Sports

Wrestling Team Performs Well at Old Bridge Duals

Team takes on summer match as part of training season.

Summer is winding down, but the Westfield High School wrestling team won't regret not having used it to their great benefit.

The Blue Devils went to camps at The College of New Jersey and Rutgers University, and took part in the Madison and Old Bridge duals.

They will continue to work out in the weight room the next two weeks as head coach Glen Kurz holds camps for elementary school (this week) and middle school (next week). Both camps run from 9 a.m. to noon.

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Kurz and his team recently completed the Old Bridge Duals, which included state powers South Plainfield and Hunterdon Central. Kurz was very pleased with the way the Blue Devils put a cap on the summer.

"I think we got as much out of it as we could have,'' said Kurz. "And when the kids got into the weight room it wasn't just about showing up, they meant business.''

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This was the first year that Westfield has competed in Old Bridge as a completely independent team. In years past, the Blue Devils combined with Rahway in Old Bridge. The Blue Devils competed without star Christian Barber, out with a skin infection. But only had two empty weights – at 125 and 215 pounds. The Blue Devils wrestled eight different dual meets -- two per night.

"We got a lot of wrestling in which was great,'' Kurz said. "I thought we did our best the last night we were there. We were competitive with Governor Livingston and Hunterdon Central.''

Mike Kalimtzis, who won a Union County and District 11 champ at 103 pounds last season, had an outstanding summer along with Ellis Opoku, who wrestled with the junior varsity last season.

"I was really impressed with Mike and Ellis wrestled tough, he's listening to everything we have showed him, he had a productive summer,'' Kurz said.

Troy Skibitsky, who has wrestled his high school seasons at 112 and 125, was up at 145 in the summer.

"He wrestled well,'' Kurz said of the team's newly appointed co-captain.

Erik Gozdieski made improvement at 171 pounds as did Mike DeLouisa, who was at 160 pounds last year. Kurz said DeLouisa improved his technique and cut down on mental errors during the summer. Kurz was encouraged by the performance of Nick Velez, who will be entering his freshman year in the fall. He wrestled at 103.

"He showed a lot and has natural ability and guts,'' Kurz said.

Barber left Monday for a 10-day camp at Rider University, then will take part in the Jersey Shore Duals.


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