Boys swimming: North Jersey team-by-team previews for the 2022-23 season
Take a team-by-team look at the North Jersey boys swimming teams heading into the 2022-23 season.
Big North American
Demarest
Top returners: senior Kaan Yaprak, junior Eric Lee, sophomores Eric Hwang and Roy Sung.
Outlook: The Norsemen (5-7) are the league favorites and a Bergen County contender despite a modest dual meet record last year. Coach Michael Kilduff has assembled a star-studded cast led by county IM champ Eric Lee and freshman Timothy Lee, who has record-breaking potential in the freestyle.
Indian Hills
Top returners: senior Steven Roche, juniors Bruno Cavero and Rowan Guller.
Outlook: The Braves (6-3) will lean on the versatility of league champion Steven Roche with an undersized roster.
Mahwah
Top returners: junior Kiran Aman, sophomores Zach O'Connell and Eugene Juwon Lee.
Outlook: Almost the entire roster is made up of freshmen after welcoming in an unusually large nine-man class. That spike in participation and the scoring from rookie Peyton Egg can help the Thunderbirds rise up after a winless season.
Ramapo
Top returners: junior Amir Rakhimov, sophomore Warren Hsu.
Outlook: Joe Torres has taken over as the third coach in four years for the rebuilding Raiders (2-8). Hsu is an emerging star in the 500 freestyle and individual medley, as he placed second and third respectively at last year's Big North American meet.
Ramsey
Top returners: seniors Brian Hu and Lucas Steele, juniors Adam Lao and Luke Auty.
Outlook: The Rams (6-5) booked their first trip to the state tournament last year, helping raise the expectations and the camaraderie around the program. "They are not afraid to push themselves at practice," coach Gary Bach said. "They are very enthusiastic, and they want to compete to win in every meet, even against the powerhouse teams."
Teaneck
Top returners: seniors Hiroshi McIntosh and Qeihan Anderson, junior JB Abarquez.
Outlook: New coach Brian Doyle is counting on the leadership from the senior class to get the Highwaymen (1-10) back on course.
Big North Freedom
Fair Lawn
Top returners: seniors Chris Li and Alex Gorakine, junior Stanislaw Soliwoda, sophomore Gabe Castro.
Outlook: Freedom breaststroke champion Chris Li is the catalyst for the Cutters (5-5), who will be competitive with a sophomore and junior-heavy lineup.
Hackensack
Top returners: seniors Chris Jackson, Brian Messar and Ruairi O'Connor, junior Jaden Ellis
Outlook: Jackson holds the county record in the backstroke and teamed up with Ellis to bring Hackensack (9-4-1) its first Bergen relay title last year. The hope is their speed and a big senior class can keep things running smoothly despite two notable losses.
Northern Highlands
Top returners: juniors Ethan Young and Matthew Young, sophomores Dylan Song and Johnathon Cheng.
Outlook: The Highlanders (9-2) will shoot for their fourth straight division title with Patriot champion Johnathon Cheng leading a fast group of freestylers. Youth and a tougher league alignment will be the big hurdles for coach Tom Viscardi.
Ridgewood
Top returners: juniors Michael Granin, Jack Glynn and Nathan Colosimo, sophomore Sam Skibo.
Outlook: The Maroons (10-1) are a perennial power after winning gold at the last five Big North Freedom meets. Depth will be a major strength again with a 36-man roster led by Bergen County medalist Michael Granin (freestyle/breaststroke).
River Dell/Westwood
Top returners: seniors Tyler Perrino and Jason McCarter, sophomores Jeffrey Jeong and Ashish Panicker.
Outlook: The Golden Hawks (6-5) always put out a competitive product, having racked up six straight winning seasons. Coach Chris Armen likes the depth and versatility of this year's squad despite losing some top-end speed from the Liberty runners-up.
Big North Liberty
Clifton
Top returner: senior Frank Coste.
Outlook: Graduation took a bite out of the lineup for the Mustangs (2-7), who have to replace 14 seniors. Coach Brittany Yannetti pointed to Alexander and Adrian Wilson-King as promising newcomers who can ease the transition.
Lakeland/West Milford
Top returners: seniors Owen Schouten and Owen Kane, junior Steven Bracken, sophomore Michael Jakubaszek.
Outlook: The upstart program made considerable gains last season by setting team records for wins (4-8) and points scored at the Passaic County meet. Personal growth continues to be the main goal now in the co-op's sixth varsity season.
