A historical wrestling season was produced this winter at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
As part of a school-record 21 victories in team matches, Bridgewater-Raritan hoisted its first state sectional trophy since 2016 after a 57-13 triumph over Bayonne High School in the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group 5 sectional final on February 12 at Vaughn Stapleton Gymnasium.
To end the team state tournament, Bridgewater-Raritan advanced to its first-ever Group 5 state
championship match. Bridgewater-Raritan ultimately fell by a score of 58-18 against state powerhouse Southern Regional High School: ranked No. 8 in Jersey, at Jersey Mike’s Arena at Rutgers University in Piscataway on February 16. That result produced a third straight Group 5 state championship for Southern Regional..
While Bridgewater Raritan's full squad, therefore, came up one win short of being crowned state champion, six days later, its individual wrestlers each launched their state title bids.
And what a successful run they all had.
On February 22, a school-record 11 out of the Panthers’ 14 individual wrestlers advanced out of the District 14 tournament at North Hunterdon Regional High School in Annandale.
In the Region 4 tournament from February 28 to March 1 at Union High School in Union, four of these 11 wrestlers: senior Mark Marsigliano (132 pounds), senior Matt Di Eduardo (165 pounds), senior Lerrod Smalls (190 pounds), and sophomore Trent Levash (215 pounds), extended their seasons to the winter’s final weekend–the State Individual Championship Tournament on March 6-8 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
This was the most state qualifiers under the fourth-year head coach and Bridgewater-Raritan High School Class of 2016 graduate Kyle Murphy, who ended his wrestling career nine years ago with a sixth-place finish in the state tournament.
Although their four remaining bids for state titles and podium spots were ultimately thwarted over the weekend in front of a three-day total of 22,488 spectators, Bridgewater Raritan's valiant tournament runs ultimately capped off a historic 2024-25 season for Bridgewater-Raritan.
“We absolutely had our best team season in school history, but then we had to make that quick turnaround to the individual part of the season,” explained Murphy of his squad’s transition from the team state tournament to the individual state tournament. “I told the kids throughout the process to fight for each other as much as possible, and that the job wasn’t done. They had the tools and the necessary skills, and they proved that as a team this year, making the state finals, they could make a run at districts, regions, and the state tournament in Atlantic City.”
“I was thrilled to see them continue that success throughout the year past the team state finals and into the individual part of the season.”
In Atlantic City, Marsigliano and Smalls’ high school careers both came to an end following defeats in each of their two bouts on Thursday, March 6, including a pair of narrow decisions by Smalls.
While Levash and Di Eduardo were eliminated from state championship contention on day one, both of them advanced to Friday, March , out of wrestlebackss with one loss out of their corresponding double-elimination brackets.
A heartbreaking overtime defeat Friday morning marked the end of Levash’s state tournament run and sophomore season in Atlantic City.
Di Eduardo collected career victory No. 100 at Boardwalk Hall as part of a team-best 3-2 showing in the state tournament. He was then eliminated with a defeat but not before he achieved his milestone victory.
“We get Trent (Levash) back for two more years, so we’re excited for him,” recapped Murphy of his wrestlers’ performances at Atlantic City. “I told him that we have a lot to work on, but that his success is only going to rise if he continues to put the work in. For the other three [seniors] whose careers ended, as well as our other [seniors] throughout that process over the last few weeks, I was just proud of them being my first group for four years since I’ve been the coach to see where they have come. A lot of these guys weren’t even wrestlers before they came into this program. To see them make it to the hardest tournament in the state: arguably one of the hardest in the country, it was an honor to coach them, and I will continue to be in their corner this year.”
Coach Murphy concluded:
“Even though their high school careers are done at Bridgewater-Raritan, they have so much more to continue to prove, and this is not the end of their journey.”