News and Announcements
State Qualifier Results
Several RJW Wrestlers have been busy in recent weeks trying to qualify for the prestigious NJ State Tournament at regional qualifiers. Congratulations to all wrestlers who are making this effort and to those who already qualified by placing in the top 3 in a qualifying tournament: Stuart Mcelroy (1st), Kieran Calvetti (1st), Colin Calvetti (1st), Travis Tavoso (2nd), Tim Fyock (3rd) and Bryan Calton (3rd). In addition, the following 2nd year wrestlers qualified for the Novice State tournament this past weekend by placing in the top 3 of the qualifying tournament: Colin Roche (1st), Yunte Trattner (1st), Jack Police (2nd), Sam Boogaert (2nd), Will Sofka (3rd) and Hayden Rodgers (3rd).
There are several qualifiers left and RJW highly recommends that competitive wrestlers attempt to qualify for the tournament since this is a focus area of our program. RJW will be coaching at the qualifiers at Lakewood on February 9 and Fair Lawn on March 9 so please take advantage of this opportunity. Speak to your coaches for more information and register at the following link: http://www.eteamz.com/rjwi/news/index.cfm?id=5698234&cat=0
Upcoming Dual Meets; Dual with Cranford Tonight at RHS!
After starting the year by winning the Montville Dual Tourney, The RJW PCYWL dual team has continued to surge and is now 9-1 on the season. Come support the RJW PCYWL dual meet team tonight in gym 2 at RHS at 7 pm as they take on Cranford in an exciting match between 2 of the top youth teams in North Jersey. On Monday we have a double home dual meet with the Maroon Dual Team facing River Dell at 6.15 followed by the PCYWL team wrestling against Garfield at 7.30 in Gym 2 at RHS. RJW will contact participants for the dual with River Dell if appropriate match-ups are available.
Volunteer Efforts & RJW Fundraiser
RJW would like to thank the many volunteers who have stepped up to help support our program this year. A special thanks to Joanne Trattner, Karleen Sharma and Dawn Calvetti for their efforts in organizing our 1st Annual Fundraiser and Social on January 17. As a reminder we will need several volunteers for our upcoming home meets to help set up mats on the night before and contribute to and staff the concession stand the day of the meet.
5th Annual School of Rock & TCJWL Wrestling Match
This weekend is a special afternoon TCJWL Saturday afternoon event. It is the 5th Annual School of Rock & TCJWL Wrestling match, a fun family event featuring live music, good food and lots of wrestling matches. Please arrive at Cresskill High school at 3.45 pm. Contact Coach Bussinelli at gbussinelli@aol.com ASAP if you can not attend. Attendees may wish to purchase a commemorative t-shirt to the event by filling out the form at the following link: http://www.eteamz.com/rjwi/handouts/#2324861
Thank you for your continued support!
RJW
Weekend Results
RJW wrestled well this past weekend at Park Ridge with the dual team notching an impressive win over a talented and well coached team. On Sunday, RJW sent about 40 wrestlers to the Skip Bailey tournament where they had an opportunity to gain valuable experience at a competitive open tournament. Congratulations to all participants including those below who placed in the tournament:
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Gold - Stuart McElroy, Kieran Calvetti, Travis Tavoso, Vincent Riggio, Yunte Trattner
Silver - Jimmy Probert, Bryan Calton, Patrick Collier, Paul Calvetti, Frank Higgins, Hayden Rodgers
Bronze - Tim Fyock, Jake Otterstedt, Jack Sharma, Sean Emmanuel, Mikey Kaufman
4th Place - Chris Fyock, Luke Conenello, Anthony Vaccarella, Rob Tylenda, William Rupprecht
1st Annual RJW Social & Fundraiser this Friday
RJW is having its 1st annual social & fundraiser this Friday at 8 pm at The Knights of Columbus on 31 S. Broad Street in Ridgewood. This will be a good opportunity to enjoy an informal evening in Ridgewood and support the RJW program. The suggested donation is $75 per couple and will be used to fund new equipment, wrestling club sponsorships, guest clinicians and other initiatives of RJW so please join us or consider making a donation in the event you can not attend. Please make checks out to Ridgewood Junior Wrestling and mail them to P.O. Box 384, Ridgewood, NJ, 07450 or bring them to the event. It is not too late to RSVP so please do so or contact Joanne Trattner if you did not receive an invitation or have any questions at joannetrattner@gmail.com.
