Barber Ready for State Wrestling Tournament

Part of Westfield High School junior Christian Barber's dream has been realized. The 140-pound standout qualified for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic
Association Wrestling Tournament in Atlantic City.   

Now comes the next obstacle -- winning a bout, and perhaps coming away with a top eight finish and to be recognized on the floor of Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall Sunday afternoon before the state finals begin. Wrestling begins tonight at 5 p.m.   

Barber will have a tough opponent tonight when he faces Burlington junior James Green in a preliminary round bout. Barber, a third-place Region III place winner, will bring a 24-7 record into the match. Green, a Region VII runnerup, is 31-1.   

Barber came painfully close to making it to the region final, but he lost in four
overtimes to Parsippany's Anthony Mariano. Barber rebounded by taking third and qualifying for the state tournament for the first time.

Green knocked off Eastern top-seed Hank Stinson in the District 26 final. Stinson, who avenged the loss with a 6-5 victory in the Region VII final, won a state championship two years ago.   

"It is so important to win the regions because they seed the guys who are first and
second in the regions, and then the other guys -- you're basically put at the fate of
what the draw is,'' said Westfield coach Glen Kurz. "I looked at the seven kids who
were second and I felt like we could go with all the guys except for the kid we got.   

"This kid (Green) could win it all,'' Kurz added. "   

Barber said he's confident that he'll surprise. Green and Barber have one common
opponent. Both wrestlers won by major decision over Governor Livingston's Patrick
Eichner.   

"Christian is confident and I'm not about to tell him anything else,'' Kurz said.
"Green doesn't make many mistakes. He has an explosive double (leg takedown) and you have to be ready for his re-shots.''