00:00Last year, the Del Barton-Blair duel came down to the very last match.
00:03And this year, it's shaping up to do the same.
00:05Add in the electric atmosphere and two top 10 teams in the nation,
00:08and you've got a showdown JD and I couldn't miss
00:11because we're looking for the best high school wrestling duel in America.
00:30We are here in Del Barton High School in New Jersey.
00:41Tyler's behind the camera, you can't see him, but he is here.
00:43I'm right here.
00:43Along with me.
00:44Del Barton versus Blair.
00:45It's going to be awesome too.
00:47Top 10 nationally ranked high schools in the country.
00:49Number 8 versus number 9.
00:50Reminder, we're grading the duel on four criteria.
00:53Those four criteria are...
00:57Number 1, energy.
00:58Number 2, venue.
01:00Number 3, quality of wrestling.
01:02And number 4, history.
01:03Why is this so hard for me?
01:04Number 8, Blair Academy.
01:05And number 9, Del Barton just started dueling each other five years ago.
01:09And they've had some nail biters,
01:10but Del Barton has yet to notch a win over the storied program that is Blair Academy.
01:14Blair was always kind of on the top of the mountain,
01:16a program that we always aspired to be like.
01:18In recent years, we've finally got to be a point where we can really be competitive with them.
01:22So it's going to come down to every point in this story.
01:24This year might be their first shot though,
01:26with five nationally ranked wrestlers on their team headlined by number 4,
01:29Alessio Parenten, and number 2, Jayden James.
01:32I got to Blair in 2022.
01:33I think we beat him by, I want to say, 15, 20 points.
01:36And then each subsequent year, it's been down a little wire.
01:38But Blair won't go down easy.
01:40They're showing up with four nationally ranked wrestlers,
01:42including number 2, Will Henkel,
01:44and number 1, Leo DeLuca.
01:46Wrestling in New Jersey, what does it mean to the community?
01:49When you see this event tonight, you'll kind of understand.
01:51You guys always show up to the duel in singles?
01:52Yes.
01:53It's the only way to do it.
01:55You have to watch here in the cold?
01:56Yeah.
01:56How bad do you want it?
01:57I'm not cold.
01:58I'm not cold.
01:58You know, after watching Clovis Buchanan over the last couple of years,
02:01I really thought it would be good to pick up the production a little bit
02:04and make it a true community event.
02:06General admission tickets sold out in less than 10 minutes for this match.
02:09programs for a high school duel.
02:12They got the Blair roster in here too with headshots.
02:15This is like college-level stuff.
02:35This is giving me pretty hype, I'm not going to lie.
02:38It's pretty electric.
02:39This is already pretty comparable to Clovis.
02:47The Dalbarman, Chase Twanong.
03:19The duel kicks off with a Del Barton win.
03:32Next is a huge swing match that could be the difference in the duel.
03:35Number 6 in the country, Cam Sontz of Del Barton versus number 7, Mike Batista of Blair.
03:49Cam Sontz of Del Barton versus number 7, Mike Batista of Del Barton versus number 7, Mike Batista of Del Barton.
04:19Cam Sontz gets the razor close win and Del Barton goes up 6-0.
04:43But that momentum is about to come to a quick end as Blair sends out number 1 in the country, Leo DeLuca.
05:13What do you guys think of Blair?
05:15Blair's got a pretty good team, but I don't like them.
05:18You boys are pretty wild.
05:19What makes you so crazy?
05:21Just, you know, being here with the guys and just getting loud and hopefully getting the W.
05:29Del Barton's Tommy Marchetti is a beast in his own right, ranked number 3 in the state of New Jersey, but he's no match for DeLuca.
05:35A DeLuca tech narrows the score 6-5, and then a major from Blair's number 8, Vincenzo Anello, finally pulls Blair into the lead.
05:42A couple matches in, Blair's up 9-6.
05:46These Del Barton boys are a bunch of savages, like a pack of hungry dogs, hungry for some Del Barton Ws.
