Ridgewood Junior Wrestling

Congratulations to RJW's NJ State Champs & Medalists

RJW would like to congratulate all RJW wrestlers who participated in the 2015-16 NJ State Championship in Trenton, NJ. Nico Nardone and Anthony Vaccarella won the NJ State Championship!  Colin Calvetti finished as state runner-up and Mikey Kaufman earned a state medal with a 7th place finish. It was Nardone's 3rd career state championship and Vaccarella's 2nd career state title while Calvetti earned his 3rd career state medal. The following RJW wrestlers also qualified to participate in the state tournament by finishing in the top 3 at state qualifier tournaments:

John McGinty (8U), Charlie Shaddow (8U), Jack Sharma (12U), Joe Bussinelli  (14U), Michael Malozemov (14U)

Region Tournament Results

Congratulations to all RJW wrestlers who participated in the Region tournament Sunday by qualifying with a top 2 place in last week's District Tourney. The Region tournament is comprised of the top 2 wrestlers from 5 Districts that represent 50-60 towns in the area. Congratulations to all participants and the following place-winners:

First: John McGinty (8U), Colin Calvetti (12U), Michael Malozemov (14U)

Third: Mikey Kaufman (10U), David Hammerle (12U), Jack Sharma (12U)

Fourth: Joey Ross (10U). 

District 5 Tourney Results

Congratulations to all RJW wrestlers who participated in the District 5 Tourney and the following place-winners:

First: John McGinty (8U), Joey Ross (10U), Mikey Kaufman (10U), Anthony Vaccarella (12U), David Hammerle (12U), Charles Klein (12U), Jack Sharma (12U), Colin Calvetti (12U), Joe Bussinelli (14U), Michael Malozemov (14U)

Second: Drew Gorman (8U), Phil Micale (12U), Bobby Turso (12U), Chris Fyock (14U), Shane Trattner (14U), Lucas Sharma (14U)

Third: Charlie Shaddow (8U), AJ Tretola (10U), Sam Boogaert (10U), Hayden Blair (12U), Thomas McGahan (12U), Rob Tylenda (12U), Michael Bussinelli  (14U), Evan Rosenfeld (14U), Jeff Deiss (14U)

Dear Parents,

With the upcoming wrestling season beginning soon, Ridgewood Junior Wrestling (RJW) wanted to provide some preliminary information regarding important dates and scheduling:

First Practice Dates

1) 1st Grade 6-8 Practice - Thursday 19 November at RHS from 7:00-8:00 pm outside on the track (no wrestling shoes required, but please wear warm clothing and running shoes). The next Grade 6-8 practice will be Sunday 22 November at Renaissance Wrestling Academy (485 Boulevard, Elmwood Park, NJ) from 10:30 am – 12:00 pm. These practices are for all wrestlers in Grades 6-8 with 3 or more years of wrestling experience. Other wrestlers who regularly attended this practice last year should also come to this practice.       

2) 1st Grade 2-6 Practice - Monday 23 November from 6:30-8:00 pm at Ridgewood High School (RHS). This practice is for all wrestlers in Grades 2-6 who have 0-2 years of wrestling experience. First year wrestlers in other grades should also attend this practice.

3) Parents Meeting - Monday 30 November from 7:45-8:15 pm at RHS. This meeting is required for parents of 1st & 2nd year wrestlers and we recommend all other parents also attend. The meeting will start towards the end of the Grade 2-6 practice scheduled for the same day from 6:30-8:00 pm. RJW coaches will supervise wrestlers during the meeting as needed.

All wrestlers should be dressed in athletic gear for practice (shorts, t-shirts, sweats, etc.). Headgears and wrestling shoes are required to participate. Proper hygiene is essential and RJW will detail best practices at the parents meetings and in future emails. RJW maintains a donation box of shoes and headgear for interested wrestlers on a first come, first serve basis though not all sizes may be available.

Regular Practice Schedule During 2015/16 Season

Grade 2-6 Practices - Monday 6:30 - 8:00 pm: These practices are for all wrestlers in Grades 2-6 who have 0-2 years of wrestling experience.

Grade 6-8 Practices - Tuesday 7:00 - 8:30 pm: This practice is for all wrestlers in Grades 6-8 with 3 or more years of wrestling experience. Any other wrestler who regularly attended this practice last year should also come to this practice.

Thursday Split Session Practice: Grade 2-6 from 6:30-7:45 pm & Grades 6-8 from 7:45-9:15 pm. The same wrestlers should attend each respective practice as described above.

