ROBBINSVILLE — While it was a very familiar story in terms of the team title, that’s not to say the Colonial Valley Wrestling Championships lacked drama on Saturday at Robbinsville High. For the record, Hopewell Valley won it with 232 points and three champions, and there was a very spirited battle for second. Hightstown ended up in the runner-up spot with 188.5 points, followed by Robbinsville’s 187.5 and Allentown’s 180.5. There were also plenty of individual milestones. Princeton’s Cole Rose became just the 12th four-time winner in the history of the tourney while Allentown’s Charles Case and Princeton’s Blase Mele became three-time champions in their senior seasons. Grabbing gold for Hopewell Valley were junior Dylan Hersh (126 pounds), Konrad Haugeto (157) and Jett Branagh (165). It was the second tile in a row for Haugeto and Branagh for a Hopewell Valley team that used its depth and points at the majority of weights to win in its usual cruise. Branagh had the toughest final of the three when he beat Notre Dame’s top-seeded KJ Honnig, 2-1. For its part, Robbinsville also had three champions and got the finals off to a rocking start when Vincent Grippa and Lucas Messinger prevailed at 106 pounds and and Lucas Messinger won at 113. Both reversed losses from earlier in the year as Grippa (27-1) hung on for a 9-6 win over Princeton’s Forest Rose after taking a 7-0 lead and Messinger lit up the crowd by pinning Hopewell’s Dean Meissner in 1:31. For his efforts, Messinger was named the Outstanding Wrestler. “We wanted Grippa to come out aggressive and that’s just what he did,” said Robbinsville coach Dan Hughes. “And Messinger was just electric.” Rose became the second Princeton wrestler to win the tourney four times – the first was Alec Bochin – when he won by major decision in the 132 final to improve to 18-1. “It means a lot to me to be a four-time champion,” said Rose. “It was a goal I definitely wanted to accomplish. Rose, of course, is from a very successful wrestling family as his older sister Ava, who now is a member of the University of Iowa team, was a two-time state champion. “She inspired me,” Cole Rose said. “During the covid year she was the only one I could work out with. She made me a better wrestler and I think I did the same for her.” Another result of note found Hightstown’s Chris Cropanese beating Hopewell’s Luke Caldwell, 5-0, at 138 with a dominating leg ride. This allowed Cropanese to avenge a loss from the previous week and resulted in Caldwell finishing second for the fourth straight year. Princeton High’s Blase Mele reacts after he won the 150-pound final by technical fall at the CVC Wrestling Championships on Saturday night at Robbinsville High. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) After Robbinville’s Andrew O’Reilly continued his break-out season by winning at 144, all heck broke loose at 150 where Allentown’s Nick Gaul put Mele on his back for nearly 15 seconds and all but pinned him. Ranked in the top five of the state, Mele eventually got out and stormed back to win on a 27-12 tech fall. This bout could very well serve as a wake-up call for Mele in his drive to win a state title. Headed to Princeton University to wrestle, Mele in the final gave up his first points all year other than escapes. Along with Case, Rose, Mele, Haugeto and Branagh, West Windsor North’s Darren deJong repeated as a champion with a major decision at 215. The other champions were Steinert’s Elliot Morris (175), Notre Dame’s Mike Mulray (190) and Lawrence heavyweight Samuel Moffett, who ended an overtime war with a pin of Trenton’s top-seeded Crayton Laws in a time of 8:21 in the tournament ending bout. Moffett and Laws were tied 1-all after regulation and went all the way to the ultimate tiebreaker before Moffett decided it by flattening an exhausted Laws. Moffett had to overcome allowing Laws to escape with one second remaining in the 30-second overtime after neither scored from the neutral position. “I just went to the bottom like it never happened. I had a clean mind,” Moffett said. “You can feel the rumble (of the crowd), knowing that I got to put this kid down no matter what.” NOTES: Trenton’s Akbar Divine was the winner of the Gary Dambro Excellence award and West Windsor North’s Bill Furlong won the Coaches Excellence award. Lawrence’s Samuel Moffett celebrates after winning the 285-pound final in an ultimate tiebreaker at the CVC Wrestling Championships on Saturday night at Robbinsville High. (Kyle Franko/ Trentonian Photo) Team scores: 1. Hopewell Valley 232; 2. Hightstown 188.5; 3, Robbinsville 187.5; 4.Allentown 180.5; Steinert 163; 6. Princeton 152.5; 7. Notre Dame 148; 8.Lawrence 131; 9. West Windsor North 108; 10. Trenton 41; 11. Nottingham 41; 12. Hamilton 38; 13. West Windsor South 16; 14. Ewing 16. Finals 106: 1st Place Match – Vincent Grippa (Robbinsville) 27-1 won by decision over Forest Rose (Princeton) 22-3 (Dec 9-6) 113: 1st Place Match – Lucas Messinger (Robbinsville) 20-5 won by fall over Dean Meissner (Hopewell Valley) 20-4 (Fall 0:31) 120: 1st Place Match – Charles Case (Allentown) 23-1 won by major decision over Jordan Corzo (Hightstown) 17-8 (MD 17-3) 126: 1st Place Match – Dylan Hersh (Hopewell Valley) 20-4 won by decision over Sebastian Molina (Notre Dame) 15-10 (Dec 9-4) 132: 1st Place Match – Cole Rose (Princeton) 18-1 won by major decision over Steven Ham (Lawrence) 17-5 (MD 10-1) 138: 1st Place Match – Christopher Cropanese (Hightstown) 23-3 won by decision over Luke Caldwell (Hopewell Valley) 19-5 (Dec 5-0) 144: 1st Place Match – Andrew O`Reilly (Robbinsville) 24-5 won by tech fall over Sam Lohouse (Hightstown) 20-5 (TF-1.5 1:57 (17-0) 150: 1st Place Match – Blase Mele (Princeton) 16-0 won by tech fall over Nicholas Gaul (Allentown) 7-3 (TF-1.5 2:31 (27-12)) 157: 1st Place Match – Konrad Haugeto (Hopewell Valley) 22-2 won by decision over Tanner Wilson (Allentown) 8-2 (Dec 9-5) 165: 1st Place Match – Jett Branagh (Hopewell Valley) 20-4 won by decision over KJ Honnig (Notre Dame) 19-7 (Dec 2-1) 175: 1st Place Match – Elliot Morris (Steinert) 18-2 won by decision over Ethan Barker (Hopewell Valley) 17-6 (Dec 8-6) 190: 1st Place Match – Michael Mulray (Notre Dame) 21-4 won by decision over Kassidy Mazza (Allentown) 8-2 (Dec 5-3) 215: 1st Place Match – Darren deJong (WWP – North) 24-1 won by major decision over Ivan Yaltukhovskyi (Lawrence) 19-2 (MD 16-5) 285: 1st Place Match – Samuel Moffett (Lawrence) 12-1 won by fall over Crayton Laws (Trenton Central) 17-4 (Fall 8:21)