The WHS gym radiated with tension as one of Westfield’s biggest matches of the season hung in the balance. Energy was high and seats were filled as both Westfield and Cranford fans packed the bleachers and filed into the steps of the stands. However, Westfield’s echoing energy would not be enough to propel it to a win against the Cougars.
Cranford’s 37–24 win against Westfield maintained its undefeated streak in the Union County Conference and took away any chance the Blue Devils had of sharing a conference title. However, the Blue Devils refused to go down without a fight.
“Overall, we wrestled with great effort,” head coach Glen Kurz said. “As a team, we wrestled with heart and showed guts, but we still need to work on putting more pressure on top and working harder defensively for sure.”
Westfield and Cranford each secured three pins throughout the match, but the Cougars were on the attack and dominated a majority of the eight other matches. While this is true, Westfield maintained strong determination, which was evident throughout the match.
Senior Luke Vaccaro started the night off for Westfield, the tension between the two teams almost rattling the gym floor. As Vaccaro pranced onto the mat, his walkout song blaring through the gym, he knew he had to start Westfield off with a big win.
To start the match, Vaccaro’s opponent managed to get his arms wrapped around Vaccaro’s legs, pushing him to the ground for a 2-point takedown. Throughout the match, Vaccaro was able to escape his opponent’s crafty takedowns, causing the score to go from 8-3 to a 12-7 deficit. Already late in the third period, Vaccaro knew he needed to go, attempting to shoot down low to grab his opponent’s legs, but his Cougar opponent was ready. The clock hit zero.
Match over at a 12-7 score as Vaccaro trotted off clearly frustrated, but hopeful that his freshman teammate, Jake Zemsky, would redeem the Blue Devils.
Zemsky was prepared, but his Cougar opponent came out with unmatched aggressiveness. Takedown after takedown gave Cranford a hefty 4-0 lead with Zemsky escaping once for a 4-1 score. As the match progressed, both wrestlers were tired and very slow as they both held their ground. Coach Kurz kept shouting “short time,” emphasizing the need to get points on the board, but time wound down and Zemsky fell short with a 12-7 loss.
Senior Sergio Cabrera was up next. After winning his last few matches, Cabrera was ready to make his mark on the Cougars. However, it was almost like his opponent had magnets on his feet as Cabrera struggled to pull him to the ground. This would soon lead to Cabrera’s fate as he was caught off guard by a takedown and quickly escaped to make the score 2-1. His opponent caught him off guard once again, pinning him to give the Cougars six.
Nothing is more exciting than the two heavyweights trying to push each other to the floor. Senior Cary Pritchett was determined to do just that as both heavyweights struggled to bring their massive opponent to the floor. Pritchett’s opponent wrapped his arms around Pritchett’s leg, but he kept balance and escaped for a 1-0 lead. Luckily for Pritchett, his opponent grew tired, quickly allowing Pritchett to tackle him to the ground, forcing his opponent to his back for a pin.
“I saw my opponent was getting tired, took the opportunity and pinned him,” Pritchett said. “The team has worked hard especially when it comes to putting pressure on our opponents which is what we need to continue to work on.”
Immediately, the energy in the gym shifted. Westfield fans rose to their feet chanting Pritchett’s last name and stomping their feet against the metal bleachers. The Blue Devils were here to fight, and they refused to back down.
Freshman Daniel Berardi followed. After a few takedowns and being down 5-0, Berardi attempted to fight back and throw his opponent to the floor, but he was struggling. Unfortunately, Berardi lost 12-0, but walked off with a smile as Westfield fans clapped for his perseverance and energy.
A common theme for the Blue Devils was managing to escape takedowns for key points. Junior Max Rotter did just this, escaping twice, but was still losing 10-6. Fatigue got the best of Rotter, who struggled to make a comeback and fell short 11-6.
Westfield’s Luke Sluberski was quickly pinned, hurting Westfield’s chances at victory, but the Blue Devils were hopeful for a turnaround. This would start with a win by senior Brandon Ribeiro.
