colbert of St. Paul VI Catholic of Virginia.

Salerno, who was 26-3 last winter and entered this season at 85-18 overall, joins Morero and a host of other talented Pirates in leading coach Lou Mascola’s mat squad as it seeks another ECT title.

SHP finished with 236 ½ points to win the county team crown last January while Caldwell (215) and West Essex (195) were second and third, respectively.

Caldwell’s Sipper, who was 44-5 last season, is a U.S. Naval Academy commit and has had a nice early-season accomplishment with a first-place finish at 120 pounds in the annual Caldwell Tournament, as he dominated Bergen Catholic’s Micah Loudermilk, 8-1, in the final.

Sipper impressed in last season’s NJSIAA state tournament at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City by battling back to earn a third place which was the highest finish for a Chief wrestler since assistant coach Steve Martell on a state title in 2004.

Caldwell returns a host of standouts off last winter’s 24-2 squad which won its second straight North 2, Group 2 state sectional team title and lost to Rumson-Fair Haven in the overall Group 2 state final.

Caldwell head coach Sean Romano earned his 100th career win in his team’s season-opening 56-21 dual match victory vs. Kittatinny on Dec. 11 while improving his overall record to 100-21 as he is in the midst of his sixth season at the helm after serving for a decade as Gary Garamella’s assistant coach.

Romano, a 2006 ECT champ, has led the Chiefs to three straight 20-win seasons.

The 2025-2026 Caldwell mat squad returns other talented veterans to support Sipper in the lineup including Yankee Magee (126), Solomon Soriente (138) and Rocco Conforti (150).

Clausi is a warrior to deal with for opponents at 175 for West Essex and is joined by other veterans to watch on coach Mike Markey’s strong Knights squad including returning ECT runner-up Christian Bastante (132), Mark Farrah (138) and Joe Cutruzzula (190).

Among the key SEC matches on the upcoming schedule are SHP at Caldwell, 7 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 7, and SHP at West Essex on Wednesday, Jan. 14, also at 7.