05:51They got a couple, they're trying to come back in.
05:53Look who just walked in the door.
05:55One, Tom Brands, Iowa head coach.
05:57Leo DeLuca, who just won a couple matches ago, committed to Iowa.
06:01Obviously, bonus points for quality wrestling criteria.
06:05If you got Tom Brands in the crowd recruiting, that's quality wrestling.
06:08Then Del Barton earns another win from Ryan DeGeorge, who's ranked number 1 in the state of New Jersey to tie the score 9-9.
06:14And this next match to break the tie was absolutely crazy.
06:17Del Barton's number 16, Chase Quinault, is taking on Blair's unranked Weston Borgers.
06:22On paper, this match is Del Barton's for the taking.
06:24And that's also the way it starts.
06:26Quinault takes an early lead, and just when it looks like he's going to run away with it.
06:29Ten seconds left here in the second.
06:31Borgers scores a late takedown at the end of the second period.
06:40And then another in the third.
06:42These attempts.
06:42Put him to his back here, expose him a little bit.
06:44Uh-oh.
06:45And that's going to be...
06:46That's going to be 3-0 yet.
06:49Actually, no, that's a good job.
06:51They were on the edge of the mat.
06:53Wow.
06:54Now, one more takedown from either of these guys will seal the win in their favor.
07:01Oh my God.
07:03My goodness.
07:05Almost in on a shot, and that's a good defense, yeah?
07:08Come on, these are shooting them out of the mat.
07:09Shoot them out.
07:09Shoot them out.
07:10Shoot them out.
07:11These are shooting them out.
07:13Come on.
07:13No.
07:13That was huge.
07:41On ranked, Weston Borgers pulls off the upset over number 16, Chase Quinault.
07:46And Blair erases the progress Del Barton made in the earlier swing match between Sans and Batista.
07:51Blair is now in the lead, 12-9.
07:53But an easy major from Del Barton Schwartz pulls Del Barton up 13-12, and next up is a crowd favorite.
07:59Del Barton's highest ranked wrestler, number 2, Jaden James.
08:11Let's see, see, see.
08:15Meghundמ节!
08:193-0!
08:20To this day,
08:50I have never seen a student section pop like that.
08:55Actually, that's not true.
08:56I've seen a student section get even crazier,
08:58but that's for later in the video.
09:00Some subtle foreshadowing for you.
09:06Dal Barton goes up 19 to 12,
09:08and the crowd is buzzing.
09:09But Blair's Joseph Shinder
09:10sucked the air out of the room
09:12almost immediately with an insanely quick pin.
09:20It quickly narrows Dal Barton's lead to one point.
09:22That's how you have to respond.
09:25The most electric moment of the night
09:28for Dal Barton.
09:29All of a sudden,
09:30the crowd goes completely silent.
09:33Blair gets up the pin in about 20 seconds.
09:35I don't think we're kidding.
09:42Next up is Dal Barton's number four,
09:44Alessio Parenti.
10:01A-E! A-E! A-E! A-E!
10:07A-E! A-E!
10:08A-E! A-E!
10:09A-E!
10:10A-E!
10:10Here up here Re confusion!
10:16Pad chということで
10:18Hope to end of the closing timeline!
10:20Why are you here?
10:22Why are you there?!
10:23Why are you here?!
10:23Why are you here?!
10:24My team!
10:24A B!
10:25Eh B!
10:25E B!
10:25E B!
10:26E B!
10:26E B!
10:27E B!
10:28E B!
10:31Where are you
10:35with the Wort菜?
10:37Thank you!
10:39Alessio fought so hard for the pin, but eventually he has to settle for a tech.
10:46Del Barton 24, Blair 18.
10:48Now we're deep in the duel and Blair pulls one of my favorite moves in high school wrestling.
10:52The Double Bump.
10:54Blair's 165 pounder Barry Norman Jr. bumps up to 175.
