Columbia's Jared Van Allen, middle, stands at the podium at the Belleville Buccaneer Classic.
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — The Columbia High School wrestling team enjoyed a good outing at the sixth annual Belleville High School Buccaneer Classic on Saturday, Jan. 4.
Columbia finished in second place behind Nutley.
The Cougars had three champions – senior Jared Van Allen at 120 pounds, senior Reid Ordower at 126 pounds and junior August Katz at 150 pounds.
Van Allen was unscored upon in the tournament and won the tournament for the second consecutive season.
Ordower pinned through his bracket and also is a two-time tournament champion.
Katz won the tournament for the third time. He pinned in the finals and was completely dominant during his run.
Finishing in second place for the Cougars were senior Christian Venescar at 106 poiunds, who also made the finals at the Mountain Lakes tournament earlier this season; and sophomore Penn Shapiro at 138 pounds, who also wrestled very well.
The fourth-place finishers for CHS were senior Kenji Shimizu at 144 pounds and junior John Parker at 175 pounds.
Columbia entered only eight wrestlers. Many of Columbia’s wrestlers already had large match counts. Due to regulations, CHS head coach Mike Freedman had to sit out three impact starters in senior Sam Memo, who had 14 matches; and sophomores Oliver Kreizman, who had 12; and Milan Connolly, who had 11.
CHS had a 3-1 record. The Cougars defeated Irvington, 60-23, on Wednesday, Dec. 18; defeated Scotch Plains–Fanwood, 51-27, on Friday, Jan. 3; and defeated Belleville, 59-19, on Monday, Jan. 10, and lost to Livingston, 53-23, Monday, Jan. 13.
The Essex County Tournament will take place Wednesday and Thursday, Jan. 22-23, at Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange, starting 4 p.m. both days.
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