Wrestling Team Captures 500th Win, Coach Kurz Wins 100th Match

Westfield High School wrestling coach Glen Kurz wasn't so much interested in his team reaching any milestones as he was with a much simpler objective.

"We had to wrestle better than we did against Cranford (in a 42-22 loss Friday night) or we're not going to win any meets,'' Kurz said.

That was late Friday night. Less than 24 hours later, Kurz was feeling much better -- the Blue Devils had captured the program's 500th victory, and delivered the head coach his 100th victory in the same day by winning three matches. The 1991 Westfield High grad, and former Blue Devil standout, is in his 12th season as head coach.The Blue Devils knocked off Linden, Scotch Plains-Fanwood and Elizabeth to improve their record to 6-7. The team's fans celebrated with balloons at Elizabeth High School.

"It was a good day today,'' said Kurz, who added that the team wrestled with "a lot'' of heart.

"Obviously, it's a nice thing. It says a lot about our program. I think
for a lot of our kids, they don't know about the tradition of our program. What Gary
(Kehler) did with his teams and Don (MacDonald) did what he did. This was one of the premier programs in the state of New Jersey. It's good that our kids get a sense of that win and this day.''

The Westfield had falls from sophomore Mike Kalimtzis (103), Troy Skibitsky 130), Ryan Jennings (135) and Kiernan Cline (160) in a 43-32 win over Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Skibitsky and Kalimtzis also had falls in a 45-22 win over Elizabeth. Skibitsky also pinned in the 39-27 win over Linden.

"It was as great effort, the kids really put it together,'' said Kurz, an Ithaca College graduate.

Kurz was part of the Westfield tradition. He won a Region IIII championsip at 130 pounds for the Blue Devils in 1991