Columbia Wrestling Season Ends at Regions

Adams places fourth, ties school record for wins

Columbia’s wrestling season came to an end on Saturday afternoon at the Region 3 Championships at Union High School. Obinna Nwanonyiri (135) and co-captain Andrew Adams (125) were the last of the Cougar wrestlers to be eliminated from the three day tournament. Adams finished his high school wrestling career by taking fourth place in the region (his highest finish ever) and tied Paolo Custodio’s all-time CHS career wins mark at 101. In the third place match against fifth seeded Matt Coppola of Watchung Hills, Adams was flipped to the mat, near the edge of the circle, and was almost immediately pinned, with 10 seconds left in the opening period. The two had circled each other for most of the round and Adams had already fended off two …

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CHS Returning Wrestlers Will Set the Season's Tone

"The toughest sport in high school" offers challenges and opportunity for CHS

Due to the numbers, if the Cougar wrestling team is going to have a good season, they'll have to rely heavily on a core group of returnees and they'll have to try and stay injury free. Senior co-captains Andrew Adams (125 pounds), Alex Lopez (130) and Daryl Shabazz (215), head a cast of six wrestlers whose performances this season will be indicative of the team's success. If they all have good seasons, Columbia will likely have a good season. But if they don't have good seasons, or get injured, the Cougars could be in for a long winter. "We've indicated that to them," said Columbia head coach Harold Garwin. "Certainly this week, we're going to drill it into their heads that we need those five or six guys to step up this year." Adams placed…

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End of the Road for Cougar Wrestling

Columbia boys fail to put any wrestlers in the top three in the Region 3 Tourney.

A trip to Atlantic City isn't in the cards for the Columbia wrestlers, unless they'll be going as spectators. On Saturday at the Region 3 Championships at Union High School, Columbia's final wrestlers were eliminated, ending the Cougars' season. District 10 heavyweight champion James Goode lost in the quarterfinals to Middlesex's Christian Bollin, 6-2. Goode was in control of the contest 2-1 after the first round, but got hit with a stalling call in the second after an escape from Bollin, which put the Middlesex wrestler up 3-2. In the closing seconds of the middle round Goode went for an ill-advised double leg takedown, trying to make something happen, but ended up missing and left his back open for an easy two points for the opposition. …

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CHS Wrestling Team's Atlantic City Dreams

A look at the road to the state championships for the wrestling team.

For some, it's a chance at redemption. For others, it's a way to validate their high school wrestling careers. For even more, the district championships, beginning Friday all throughout the state, is the first step in a long and tenuous road they hope leads to the state championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The district championships mark the beginning of the individual wrestling championship season, which for many wrestlers, is even more important than a team championship. But the road to the state championships is paved with crushed dreams, injuries and devastating defeats. Winning six-eight matches over a two-week period through the district and regional championships is even harder than it sounds. The top three placers for …

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Cougar Wrestling Back Over .500

Columbia wrestlers have turned their season around after a big Friday night win over MKA.

With a convincing 63-16 win over Montclair Kimberley Academy on Friday night at Columbia High School, the Cougar wrestling team has come all the way back from a rough start to climb back above .500. Columbia got pins from James Goode at the heavyweight spot, Khari Jarrett at 103, Andrew Adams at 119 and Darryl Shabazz at 189 on the way to the win. MKA fielded only a partial team, forfeiting six matches. After starting off the season 0-4 and losing the first three meets by lopsided scores, the Cougar boys have gotten things under control as they head towards the final stretch of the regular season. "The kids have improved since the beginning of the season," said Columbia head coach Harold Garwin. "We had kids that we couldn't put on the mat…

Depleted Cougars Take Two Tough Losses

Columbia wrestling team scores just five points total in tri-meet.

In Saturday's battle of the cats wrestling tri-meet, featuring the Bridgewater Raritan Panthers and the Cougars of both Cranford and Columbia, the home Cranford wrestlers put on a dominant performance. Cranford powered past the Panthers 51-24 and then steamrolled Columbia 71-0. "The thing that impressed me the most today are the kids that have lesser experience on our team, coming out and showing that they've been putting in some work and improving their technique," said Cranford head coach Darren Torsone. Cranford wrestled in the second and final matches of the day, with the first pitting Columbia and Bridgewater Raritan against each other, and the Panthers coming away with a convincing 60-5 win. But Cranford came out in the second match …

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Let the Wrestling Begin

Depleted Cougar team needs underclassmen to step up and fill open positions.

Just two weeks ago, Columbia wrestling head coach Harold Garwin had his team projected to win 16 matches, place high in the counties and districts, and to have shot at winning the Super Essex Liberty Division. Since then, five wrestlers, who were starters a season ago, have opted not to wrestle this season for a variety of different reasons, turning what looked like a promising season into a giant question mark. "I went from being very optimistic about having nine to 10 kids back, to now where we'll have to wait and see," Garwin said. They will be missing starters from the 103-, 112-, 119-, 171- and 189-pound groups, leaving half of the starting spots up in the air to be grabbed by young and inexperienced wrestlers. After posting a 13-11 …

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