Columbia junior August Katz, middle, stands on the podium after winning the 150-pound title at the Essex County Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 23.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Columbia High School boys wrestlers August Katz and Oliver Kreizman enjoyed outstanding performances at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Region 4 tournament at Union High School, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28-March 1.
Kratz, a junior, took second place in the 150-pound weight class; while Kreizman, a sophomore, took fourth place in the 106-pound weight class.
As a result, they punched their tickets to the NJSIAA’s state individual championships at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Thursday to Saturday, March 6-8. The top-four finishers in each weight class at the eight region tournaments earned berths to the state individual championships.
Katz, the No. 2 seed, won two matches to reach the final, where he lost to top-seeded Jackson Bush, of Delaware Valley, by pin in 3 minutes, 41 seconds.
Kreizman had an incredible run as the No. 11 seed.
He pulled off two straight upsets, pinning sixth-seeded Shan Singh, of Summit, in 4:26; and pinning No. 3 seed Jaeczar Evans, of Rahwah, in 1:59. In the semifinals, Kreizman lost to No. 2 seed Cayden Wadle, of North Hunterdon, by a 10-0 major decision. Kreizman then pinned No. 5 seed Logan Stoeckel, of South Plainfield, in 1:53 to reach the third-place consolation bout, where he lost to Evans by a 19-4 technical fall in 3:10.
Seniors Jared Van Allen (113 pounds), Reid Ordower (126), Edward Bonsu (144) and Samuel Memo (165) were the other CHS competitors at the region tournament, which consisted of the top-three finishers in each weight class from the district tournaments. CHS competed at District 13 at Scotch Plains-Fanwood.
Memo, the No. 8 seed, just missed qualifying for the state championships, as he decisioned No. 7 seed Alan Wlaczak, of Brearley-Dayton, 3-1, to finish in fifth place.
Van Allen went 1-2, while Ordower and Bonsu both went 0-1. Van Allen finished his career with 120 victories, while Ordower, who returned from an injury this season, finished his career with 106 victories. Van Allen won his 100th match on Jan. 15 at home against St. Benedict’s Prep, while Ordower achieved his 100th win on Jan. 18 during a quad meet at Cedar Grove.
Katz now has 104 career victories. He attained his 100th victory during the District 13 tournament. Katz this season won both the Essex County Tournament and District 13 tournament titles.
Photo Courtesy of Columbia head coach Mike Freedman
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