Please contact RJW if you have any questions about which practice your child should attend. RJW will try to maintain this schedule on a regular basis as best possible but will inevitably need to move practice dates to other days of the week due to conflicts, weather and other scheduling issues. RJW will email scheduling and other information at the start of each week. The RJW website is also a good source of information as we will post updates, news, etc. Our preliminary schedule is posted to the 'combined calendar' in the schedule section of the website. A link to the combined calendar is below:

https://www.eteamz.com/rjwi/news/index.cfm?id=5295296&cat=602451

3rd Annual RJW Social & Fundraising Event on Friday 4 December - Save the Date

RJW will host its 3^rd annual social and fundraising event earlier this year in the evening of Friday 4 December at the Knights of Columbus in Ridgewood. This will be a great opportunity for new and returning families to meet one another and RJW while learning more about the RJW program in a fun and relaxed setting. Please consider whether your family can combine with other RJW families to donate a gift basket (shirts, gift cards, wrestling equipment, wine, gift certificates or any other idea) to be raffled off at the event to help raise funds for a new, needed wrestling mat and other RJW initiatives. We will send out additional information in coming days but please do save the date.

RJW is excited for the upcoming season and looking forward to teaching Ridgewood children the great sport of wrestling. We will all have a lot of fun and work hard in a fun, safe & healthy environment. Please do not hesitate to contact us at Rjw@ridgewoodjwrestling.org if you have any questions.

Thanks!

RJW Captures 3 State Championships & 7 State Medals at NJ State Tournament!

Last weekend was one to remember as Ridgewood Junior Wrestlers won an unprecedented 7 state medals at the NJ State Championships in Trenton, New Jersey. 

Kieran Calvetti (1st, 12U, 120), Nico Nardone (1st, 12U, 70)and Anthony Vacarella (1st, 12U, 185) were all crowned state champions.  As impressive as earning their place at the top of the state medal podium these boys wrestled with extreme heart and determination as each defeated opponents they had previously lost to in the past. Both Calvetti and Nardone won their second career state titles estabilishing themselves as among the best wrestlers in New Jersey in any weight or age class.

Outstanding performances were also exhibited by RJW state medalists Michael Malozemov (3rd, 12U, 128), Jack Sharma (7th, 10U, 85), Phil Micale (8th, 12U, 60) and Joey Ross (8th, 8U, 80) as they all earned a spot on the state podium. Stuart McElroy, Jim Probert and Colin Calvetti also had excellent tournaments in winning matches or wrestling eventual state place-winners especially tough.

RJW is proud and extends congratulations to these boys and all the other state qualifiers who have worked so hard in recent weeks to order to perform so well.

-RJW

Joe Tavoso, a RJW alumni, fought his way to the top of the podium just a few weekends ago at Boardwalk Hall, Atlanic City. Tavoso placed first at State Championships in the 152lb weight class. He has recently been named All Daily Record: Wrestler of the Year and will be headed to Princetion University in the fall. 

Take a look at the Daily Record artcile: 

http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/sports/high-school/wrestling/2015/03/21/daily-record-delbartons-tavoso-stars-mat/25166757/ 

State Qualifier Results

Congratulations to the following wrestlers who recently qualified for this weekend’s N.J. state tournament by placing in the top 3 of their brackets:

Nico Nardone (1^st), Phil Micale (1^st), Bobby Turso (1^st), Lucas Sharma (2^nd), Mikey Kaufman (2^nd) and Stuart McElroy (3^rd).

RJW is proud of the effort of ALL wrestlers who participated in the qualifying tournaments. Good luck to the following 2014-15 RJW state qualifiers at the NJ state tournament!

Nico Nardone (12U), Phil Micale (12U), Bobby Turso (10U), Lucas Sharma (12U), Mikey Kaufman (10U), Stuart McElroy (14U), Joey Ross (8U), Jack Sharma (10U), Anthony Vaccarella (12U),  Michael Malozemov (12U), Jimmy Probert (14U), Kieran Calvetti (12U), Colin Calvetti (12U), Joseph Bussinelli (12U)

Mahwah Novice Tournament Results

RJW sent its largest contingent ever to the Mahwah Novice Tourney last weekend with approximately 25 RJW 1^st or 2^nd year wrestlers making the effort. Congratulations to all participants and these place-winners:

1^st Place: AJ Tretola (10U), Frankie Battaglia (10U), Tommy Gammer (10U), Brandon Henni (10U), Clay Hunt (12U), Rylan Loftus (12U),

2^nd Place: Johnathon McGinty (8U), Imran Husain (10U), Mason Klarin (12U)

3^rd Place: Matt Battaglia (8U), Hayden Rogers (10U), Ryder Langsdale (12U)

4^th Place: Marcus Hochegger (8U), Colin Lake (10U), Max Lobosco (12U)

Schedule This Week; State Tournament Info

This is our last week of the season! An RJW coach will be on the mat tonight (Thursday) at Olympic (6:15-7:45; $15 Fee) for practice to supervise RJW wrestlers participating in this weekend’s state tournament and other interested wrestlers.

The state tournament is this weekend (3/14-3/15) at Sun National Bank Center (Trenton, New Jersey). Junior and Intermediate division (12U & 14U) participants compete on Saturday 14 March. Bantam and Novice division (8U & 10U) participants compete on Sunday 15 March. Wrestling begins promptly at 8 a.m. both days. Headgears and singlets are required. Weigh-ins are Friday 13 March from 6-8 pm at several regional locations with Lakeland HS and Union HS being closest to Ridgewood.

Thank you for all your support!

-RJW