10:57And their 175 pounder, No. 2 William Henkel, bumps up to 190.
11:01And it paid off.
11:09Norman earns a last second tech and No. 2 Will Henkel earns a 41 second pin, pushing
11:18Blair back in the lead at 29-24.
11:21With only two matches left, a single win for Blair would seal a victory in their favor.
11:25Del Barton's Elbris Magica takes care of business and is winning 16-6 when disaster strikes.
11:37Graham runs out, and Del Barton stays in the duel, but that was a close one.
11:40Blair is in the lead 29-27, and that brings us to the final match, Heavyweight.
12:07This one is for all the marbles, every single one.
12:12Now, for the third straight year, this duel has come down to heavyweight.
12:15And every time before, Del Barton has walked away heartbroken.
12:18Will they finally break through, or will Blair prove once again that there's levels to this
12:23game?
12:24I got a Și!
12:33I got Yu to go!
12:42And that's a good one!
13:17With Blair inches away from a takedown, I started to feel bad for Del Barton.
13:26It finally looked like it was going to be their year, like they were going to topple the legend that is Blair Academy.
13:31But if Blair's Kellis gets this takedown, that dream disappears.
14:17Let's go!
14:26I told you we're going to beat them!
14:28Let's go!
14:29That's the craziest ending to a duel I've ever seen in my entire life.
14:36It actually made me emotional.
14:38Like, I have no dog in this fight.
14:40Del Barton and Blair, I really couldn't care.
14:42But when their heavyweight won, it actually almost made me choke up a little bit.
14:46Like, I was a little emotional.
14:48That's what sports are all about.
14:49That's what wrestling's all about.
14:50For Del Barton to be competing with teams like Blair Academy, you know, 10 years ago, people would have laughed at you.
14:55We're trying to find the best high school wrestling duel in the country this season.
15:00Do you think that was it?
15:01That's got to be up there.
15:02I mean, it's got to be in contention.
15:04How'd it feel?
15:04You know, that moment, you get your hand raised, and then you jump into the crowd with all your boys.
15:09How'd that feel?
15:09It felt great.
15:10I didn't expect it.
15:10They were supposed to give the crowd to somebody else.
15:13But Coach told me, go jump in the crowd.
15:16It felt fantastic.
15:17I had friends beneath me congratulating me.
15:20I don't know.
15:20It was one of the most amazing things.
15:21To be the team like Blair Academy is amazing.
15:23To create an atmosphere like that is amazing.
15:26To be the team like Blair Academy in that atmosphere is, you know, something that I'm sure these kids will never forget in their life, and I'm never going to forget in my life, for sure.
15:34All right, J.D., the last duel, we may have saved the best for last.
15:37Maybe.
15:38Maybe.
15:39I got to go back and relive, but in the moment, like I said afterwards, it literally made me emotional.
15:44I've been to a lot of duels.
15:46It's like so rare that it actually, especially in high school with 14 weights, where it actually comes down to the last weight, and it makes it almost a little bit better when that last weight is heavyweight.
15:55Right.
15:55And it's not like one team was far ahead, so it felt like they were running away with it, and then the other team stormed back.
16:00It was like Del Barton would win one, then Blair would win one, then Del Barton.
16:03It was like they were both climbing the ladder, and they were never more than one match away from the other team.
16:07And so it just made it so much fun to pay attention to every single match.
16:10This is evolving into one of the best rivalries in the sport, in the state of New Jersey at least.
16:16These teams really care about beating each other.
16:18Man, this has been so much fun.
16:20It really has been.
16:22I don't know what else to say.
16:23I'm speechless.
16:24What a night.
16:25What a series.
16:26Make sure to subscribe on YouTube and follow us on Instagram, where we'll be posting the winners of each category, plus crowning an overall champion.
16:33And this search is not over.
16:35We're trying to head to more wrestling duels this upcoming season, so make sure to comment below where we should go,
16:39because the hunt for the best high school wrestling duel in the country is never ending.
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