Collingswood Wrestlers To Compete In Beast Of The East Tournament

COLLINGSWOOD, NJ — Four Collingswood High School wrestlers are heading to Delaware this weekend to compete against some of the best wrestlers on the East Coast.

Andrew Clark (160 pounds), Zach Kitchell (145 pounds), Donnie Hart (220 pounds) and Chris Olah (152 pounds) will compete in the 27th annual Beast of the East tournament at the University of Delaware on Saturday and Sunday.

Three of the four grapplers pickd up wins as the Panthers opened their season with a 46-21 win over Haddon Township Thursday night.

Kitchell, Clark and Hart each scored a pinfall victory in their bouts, while Olah fell by just two points, 6-4 to Haddon Township's J.R. Lang.

Clark, who finished fourth in the state at 132 pounds last year, wrestled at 160 Thursday night, a weight he says he feels comfortable at.

"I'm looking to get to the podium (at the Beast of the East)," Clark said. "I'm going to see how I do, see how I feel at 160. I feel like 160 is my weight."

No matter where he wrestles, a state title is his ultimate goal, and that goes both for the team and himself.

"I think we can be really good this year," Clark said. "We have a shot to compete for a South Jersey Group 2 title. I'm focused on the team first, but when it comes to individual goals, I'm definitely looking for a state title."

The Beast of the East gives high school wrestlers the chance to compete against the best on the East Coast in what Clark called a "mini state tournament."

Collingswood is one of about 100 teams that will compete in this weekend’s competition, many of which come from New Jersey. Other teams traveling to the tournament from New Jersey include:

• Bergen Catholic;
• Blair Academy;
• Bound Brook;
• Colonia;
• Delbarton;
• DePaul Catholic;
• Don Bosco Prep;
• Hanover Park;
• Highland Regional;
• Holy Spirit;
• Hunterdon Central;
• Kingsway;
• Lyndhurst;
• Pope John XXIIII;
• Roselle Park;
• St. Joe’s Regional;
• St. John Vianney;
• St. Peter Prep;
• St. Augustine;
• Washington Township;
• Williamstown; and
• Woodstown.

Tickets can be purchased for all sessions ahead of time for $40. Pre-purchased daily session tickets are $25. Tickets for daily sessions will be $30 at the door. To reserve your seats, call or emailAnn Vettori at 302-528-3207 or f.vettori@verizon.net. To see the schedule and to find out how you can watch online, visit nwcaonline.com.

Some squads will bring their full team to the competition, but Collingswood brings a young group into its 2019-2020 campaign. The Panthers have just six seniors, and 18 freshmen. The rest of the 50-wrestler squad is made up of sophomores, according to coach Dechlin Moody.

Overall, the team is twice as big as last year's squad, which featured 24 wrestlers.

"This is a great group of kids," said Moody, who pointed out that freshman Nate Eife pinned Aaron Martin, a wrestler who had 18 wins last season, at 120 pounds.

Clark said Eife had the potential to be a stud, contributing to his confidence that Collingswood will have a big year.