This Week's Schedule
On Tuesday is grade 2-5 practice at 6.30-8 and on Thursday we have our 2nd Wade Schalles Clinic of the season from 6.15-7.45 (grade 2-5 starting 15 min earlier than usual) and 7.45-9.15 (grade 6-8). This is a chance for RJW wrestlers to learn from 1 of the world's best all-time wrestlers. A Wikipedia link to Wade Schalles is provided for those who want to learn more about his impressive career and life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_Schalles. Our Saturday TCJWL match is an afternoon event at Washington Twp. and further details will be emailed later this week.
Year-End Highlight Video
It has been a tradition that at the year-end banquet we show a highlight video of the season. In order to make the highlight video parents should send a 10-15 second clip of their son's best wrestling move that they caught on video during the season. Try to video as much as you can of your son's matches and then at the end of the season choose the best clip and also email pictures that you like that we may also work into the video. Thanks very much to Paul Calvetti who you can email the clips and pictures to at paul.calvetti@gmail.com.
Garfield TCJWL Meet
RJW kicked off the TCJWL season on Saturday in Garfield and the RJW team came ready to wrestle. Regardless of whether they won or lost, RJW coaches were proud of the excellent effort and sportsmanship that all RJW wrestlers displayed. Saturday matches are a great opportunity for all wrestlers to gain experience regardless of their skill level. RJW can often accommodate other conflicts that wrestlers may have and it is also critical to provide notice if you can’t attend a Saturday match due to a conflict. Please contact Coach Bussinelli at gbussinelli@aol.com to ask for an early or late match (due to an important conflict) or to notify that a wrestler can’t participate on a Saturday match.
This Week’s Schedule
Practice for grades 2-5 is Tuesday from 6:30-8 and it will be cold out so please dress warm. Thursday is our usual split session practice (grade 2-5: 6:30-7:45 & grades 6-8: 7:45-9:15). This weekend we have a TCJWL morning meet on Saturday at Park Ridge High School for all RJW wrestlers. On Sunday, RJW is attending the Skip Bailey Wrestling Tournament (at Saddle Brook high school) and all interested RJW wrestlers are eligible to enter. There is no fee for this event and weigh in time for Skip Bailey is from 5-7 pm at Helen I Smith Elementary School (30 Cambridge Ave, Saddle Brook) on Thursday. RJW would like all wrestlers to arrive at 5 pm (with their singlets) for a team weigh-in at 5:15 so we can get back in time for the start of practice. On Sunday at Saddle Brook, wrestlers in the 6U, 8U & 10U divisions should arrive at Saddle Brook High School at 7.45am for a 8.30 start and 12U & 14U division wrestlers should arrive at 12.15pm. Please contact RJW coaches if you have any questions about these events.
Support RHS with RJW on Wednesday Night
On Wednesday, RJW would like all RJW wrestlers and invites all family members to support the Ridgewood High School (RHS) wrestling program by attending an important match against Northern Valley Old Tappan at RHS at 7 pm. So many former RJW wrestlers are on one of the top teams in RHS program history and several of them have come to our Grade 6-8 practices this year to give back and show our team top level wrestling technique. It is only fitting that we support the team and this will also be a great opportunity for younger wrestlers to see what it's like at the next level. Before the match, RJW will host an informal pizza party at 6.15 in the high school cafeteria (right outside our practice gym) and will serve pizza, salad, ice cream and water. RJW needs 3-4 parent volunteers to arrive at 5.45 pm to set up, serve food and help clean up until 7 pm. Please email Coach Sharma at rahuldsharma@yahoo.com if you can help with this team effort.
RJW Wrestlers Compete at St. Joe’s
This past Sunday, several RJW wrestlers entered the Saint Joseph Youth tournament in Montvale, NJ on their own volition. Jack Trevisan took home the gold medal while Michael Bussinelli finished in 3rd place and Tim and Chris Fyock both finished in 4th place. Congratulations to these RJW wrestlers!
