The 2007 NJ Freestyle & Greco Roman wrestling season kicked off with a Greco Roman clinic (Sat) and FR/GR tournament (Sun) at Brick Memorial HS. Both Darren Rabinowitz and Aaron V competed in both styles in the Cadet Division (born 1991 & 1992).

Darren shown here wrestling Greco Roman vs. New Jersey State Qualifier, David Standridge. Darren took third in the Greco Roman Division.

Aaron pinning his opponent from Hunterdon Central. Aaron went on to take first in the Freestyle Division.

Darren Rabinowitz showed that he learned a lot in a short time in Greco by winning his first match. In his next two matches he got a "welcome" into the world of high school wrestling as he went up against NJ state HS qualifier David Standridge and Fargo Greco All-American Taylor Walsh. Although he did not win these matches, Darren had a very good day and placed 3rd in both Greco & Freestyle. This tourney was a great opportunity for kids still in middle school to test their skills against some of the best HS freshman & sophomores in the NJ. The weights were all Madison system and with Darren wrestling at 120 in Greco and 126 in Freestyle- he had his work cut out. Congrats to Darren for stepping to the challenge and holding his own. Darren wrestled six matches on the day.

Former Grappler, Aaron Velasquez wrestled 144 in both Greco and Freestyle. Aaron gave up a few points in his opening match then turned it on winning the opening period and later pinning his opponent. He gained a measure of "revenge" as this was the kid that beat him 4-2 two weeks ago in the Cadet state finals. Aaron took 2nd in Greco losing to a very good Blair kid in the final. In Freestyle he lost the 1st period in his first bout 4-1. In the 2nd period he hit a nice arm drag which caught his opponent by surprise. Aaron turned him for the fall. This was another good win as he beat a kid from Hunterdon Central who beat him twice last year - once in the kid’s state qualifiers and again in the NJ state consolation semis. Aaron then pinned his final opponent to win his weight in Freestyle. Aaron wrestled 5 matches on the day.