Pascack Regional
Top returners: senior Zachary Berde, juniors Brian Yang and Juan Zapateiro.
Outlook: Filling out the lineup card will be a challenge for Pascack Regional (3-6), which is rebuilding with low numbers.
Passaic
Top returners: seniors Steven Martinez and Brandon Juarez, junior Christian Soto.
Outlook: The Indians (0-9) feature a small but committed roster according to coach Kristine Meindl, who aims to get more swimmers to branch out into unfamiliar events.
Passaic Tech
Top returners: senior Edward Callaghan, juniors Adam Kiss and Michael Sanchez, sophomore Tyler Roer.
Outlook: The Bulldogs (9-5) will be the team to beat at the Passaic County championship after nearly doubling up second-place Wayne Valley last year for their seventh straight meet title. School record-holder Adam Kiss will pair up with his freshman brother, Oliver, in a deep lineup that's looking to stay atop the Liberty.
Big North Patriot
Paramus
Top returners: junior Andre Cartagena, sophomores Daniel Chung and Patrick Edelbach.
Outlook: Scoring from All-Patriot standout Andre Cartegena can help the Spartans (6-4) build on a breakout season, when the program posted its highest win total in more than a decade.
Wayne Hills
Top returners: senior Thomas Emeric, juniors Matheus Campos and Evan Biller, sophomore Evan Hablitz.
Outlook: The Patriots (2-8) will turn to a young group to reinvigorate a program that has only three seniors. Freshman Alex Buftea adds a burst of speed in the freestyle events.
Tenafly
Top returners: seniors Aaron Baltaytis and Hayoung Choe, juniors Andrew Lee and Ellis Tritter.
Outlook: The Tigers (11-1) are sitting pretty after winning league, county and sectional titles behind Northwestern commit and state champion Aaron Baltaytis. After three years without a loss to a North Jersey public school, all that's left to do is secure the program's first group crown.
Big North United
Bergen Catholic
Top returners: seniors Gavin Perez and Matt Semelsberger, juniors Doyee Kim and Raymond Stelmark.
Outlook: The Crusaders (10-2) are ready to contend on all three levels after winning the Big North United and taking second at the Bergen County meet. Sophomore transfer Eric Yoo bolsters a lineup with cohesion and versatility.
Paramus Catholic
Top returners: junior Dylan Silva, sophomores Gian Uy and Alessandro Chavez.
Outlook: The Paladins (2-7) have hope that brighter days are ahead after taking their lumps last winter. "We are continuing to build the program and we are excited to add some depth to our team," third-year coach Carl D’Amore said.
NJIC
Garfield/Hasbrouck Heights
Top returners: seniors Ryan Ng, Gian Lopez and Timothy Tran, junior Pawel Drzymala.
Outlook: The Boilermakers (7-1) should finish near the top of the conference race after scoring more than 100 points in all seven wins last season. Most of that team is back with another year of experience.
Leonia/Palisades Park
Top returners: juniors Vincent Kim, Matthew Chang and Brian Do, sophomore Abir Bhattacharya.
Outlook: The Lions (4-2) might have the best team in the NJIC after returning four of their top five scorers from the conference meet. Vincent Kim and Matthew Chang form an excellent 1-2 punch as school record-holders, while freshman Ryan Choi looks poised to join them on the county podium.
Lyndhurst/North Arlington
Top returners: seniors Liam Murphy and William Ruiz, sophomores Drew Bancroft and Anthony White.
Outlook: The Golden Bears have the potential to take a step forward after a winless season. The four swimmers listed above all competed on the team's top 200 medley relay at last year's conference meet.
Rutherford
Top returners: juniors Joey Lu and Evan Tortora, sophomores Greg Farnum and Brian Mulligan.
Outlook: The Bulldogs (8-1) will vie for their second straight NJIC title with a revamped lineup. Coach Steve Dunn will rely on their versatility, team culture and impact freshmen with no seniors listed on the roster.
Secaucus
Top returners: senior Daniel Furman, junior Aidan Del Rosario, sophomores Sean Panameno and Justin Rowe.
Outlook: Improving on last year's record is a primary goal for the sophomore-heavy Patriots (2-5), who are just a year removed from .500 play.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ boys swimming: North Jersey team-by-team previews for 2022-23
