Cranford Grapplers Overtake Westfield

The opportunity was there for the Westfield High School wrestling team Friday night.

A win over Cranford Friday night would have given the Blue Devils' program its 500th win and head coach Glen Kurz his 100th win. Before the Blue Devils went out to the mat, Kurz told the team that it appeared that they even had the right matchups to pull it off.   

But alas, it was Cranford (11-4) that went on to a 42-22 victory. The Blue Devils (3-7) will get another chance to get the milestones when they wrestle at Elizabeth Saturday morning in a quad meet with the host team, Linden and Scotch Plains-Fanwood.   

Kurz joked late Friday night that he wasn't sure how long it would take his team to earn the milestone.   

"I told the kids before the match that we had a pretty good lineup to match up with Cranford,'' Kurz said. "We won the toss, so it was set up for us. We had to be tougher than them, but we weren't.''   

The match started with the Blue Devils forfeiting to Cranford standout 285-pounder Joe Brady. Sophomore 103-pounder Austin Slifer got Westfield on the scoreboard with a win over Diego Castro.   

Kurz' strategy was to bump up sophomore 103 pounder Mike Kalimtzis to 112. But Kalimtzis was pinned by Cranford freshman Mike Helmstetter. It was the start of five straight wins for the Cougars.   

"Even though you are bumped up a weight you can't lose to a back-up,'' Kurz said.   

Westfield freshman Anthony Aldana gave a spirited effort in a 9-1 loss to Ian Henry at 119.   

"I thought he did a good job and fought his butt off,'' said Kurz said. "We needed that kind of effort from the rest of the team.''   

Westfield junior Christian Barber (135), senior Brian Henry (145) and junior Erik Gozdieski (152) scored three straight wins. Henry pinned Bright Knight in 5:22.

Sophomore 171-pounder Kiernan Cline got the other Westfield win with a 10-0 major decision victory. But Cranford 189-pounder Errol Petgrave beat Bill Kim 3-1 with a late takedown.