Although the match was delayed an hour due to the usual Union tardiness, loyal spectators stayed for one of the last but most anticipated matchups of the night: Dylan Sontz, a Blue Devil senior and co-captain, versus Union’s senior Gabriel Hargrove, a 2023 and 2024 state-qualifier.
Even with a long, tiring match awaiting Sontz and Hargrove, they approached the center of the mat with smiles on their faces. “In the off-season, he’s my practice partner at club, so I know him really well, and he knows me really well, and I knew that it was going to be a low-scoring match,” said Sontz.
It was obvious these two had competed before with the first period ending tied 0-0. Sontz said, “He knows how to counter my best shot, and I know how to counter all of his best shots. But, I’m better conditioned than him, so the way I had to beat him was to tire him out.”
The official finally motioned for points to be added to the scoreboard as Sontz escaped from the neutral position, closing the second period 1-0. But, just as the third period began, Hargrove responded with an escape of his own tying the score 1-1. With just 37 seconds left, and the two locked at a crossroads on their knees, Sontz surprised Hargrove with a sudden gust of energy and quickly maneuvered to align his hips scoring a takedown.
The buzzer sounded and Sontz won by a regular decision, 4-1. Once Sontz exited the mat, he bolted to the back wrestling gym and his yells of excitement echoed into the main gym. “Overall, it feels great. Obviously, I love him, but I will hold this one over him… I want to qualify for states this year, and you need to beat the best to be the best,” said Sontz.
This win extended Westfield’s lead to 42-22. Although wrestling could be considered an individual sport, beating other schools is always a “team effort,” said head coach Glen Kurz. “There were a lot of good [matches] tonight. I would say, if I had to pick, I don’t think I could come up with just one. Dylan Sontz did an awesome job and earned some really good seeding criteria for down the road, beating a state qualifier. And Yehia [Abdelrahman] wrestled an excellent kid down 4-1, and found a way to win. That was great.”
Following Sontz’s match, senior Yehia Abdelrahman faced another one of Union’s top wrestlers, junior Ariel Azeredo. By the end of the second period, Azeredo had earned four points from an escape and a takedown, while Abdelrahman only executed a one-point escape. To start the third period, Abdelrahman managed another escape closing the gap 2-4. Then, with just 28 seconds left, Abdelrahman had a takedown replacing Azerado’s lead with his own.
As the match played out, senior co-captain Jack McDermott said, “He is a master on top,” as Abdelrahman crushed Azeredo like a boulder crushing a stone for the pending seconds. Thus, preventing the opportunity for Azeredo to gain any further points, and serving Azeredo his first personal loss of the season by regular decision 5-4.
To finish the late night, junior Luke Slunerski tired out his opponent and pinned Jonathan Camargo at 3 minutes and 16 seconds, making the final overall score 51-22.
Kurz said, “This was a team effort, and even in the way that some of us lost. Like I was really proud of the way Gavin Dwyer competed in a loss, and the way Seth Bekker wrestled a good kid and came up on the short end of the scramble, but he wrestled hard. I have no questions about anyone’s effort.”
To start the night, Union junior Aidan Cross pinned Westfield senior Seth Bekker. But, Blue Devil junior Elias Wood avenged Bekker’s efforts by demolishing his opponent 13-1 until finally pinning the Farmer at 4:39.
Next, senior Gavin Dwyer put up a good fight against junior Sean Messina, but lost by a major decision 13-1. Again, Westfield responded with dominance in the following two matches to uplift Dwyer’s valiant attempts. McDermott and junior Jake Zemsky quickly pinned their opponents in 36 and 37 seconds, respectively.
“If we work hard and do what we do in the practice room, I have confidence that we can beat most teams and tomorrow we face Middletown North, which will be a good competition, a good task to see where we stand against the top teams in the state,” said McDermott.
Following Zemsky’s match, two Union wrestlers won by pins in the 215 and 285 weight classes. But this was the last of Union’s victories.
Junior Daniel Berardi swiftly pinned his opponent at 1:12 and was complemented by his brother, freshman Max Berardi, who squashed his competitor by a technical fall, 22-3.
For the 120 weight class, sophomore Jake Conti stepped onto the mat and shook hands with Jaydon Robles. The first period ended with Robles establishing a dominant lead 6-1. But, a switch flipped for Conti in the second period. “Something changed, where I thought I could win the match and I had more confidence in myself,” said Conti. The second period ended in Conti’s favor 11-8, and the third period simply solidified his victory by major decision, 20-8.
Conti said, “[Robles] was really strong and really aggressive. We had a lot of good hand fights going throughout the match. And I think he also had really good defense, but I just had a better double. So, I’m happy with my match.”
The subsequent match was won by junior Josh Semler, who completed his aggressive 11-0 lead with a pin at 5:06. Finally, the event ended with Sontz, Abdelrahman and Sluberski’s wins.
The strong motivation and discipline from all of the Blue Devils reflects Kurz’s knowledge, ability to inspire and his effectiveness at developing peak performers. Preceding the start of the match, the father of two former star wrestlers and close friend of Kurz, Darren Compasto, offered a few words about the coach as he was presented with balloons and a customized plaque to commemorate his 300th win after their match against Roselle park on Dec. 22.
Kurz has been a part of the Westfield wrestling program since 1998, and has “built a culture” with his coaching style and amiable character. He has “built a culture” that strives for excellence through hard work and determination, earning him the title of current winningest coach in Union County.
For the remainder of the season, the Blue Devils are focused on their progress. Kurz said, “[We want to] get better every day. We have our goals, but we just want to show up, compete and get better. We’re doing that. We’re getting better everyday.”
Westfield faced Middletown North, a top 20 team in the state, and New Providence on Jan. 11, falling to Middletown North 65-16, but demolishing New Providence 84-0. The Blue Devils will face Rahway at 6 p.m on Wednesday at Rahway High School. Kurz said, “[Rahway] has some team tendencies that we’ll prepare for, but today, and everyday, we are just worried about us.”
