Columbia's Co-Parisi/SC AOWs
Each Eclipse 100-Win Plateau

In now more than two decades coaching high school wrestling in Essex County perhaps Mike Freedman’s greatest joy is seeing the development of young wrestlers into outstanding individual grapplers who can challenge for county, District and Regions success and realistically dream about being a state qualifier.

Now in his ninth season at Columbia after 12 years at Montclair, the 44-year-old former Bloomfield High School standout knows all about spotting great progress in his wrestling room.

Two of those success stories are this week’s co-Parisi Fairfield/Sideline Chatter Athletes of the Week: seniors Jared Van Allen (120 pounds) and Reid Ordower (126) who in the space of four days together joined the exclusive 100-win club of Columbia Cougars that now counts five.

“To see both Jared and Reid grow stronger each season, and become terrific wrestlers for us has been so great to watch,” said Freedman, who surpassed the 200-win plateau last season. “They both weighed less than 90 pounds as freshmen, but worked hard to become stronger and so successful has been a joy to watch.

“Now that they’ve both eclipsed 100 wins in the same week it’s like they’ve gone full circle while continuing to get better and better with a lot to shoot for the rest of this season.”

Van Allen, who hit the century mark in terms of career wins in last Wednesday’s (Jan. 15) dual match victory vs. St. Benedict’s, and Ordower, who achieved his milestone in this past Saturday’s quad with Morris Knolls, Somerville and Cedar Grove in the Panthers’ home gym, were each at 102 entering this week.

They join former Columbia Cougars Devin Rocha (102 wins), Paulo Custodio and Andrew Adams (both at 101 victories) in exclusive company at the school with a strong wrestling interest through the years, including with solid feeders more than a half century ago with Hal Garwin’s youth program that started in 1972, and with late 1980-early ’90 teams that still arouse interest in mat history at the Maplewood-South Orange school.

“We appreciate the history of Columbia wrestling,” said Allen, who was a District 11 champion last season. “Reid and I attended a reunion for the 1988-89 team and you couldn’t help but appreciate all the great stories that were told by people who simply love the sport.

“Wrestling has been so big for both of us and has definitely brought us closer together dating back to when we were 10 or 11 years old.”

In fact that Cougar mat squad which young grapplers such as Allen and Ordover can appreciate and look back on for inspiration, are indeed extra special in Columbia wrestling annals as the team was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.

The Hall of Fame entry reads:

"1988-1989 Wresting – Team Award: One of the most illustrious teams in Columbia‘s 55 year wresting history. The team was ranked #1 in Essex County, #6 in the Region and 18th in the State. Several individual members of the team achieved high honors in the District Championships, the Region III Tournament and the State Tournament."

This season’s Columbia team, which entered this week with a 4-3 record, including 2-0 in the Super Essex Conference-Colonial Division, is strong in the lower to middle weights with sophomore Oliver Kreizman (113), Van Allen, Ordower, senior Kenji Shimizu (144) and junior August Katz (150), who was a runner-up at 138 in last year’s Essex County Tournament.

Ordower has persevered to produce an impressive comeback success story after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in last season’s Districts, a setback that prevented him from joining Van Allen in Region 3.

“I focused every day to strengthen the shoulder following surgery last March and the hard work has paid off,” said the standout Cougar senior. “I feel stronger than ever and now the ultimate goal is to qualify for the states, but I also know there is still a lot that I need to accomplish in the next few weeks in order to earn that opportunity.”

Still, with counties, districts and regions still to come, Ordower took some time this past weekend to enjoy the fact that he was able to reach a career milestone along with a good friend and longtime teammate.

“Winning 100 matches is definitely a big deal,” he said. “And, for me and Jared to reach that number around the same time was really great as we could share the special moment together and with our teammates and coaches who have been great.

“There is a strong bond on the team this season and that’s been something that makes each and every day in the room a lot of fun even with the hard work we’re all continuing to put in together.”

Van Allen, who is equally full focused along with his good friend when it comes to the desired goals ahead in the bouts to come, also relishes his senior season with a special group of Cougar grapplers and coaches.

“The Columbia program has continued to grow from a few years ago when we had had just eight or 10 guys out there to now having 30-plus kids in the room, and coach Freedman has really worked hard to increase the interest in wrestling growing at our school.”

The ECT begins Wednesday and concludes with semis and finals Thursday at the Codey Arena in West Orange. Freedman will be looking for his first county champion with several runners-up in his first eight seasons at the helm, and he’s hoping that Van Allen and Ordower can be among those in the winner’s circle.

“I know that Jared and Reid will come ready to wrestle at a very high level each and every match,” said the veteran Cougars mat coach. “I’ve had eight second place finishers in the county tournament, including a couple of matches that went to double overtime, and I’d love to see them win a championship in their senior seasons.

“Whatever happens later this week I also know that they have big goals of doing very well in Districts and Regions, and that they’ll continue to work with all our dedicated guys in the room to be the best wrestlers that they can be.”

NOTES- Van Allen has a strong interest in history, including in areas such as African-American studies….His brother Oren played soccer at Columbia, his mom Carma played field hockey at Brown University and dad Eric also played soccer…Ordower, who has an interest in international business, has an older brother, Caleb, who played soccer and lacrosse at Morristown-Beard. Their dad Bill is an executive with the National Women’s Soccer League…Freedman, a 1998 Bloomfield High graduate, wrestled at 130 pounds under the tutelage of Bengals’ longtime mat coach Sam Fusaro…Columbia’s most recent state qualifier was Tyson Carroll in 2022 who as a 26th seed at 215, earned a Top 12 finish in AC..Looking at Columbia past greats and a member of the 100-win club, Paulo Custodio, he had one of the best-ever finishes for a Cougar wrestler when he was the 140-pound Region 3 champion and state runner-up in 1991.

Parents and coaches are invited to visit their website for additional information at www.parisifairfield.com or contact their Director, John Cirilo at 973 227-0199.