Immaculata had this match circled.
Now, the Spartans can cross it off.
In their third year as a program, the 2026 Somerset County champs were eagerly awaiting 2025 Group 4 champ North Hunterdon’s arrival to the Somerville-based school’s gym after North beat them 50-15 on the road last year.
Determined to not let history repeat itself, Immaculata picked up a 37-30 win in a Skyland Delaware division battle on Wednesday between two teams who began the year ranked in the NJ.com Top 20.
“We were eyeing this match on his schedule because of the beating that they gave us last year,” Immaculata coach Rodney Van Ness said. “A couple bouts that I was counting on didn’t go our way, but the kids stepped up and got it done.”
Both teams are strong down low, where North Hunterdon has state-ranked wrestlers in three of the first six weights.
And two of them — Cayden Wadle at 106 (No. 3) and Aidan Yarussi (No. 5 at 132) — staved off the upsets.
But it was 126 where Immaculata’s Ryan Goldstein, a 30-plus match winner a year ago, picked up a signature win in one of the key bouts that did go Immaculata’s way.
He upset No. 6 ranked Reid Buzby with a takedown at the edge of the circle with 16.9 seconds left in their bout to win 3-1 and give Immaculata a big win in a swing bout.
“I always just stay in focus. I was kind of telling myself throughout the match to stay calm, pressure forward and just keep hunting him down,” Goldstein said. “Over the offseason, I put in a lot of work, and I just trusted my technique, trusted my coaches.”
Goldstein’s used to springing upsets though as the Somerset County champ also knocked off the third seed at the Beast of the East earlier this year. And while he missed out on going to Atlantic City a year ago as sixth place finisher at the regions, Wednesday provided another glimpse as to what his potential might be.
“I’ve been using that as motivation, really, just constantly reminding myself of that pain that I felt of watching my teammates down in AC,” Goldstein said. “It really just made me want to be in the room every single day, getting better every single day to try and earn my spot down there.”
Van Ness wasn’t surprised with Goldstein’s showing, insisting “when he’s on, he can wrestle with anybody.”
The same is true of the showing 215-pouner Jaiden Drake-Murray put in. A football player for Immaculata by trade, the upperweight had been sidelined since the first week of the season with an ankle injury.
But he showed no signs of injury or rust as he pinned North Hunterdon’s Dajinder Dhillon to put Immaculata up for good, 37-24 with two bouts to go.
“I’ve been practicing a little bit, getting some work in this week to knock the rust off a little bit. So it wasn’t that bad,” Drake-Murray said. “I’ve been really trying to get back out. It’s been eating at me. So this is a great time to come back out and win us a big, big match.”
Van Ness said the Spartans as a team haven’t yet reached their full potential, but Wednesday was the closest look yet at what that might be.
And with the addition of wrestlers like state medalist Rhett Washleski, who picked up a 15-0 tech fall to continue his unbeaten season since transferring from Immaculata, or brothers Ryan and Aidan Thompson, also both Hunterdon Central transfers, and both big winners on Wednesday, the future could be bright.
Are the Spartans a legit threat to knock off Pope John, who beat them 44-31, or No. 5 ranked Camden Catholic in Non-Public B? Only time will tell.
They’re certainly a contender in the Skyland Delaware division, which at one point had three of its five teams ranked in the Top 20. They can clinch the division title with a win over a state-ranked Phillipsburg team as well.
But, as Van Ness said Wednesday, the best may be yet to come.
“We’re yet to get all our pieces together,” Van Ness said. “When we do it’ll show.”
