MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School Wrestling Hall of Fame will have its induction ceremony at a South Orange restaurant on Sunday, Sept. 28.
This year’s inductees are John Dynan, Naquan Tory and Blake McGowan.
According to former CHS wrestling head coach Hal Garwin, Dynan was a district champion and district Most Valuable Wrestler, a fourth-place finisher in the regions and a state-tournament qualifier; Tory was a district champion, a third-place finisher in the regions and a state-tournament qualifier; and McGowan took third place at the Essex County Championships, and was a second-place district finisher and a fourth-place finisher in the regions. McGowan finished with 92 career wins.
For tickets to the induction luncheon, email Garwin at garwinharold@gmail.com.
Tory and McGowan are 2019 CHS graduates who wrestled for current CHS head coach Mike Freedman.
“I am very proud and excited these are my first two wrestlers at Columbia High to be selected in the wrestling hall of fame,” Freedman said in an email to the News-Record. “Starting with Naquan, who started wrestling his junior year of high school to make the hall of fame is incredible. Naquan was a district champ and a region third. He won one match at the state tournament in Atlantic City. In two years, he won 54 matches. His senior year, he also won the West Orange Tournament and the Belleville Tournament. To have zero prior wrestling experience and pick up the sport so quickly is an amazing task.
“Blake McGowan also was a state qualifier as a senior, and like Naquan, won a match at the state tournament. Blake was able to defeat a wrestler that was 0-4 against that year, but beat him when it counted the most at states. Blake was a two-year captain at Columbia High and one of the best captains I have ever coached. Blake was a natural leader and all his teammates respected him tremendously. Blake won the Kearny Tournament and Belleville Tournament his senior year and finished with 92 career wins, which ranks him inside the top 10 of Columbia history. Both wrestlers graduated in 2019 and both won 36 matches their senior year for us. I am extremely proud of both wrestlers and excited to see them!”
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