RJW Apparel
Additional Ridgewood wrestling apparel is available for purchase online at www.ridgewoodgear.com. The online site offers a wide range of comfortable and attractive athletic gear for both kids and adults. Our wrestlers have always loved the gear and a portion of every purchase will go to support RJW.
Healthy Food Initiative
RJW’s new healthy food initiative was in action on Saturday at the Saddle Brook meet with volunteers providing healthy options such as sliced vegetables, fresh fruits, water and a healthy stromboli for RJW wrestlers. The primary objective of this initiative is to provide hungry wrestlers waiting for matches with a healthy alternative to eating products with high sugar, fat and other contents that are detrimental to their performance in their upcoming match. Thanks again to Lauren Hammerle for coordinating this and future events and please sign up to volunteer on the Google Docs link below for future meets and contact Lauren at lghammerle@optonline.net with any questions.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NniNLiycM3EiUKQDl5wQuq8KJeUDvMs_6yn83NFvm1M/edit
Have a great week!
RJW
Sat Match Rescheduled for Sun
Due to the bad weather which has caused many area schools to close Friday and cancel Saturday morning activities, the Saturday morning TCJWL meet at Saddle Brook has been canceled. This meet has been rescheduled for Sunday at a different location at Garfield High School (500 Palisade Avenue, Garfield, NJ). Wrestlers should arrive by 8.15 am for a 9 am start and check-in with coaches to recieve your bout number. We are assuming that any wrestler who scratched for the Saturday meet will also scratch for Sunday so let us know if that is not the case. Also, email Coach Bussinelli at gbussinelli@aol.com for any additional scratches for the Sunday event as soon as possible since the failure to do so creates many problems the day of the match.
Olympic Practice on Saturday
RJW coaches will be running a practice for 2nd year wrestlers and older (i.e. everyone except for the dog pound due to experience level) at the Olympic Wrestling Club on 500 West Main St, Wycoff, NJ from 12-2 pm tomorrow (1/4). There is no fee required to attend and this will be a good opportunity for more experienced wrestlers to visit Olympic.
Wrestlers who have not received their uniform can pick it up at the Olympic practice or before the match at Garfield on Sunday. Please email rahuldsharma@yahoo.com with any questions you have.
Happy New Year! As we get started in 2014, we want to communicate important information regarding upcoming events. The first few weeks will be very busy and critical to the success of our season.
First Practice & Match in 2014
Our next practice is tonight and it is a split session format (Grade 2-5: 6:30 – 7:45 and Grade 6-8: 7:45 – 9:15). With regards to the weather, our policy is to only cancel practice if schools close early or for the entire day so practice is on for tonight. Uniforms will also be distributed towards the end of the first and beginning of the 2nd practice. RJW has also made minor changes and added events to the January schedule. As a reminder, it is important to review the calendar because changes due to conflicts that occur are sometimes beyond RJW’s control but are always reflected on the calender.
Our first league match is this Saturday at Saddle Brook High School (355 Mayhill St, Saddle Brook) and all wrestlers should arrive by 7.45 a.m. It is imperative that any wrestler on the current RJW Roster who can not wrestle on Saturday inform Coaches McElroy, Sharma or Bussinelli ASAP (see emails on Coaching Staff link on website). Failure to do so results in significant inconveniences on the day of the match for participants from all towns and reflects poorly on the RJW program so please help us with this team effort!
Support RHS Team at Match on Wed 8 Jan
On Wednesday, January 8th, the RHS Wrestling will host Northern Valley Old Tappan in a dual meet in Gym 1 at 7 pm. The 2013-14 RHS wrestling team is among the best in school history and many team members are former RJW wrestlers. RJW is looking to support the RHS team during this important meet and feels all junior wrestlers should attend a high school meet to see what it's like at the next level. RJW will host an informal pizza party at the high school on Wednesday at 6.15 pm to have some fun, gather as a team and head to the match at 7 pm to support the high school squad. More details are coming but please do save the date.
Healthy Food Initiative
As part of RJW’s healthy food initiative, volunteers will have healthy snacks available for RJW participants this Saturday at Saddle Brook. Thank you to Lauren Hammerle for coordinating this effort. We will be reaching out to volunteers to continue this effort over the remainder of the season.