With the score being extremely close at 1-0 and his opponent in the lead, escaping Ribeiro’s attempts to tackle him to the floor, Westfield needed to come up big. The start of the third period welcomed shouts of “he’s tired” and “shoot,” which was a constant phrase echoed from the bench and crowd. Ribeiro knew he needed to go, and fast. He managed to get to his feet after being held to the ground, tying up the score at 1-1. Ribeiro’s Cranford opponent became extremely aggressive, jumping at Ribeiro to get the final points, but Ribeiro caught his opponent with a takedown for a 3-1 lead. With only five seconds remaining, Ribeiro secured a 3-1 win.
“By the end of the third period, I was super tired,” Ribeiro said. “But I looked at my coach and he was telling me to push the pace and work hard and me pushing the pace broke my opponent a little bit and let me get that final takedown.”
Confident Westfield fans screamed in the hot gym. The Blue Devils had a chance to secure a victory and the smell of an upset lingered in the air.
Sophomore Dylan Sontz brought unmatched energy immediately. A quick takedown early in the first period gave Sontz a 2-0 lead. Although his opponent escaped, Sontz tagged on another takedown for a big 5-2 score. His opponent wasn’t finished, tagging on a takedown of his own and hoping to make a much-needed comeback. However, Sontz is a tough, fierce wrestler, always bringing grit to his matches, allowing him to secure a 5-4 victory with his opponent running out of gas.
Senior Ethan Composto smiled as he was out onto the mat, evident that he would bring terror to his Cougar opponent. This is exactly what Composto did, pinning his opponent quickly, and letting Westfield fans’ scream of excitement echo throughout the gym.
A comeback was brewing, and it was clear the Blue Devils had started to change the momentum, striking fear into their Cranford opponent. Senior Aidan Harper hoped to continue this comeback, keeping his match close at first, escaping his opponent on the ground but getting taken down, starting down 2-1.
Throughout the match, Harper and his opponent exchanged takedowns and escaped each other’s pins including a controversial call where Harper had his opponent pinned, but was declared invalid by the referee. This led to various boos and shouts of anger from the Blue Devil crowd. Harper was still pushing for a pin, but was being held down, and when time ran out Harper suffered a 9-6 loss.
This loss was crucial as a chance of a victory and a co-conference title was basically eliminated. However, Westfield was still battling and wanted Cranford to walk out with a few more losses.
Sophomore Jack McDermott put up a fight, but was fighting to get off of his Cranford opponent’s hold. This was unsuccessful, and McDermott was pinned. Senior Richard DeRick helped Westfield with a little bounce back, pinning his opponent.
Senior Michael Murphy was next. The biggest match of the night. The center of attention. One of the reasons why hundreds of anxious students and parents filled the warm gym on such a cold Friday night. Murphy versus Chapman.
Cranford chants of “Jordan Chapman” pierced the silence in the gym, followed by “Michael Murphy” from the Westfield side. Chapman, a sophomore, had defeated the University of Virginia commit in a previous match, but Murphy had also won once before as well. It was clearly going to be a head to head matchup.
Chapman went out up 2-0 after a huge takedown, and Murphy got pushed out for 1 point, quickly falling behind 3-0. Chapman, who seemed ruthlessly confident, maintained complete dominance, getting yet another takedown for a 5-0 lead. Murphy managed to tag on 3 more points, completely exhausted as Chapman held victory just out of his reach as the clock wound down in the third period. Murphy suffered a 5-3 loss but kept his head high knowing that he put up the best fight he could.
With this loss in the books the Blue Devils were defeated, 37–24, tying the Westfield-Cranford dual-meet record at 3-3.
“This match doesn’t mean that much going forward,” Kurz said. “It would have been great, it would have been a share of the conference title, but whatever. We move on to other things and we have our district tournament coming up, so it doesn’t mean that much.”
The Blue Devils hope to bounce back in their match against Columbia on Monday in the quarterfinal round of the North 2, Group 5 sectional tournament. The match will take place at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.
