2026 Middletown North Lions
Head Coach: Eric Morley (5th Season in 2026 / 71-22)
Assistants: Jody Smith / Matthew Winters
Volunteers: Brady Smith, / Brady Klinsky / Hugo Pinto / Matt Sirchio / Justin Persico / Brandon Vorrius / Jack Zaleski / Justin Weimer / Thomas O'Keefe
Section: NJG2 / Division: B / District: 20 / Region: 5

Nine starters, including a trio of State qualifiers, return from last season's B-Division Championship team. Junior Thomas Blewett was the team leader in wins last season with 43, and enters his third season with 71 career victories. A District and Region champ last year, he gives the Lions a hammer down low as North breaks in some promising underclassmen into the lower portion of the lineup.

North looks to potentially have a nice upperclassmen stretch of returning starters with junior Jackson Fearon, who finished 3rd at Districts, and a trio of seniors in Shane Myiow, Tyler Oden, and Nicholas Wall. Wall is coming off a 34-win season that saw him advance to Atlantic City after taking 4th at the Regions, while both Oden and Myiow were 3rd-place finishers at Districts in 2024.

The Lions have another trio of seniors leading the charge up top in Nico Cordova, Jake Schettino, and Daniel Benbrook. Benbrook, who enters the year with 83 career wins, advanced to Boardwalk Hall last year after finishing 4th in Region 5 at 175 and was a District Champ in 2024. That threesome will be looked to provide veteran leadership as North will be breaking some underclassmen into the upperweights. Among those underclassmen looking to make an impact are freshman Adam Petrovski, who took 3rd at the Intermediate States last year.

While North will be injecting some youth in the lineup down low and in a couple of the weight classes up top, this is a veteran team that has the horses to successfully defend their B-Division crown and make another run at a Sectional title. They'll get a good measure of where they're at as a dual team early on as they face state powers Phillipsburg and Mt Olive in a tri meet on the 2nd week of the season.

Possible Lineup in 2026