MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School wrestling team, under head coach Mike Freedman, has enjoyed a good start to the season.
The Cougars competed at the Clifton tournament on Saturday, Dec. 17. Four CHS wrestlers were crowned champions at the tournament: captain Reid Ordower, at the 106-pound weight class; captain Jared Van Allen, at 113; August Katz, at 132; and captain Derek Mingmongkol, at 144.
Mingmongkol also won the Clifton tournament title last season.
Ordower was impressive in his run at the title, which inspired his teammates, said Freedman.
“In the finals, Reid was wrestling a returning district finalist, and he got taken down first and battled back and ended up taking the lead and then pinning his opponent,” Freedman said in an email to the News-Record. “After the first period, Reid was in total control and the match wasn’t close.
“Reid really started the momentum for the other finalists. In the finals, Jared won 14 to 7 and dominated his opponent throughout the finals. Although just a freshman and in his first varsity action, August Katz didn’t surrender a single point the entire tournament and had a pin in the finals in 26 seconds. Along the way he knocked off the top seed from Clifton, a returning wrestler who won over 25 matches the previous season. August convincingly won 6 to 0 in that match.”
Mingmongkol showed much resiliency.
“Derek was down most of the match, but he is so competitive and never quits,” Freedman said. “Derek is always in any match because he wrestles with tremendous heart and will never stop coming. Derek saw an opening in the third period and pinned his opponent and capped off all four finalists, winning the tournament.”
Freedman was ecstatic for his team.
“We had a lot of wrestlers that have limited experience wrestling in that tournament to gain some confidence as well as just to get varsity matches,” he said. “Four champions are the most we have had at the Clifton tournament during my time at Columbia. Last year, we only had one champion, and jumping up to four was a great achievement.”
The Cougars opened the dual-meet season with a 42-40 win over Barringer in Super Essex Conference action on Wednesday, Dec. 21. “Barringer is a league opponent, so it was nice to start out 1-0 in the conference,” Freedman said.
The Cougars graduated Tyson Carroll, who finished in the top 12 in the state at the state championships in Atlantic City last year. This season, they return a young team that will be led by Mingmongkol, a senior who was the team’s returning region tournament qualifier.
“We have a few underclassmen that wrestle all year round in sophomore captain Reid Ordower, who won 19 matches as a freshman and is currently 3-0 (as of Dec. 21) and freshman August Katz, who worked very hard this summer, attending a wrestling camp to prepare for a strong freshman year,” Freedman said. “August is 4-0 for the season and drew a ton of praise from opposing teams at the Clifton tournament. In addition, another sophomore, Jared Van Allen, who also, like Reid, won 19 matches for us last year, is also undefeated 3-0 to start the season.”
The Cougars hope to have several wrestlers make it to Atlantic City.
“Our goal is always to compete at the individual state tournament in Atlantic City, because that is the pinnacle of the individual season,” Freedman said. “In my five years at Columbia we have made it (to the state championship) four years; the only one missed was the COVID year (2020-2021), in which the season was drastically shortened to six dual meets. This year we have 25 wrestlers on the team, which is more than double last season, and, although inexperienced, many of the new wrestlers are showing a ton of promise for only a few weeks of wrestling.
“In addition, we now have four girls on the team, which is double what we had last year, led by senior captain Dakota Dallison, who was one match away from the girls state tournament two years ago. (Our) team goals would be to win our conference and qualify for the team state sectionals, something that hasn’t been done since my first year at Columbia, in 2018.”
Photos Courtesy of Mike Freedman
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