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Wrestling: North Hunterdon earns six gold medals, wins District 15 title

Angel D. Ospina
@AngelDOspina
Westfield's Jack Miller (top) wrestles North Hunterdon's Yousef Abbas at the District 15 final at Westfield on Saturday.

WESTFIELD - For the North Hunterdon High School wrestling team, there is no greater accomplishment than getting your name on the wall in the wrestling room alongside other district, region or state champions in school history.

In their first year under the new NJSIAA district formats, the Lions wrestled in the revamped District 15 at Westfield High School on Saturday and earned a first place finish with 193.5 team points after six of the nine finalists earned a gold medal.

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Four of the six newly crowned district champions will be getting their name put on the “The Great Wall” to be immortalized as an all-time great wrestler in school history, while two wrestlers further cemented their legacy as they repeated as district champions.

"I’ve been looking at the wall since I was in kindergarten," said Tucker Kirchberge, who won his first district title with a pin in the finals. "It’s great to leave a legacy and North Hunterdon is all about legacy."

Tucker came firing off the line in the finals match against Irvington’s Clerson Xavier to clinch the 145-pound title. He shot immediately and brought his opponent to the ground and was able to turn the shoulder to become the 200th district champion in school history.

"I just really wanted to win, with the legacy we have at North (Hunterdon)," Kirchberge said. "Everybody on the team builds each other and that gives us the confidence."

The Lions needed to come into the tournament with confidence in their skill as most of the teams in the new district were teams they haven’t faced this season. For the two defending district champions on the team, it didn’t matter what schools they were facing on Saturday.

Senior Cole Marra’s name is already on the Great Wall and was eager to add to his legacy but his repeat was in jeopardy when he found himself trailing late.

After entering the final with a 2-0 lead, Bernards’ Alex Mastronard earned a point with a standup after taking the defensive to begin the period and took a 3-2 lead with 1:06 remaining with a takedown. The lead was short lived as Marra immediately was able to break away and stand up to tie it at 3-3 with less than a minute remaining. With the score tied, the shifty senior was able to avoid an attempted strike and took his opponent’s back on the reversal for the 5-3 lead. Mastronard would escape with 30 seconds left but Marra would clinch his second straight district title with an 8-4 decision victory.

"I went down 3-2 and it kind of hit me because I wanted to win districts again," Marra said. "I stood up because I knew he was good on the ground and went right into the quick takedown. Getting my name on that wall was my motivation last year and this year I just wanted to keep getting better."

Senior Charles Tordik also earned his second district gold medal as he defeated Somerville’s Jacob Pidgeon with a 4-1 decision to clinch the 285-pound title.

North Hunterdon's William Hughes (top) wrestles Roselle Park's Elvin Guerrero at the District 15 finals at Westfield on Saturday.

Two district championships are a great accomplishment for anyone, but especially for Tordik, who just picked up the sport of wrestling in his sophomore year.

"I came in my sophomore year and I knew nothing about wrestling," Tordik said. "I was alright, I came in fourth in districts and went to regions because someone got hurt. I realized I could do this and started training a lot in the offseason. I think I’ve grown a lot, my first year all I was doing was basic stuff but now I can hit more move and my mind works better on the mat."

The success on the mat on Saturday was a testament into just how hard the wrestlers at North Hunterdon work. North Hunterdon coach Tim Flynn prepared his wrestlers for the unexpected as the Lions took the mat against unfamiliar opponents.

"A lot of new teams for us and we didn’t know what to expect," Flynn said. "The kids just trust us and trust that we are going to put them in the right position to win. Bottom line they got to go out and battle and they did today, it was nice."

Westfield coach Glen Kurz honored 

Before the wrestlers took the mat to compete for the district title, the Westfield home crowd gave a loud roar for their beloved head coach as he received a gift for his 200 wins, which he accomplished a few weeks ago in a quad meet.

For the 19-year coach, the moment was unexpected but one he highly appreciated.

"It was really nice to be recognized," Kurz said. "The Westfield community has been really good to me. The 200 wins just means I’ve been here around a real long time."

After the celebration, Kurz and the six Westfield finalists put their game faces on and got to work as they finished the night with two district champions. Junior Isaiah Reese nearly earned the first gold medal of the night for the Blue Devils as he and Roselle Park’s Abel Crespo were tied 1-1 heading into the third period.

After falling behind in the first, Reese tied it up in the second period with a stand up and spent the final 10 seconds of regulation hopping on one leg trying to avoid being taken down. Reese was able to remain standing as the time expired to force overtime but eventually was defeated 3-1 on a reversal.

Senior Jack Miller (195) would avenge the loss of his teammate as he was tough on top from the opening whistle.

Miller and North Hunterdon’s Yousef Abbas entered the third period tied at 0-0, but Miller was able to get a reversal early in the period and ride out his opponent until the clock expired for a 2-0 victory.

"I didn’t really open up too much on my feet in the first period," Miller said. "In the second period and third period I feel like I dominated with the hammer ride."

Lightweight freshman CJ Composto (106) had a commanding 11-2 victory in the second period, but was able to finish off North Hunterdon’s Connor Robinson with a pin at 2:23.

It was a successful day for Westfield, as the Blue Devils earned second with 172 total points on the day.

"I thought we had a good tournament," Kurz said. "The goal that the kids created for themselves was to win the district, which I think was a good goal. No same in finishing behind North Hunterdon, but I like the fact that we finished ahead of Roselle Park."

Westfield will have nine wrestlers representing the Blue Devils in the regions and the longtime coach was enjoying the accomplishment afterwards by posing with his team and his new shirt.

"I’ve been around some astounding people - my coaches, my assistant coaches, you can’t ask for any more than that," he said. "Good kids, good parents and good support from our administration. I’m lucky to be here."

TEAM SCORES

1. North Hunterdon 193.5; 2. Westfield 172; 3. Roselle Park 167.5; 4. Irvington 115; 5. Somerville 71.5; 6. Ridge 70; 7. Carteret 63; 8. Bernards 18; 8. Metuchen 18; 9. Weequahic 0.

FINALS

126: Joshua B Meija (Roselle Park) 6-0 d. over Michael Wilson (North Hunterdon); 132: Andrew Gapas (North Huntderdon) 7-2 d. over Tyler Leeds (Somerville); 138: William Hughes (North Hunterdon) 8-1 d. over Elvin Guerrero (Roselle Park); 145: Tucker Kirchberge (North Hunterdon) 1:10 fall over Clerson Xavier (Irvington); 152: Cole Marra (North Hunterdon) 8-4 d. over Alex Mastronard (Bernards); 160: Nick Luberto (North Hunterdon) 8-4 d. over Tim Miller (Westfield); 170: Abel Crespo (Roselle Park) 3-1 d. over Isaiah Reese (Westfield); 182: Nolan Bianchi (Ridge) triple overtime 2-1 d. over Tyhmir Lassiter (Irvington); 195: Jack Miller (Westfield) 2-0 d. over Yousef Abbas (North Hunterdon); 220: Farhan Khan (Carteret) 7-2 d. over Phil Ricca (Westfield); 285: Charles Tordik (North Hunterdon) 4-1 d. over Jacob Pidgeon (Somerville); 106: CJ Composto (Westfield) 2:23 fall over Connor Robinson (North Hunterdon); 113: Mark Montgomery (Roselle Park) 10-0 m.d. over Brock Laggini (Somerville); 120: Jon A. Mejia (Roselle Park) 4-2 d. over Zack Rabinowitz (Westfield).