With four Blue Devil pins and three forfeited matches, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Westfield would advance their record to 14-7 on this Friday night. The Blue Devils “wrestled hard” and “gave 100 percent in every match,” said co-captain Jack McDermott, to pummel Columbia 58-12.
With Westfield’s dominance, younger wrestlers were given an opportunity to prove themselves, such as freshman Parker Stanek. Even with this only being his third varsity match, and the issue of his opponent “keeping his elbows close to his body, making it hard to grab his wrists in the neutral [position],” explained Stanek, he was able to pin Cougar Sujud Watts in 52 seconds. Thus, Stanek reached a wrestling milestone, his first pin in his varsity career.
Although Stanek had certain moves “planned” to execute in his match, as soon as he stepped “on the mat, that all kind of went out the window,” forcing him to “just wrestle and have fun,” said Stanek.
“I’m really happy that Parker Stanek got a chance. He’s a hard worker and put in a lot of time in the off-season,” said head coach Glen Kurz.
Another memorable match occurred in the 157-pound weight class, where junior Elias Wood faced Cranford wrestler Edward Bonsu. By the end of the second period, Wood had maneuvered both a front and back takedown, alongside an escape, with Bonsu only managing a one-point escape. Going into the third period with an extensive 7-1 lead, Wood basically won.
“I could have been a little more aggressive. I didn’t really move [Bonsu] as much as I could have. I’m actually a 150-pounder but I usually wrestle up, so sometimes I’m a little afraid to take shots, but overall I felt I did pretty well,” said Wood.
Early in the third period, Bonsu forced a takedown, closing the match’s gap 7-4, giving Bonsu sight of a tie if he could accomplish a second takedown or at least 3 back counts. “I had to stay on the offensive and be as defensive as possible when he did shoot on me. I knew that if I kept him moving and got up I could win the match,” said Wood.
After a timely one-point escape, the buzzer sounded and Wood won by a regular decision 8-4. Proud of his performance, Wood also executed his favorite move, “the fireman’s carry.”
Before the start of the match, the eight seniors were commemorated with a short ceremony of acknowledgment and photos. “I will miss the team the most; and the kids in my grade that I’ve gotten so close with, and the new friends I’ve made with the underclassmen. It’s like being a part of a big family,” said McDermott.
Senior Gavin Dwyer said, “Wrestling is a big part of my life. Coach Kurz has taught us a lot of valuable lessons about living our lives the right way, and I’ll miss being with my teammates. We made a lot of fun memories at camp and at practice. That’s what I’ll miss most.”
Many of the seniors demonstrated their experience and expertise. Seth Bekkar (150) and Lincoln Meyers (215) pinned their Cougar counterparts in 1:00 and 1:37.10, respectively.
McDermott and (175) and Yehia Abdelrahman (138) disassembled their opponents with a series of takedowns, back counts and reversals, beating both of their adversaries by technical falls of 16-1.
Co-captain Dylan Sontz (132) and senior Jack Chikany (HWT) both checked in at the score table to take their place on the mat, but were faced with no one. The referee raised their hands in victory due to Columbia’s forfeits. Similarly, junior Daniel Berardi won by a forfeit, despite the Cougars having a wrestler present in his weight class of 113.
To round out the total of four pins, sophomore Luke Sluberski (144) and junior Jake Zemsky (190) pinned Columbia’s Simon Collins-Siegel and Lucas Barkley in 1:25.11 and 56.10, respectively.
Overall, the Blue Devils were over and done with the Cougars quickly. “We cleaned up some of the things we’ve been working on in practice. We focused on defense this week and tonight our defense was pretty good and [Columbia] didn’t score a lot of offensive takedowns. I also thought we scored bonus points where we took advantage of opportunities for that,” said Kurz.
On Feb. 9, Westfield beat Nutley (40-36) and Randolph (81-9), progressing their record to 16-7. Their next match is on Feb. 10 at 4:30 p.m. against Middletown North for the quarterfinal round of the North 2, Group 4 Sectional tournament. “We wrestled Middletown North earlier in the year, so I’m hoping tonight will give us confidence to beat Middletown North this time around,” said McDermott.
