UPDATE: CHS wrestling team peseveres to have fine season; gears up for districts

The Columbia High School varsity wrestling team ended its regular season with a 9-13 record. The most impressive thing about this team was the Cougars had at least three to four forfeits per match due to lack of experienced wrestlers. To give you an idea of the difficulty the coaches and the team had to endure, they started every match behind 18 to 24 points.
There were also quite a few matches such as the season finale at Bernards last Saturday Feb. 11 in which the Cougars lost a close match, 43-33, where they were in it, but ran short.
This season was a credit to the coaches -  head coach Hal Garwin, and assistants Eugene Kline and Mark Giannacci - and the determination of the experienced wrestlers not to give up on the season.
The wrestler who led the way was senior captain KJ Jarrett at 106 pounds, who was an astounding 28-1, champion of  the Rahway Holiday Tournament, champion of the Essex County Tournament where he earned the ECT Most Outstanding Wrestler award.
Junior Chris Auriemma at 170 finished his regular season with an impressive 22-8 record. He was third in the Rahway Holiday Tournament and the Essex County Tournament. He also looks forward to a high seed in this week’s districts.
Senior Ben Hayes, at 160, finished an impressive 20-10. He was third in the Rahway Holiday Tournament, and fifth in the Essex County Tournament. With such a good record, Hayes looks for a good seed.
Although he missed a great part of the season due to a family emergency, senior captain Obina Nwanonyiri at 145 -  after a period of getting back in wrestling shape - has shown the ability that got him to the regions last year. Nwanonyiri has won eight in a row. He also should have a high seed despite his lack of numbers.
Junior Rodnet Cenat, at 285 heavyweight, after coming back from a concussion in football, has shown real reason why all those in the district should be worried about him. Although the numbers are small, Cenat seems to be peeking at the right time.
There were other bright spots in the course of the season. Junior Avery Walker, at 132, was 10-4 before he went down with a knee injury for the second year in a row. Junior Nate Pham, at 106, took third in the Rahway Holiday Tournament and was one of the team leaders in pins.
There were also quite a few freshmen thrown into the fire, but the best overall was Kashari Wilson sporting an impressive 13-8 varsity record.
The coaches did not start out the season by thinking it was going to be a building season - veterans quit and injuries made it so. Despite all this, there are great expectations for next year. Part of the credit for supplying the CHS coaches with talented wrestlers goes to the head coach of the Maplewood/South Orange Wrestling Club, Jeremiah Fleming, a CHS graduate. More than 80 percent of the wrestlers on the high school team went through the “Rec” system.
The Cougars will gear up for the District 10 tournament on Friday and Saturday Feb. 17-18 at Millburn High School.