Wrestling at first served as a convenient form of physical activity for Elek Kozlowski.
He then flourished in his first year of competing and plans to stick with his new-found sport.
Lucas Churpakovich was always passionate about his favorite sport—wrestling.
Each may have had a different approach to wrestling, but each 8th Grade student at the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School will continue to wrestle and build on their recent achievements.
On Saturday, February 1, the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School served as the host to the Raritan Valley League Tournament where both Elek and Lucas emerged as individual champions in their weight class.
Elek ripped through the 150-pound division with an upset ride to the top of the podium while Lucas claimed his gold medal when he scored a fall in the 126-pound title match.
The Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School placed fourth as a team in the field of 11 schools while eight other of its wrestlers placed in their weight classes.
The tournament ended what was a highly successful season that was guided by dedicated coaches, Mike Denver and Anthony Silva, who led the team to a 10-2 record this winter.
Coach Denver, an NCAA Division 3 national champion when he wrestled at The College of New Jersey, was impressed with the team both on and off the mats.
“As the season comes to a close, I can't help but feel a sense of pride for the hard work, growth, and dedication our team has shown throughout the season. We faced some tough opponents but what stood out to me was our athletes' growth. We were able to end the season 10-2 with two champions, one of which was a first-year wrestler, and eight place winners at the end of the year tournament,” Coach Denver stated.
Coach Denver continued his positive observation.
“It is easy to celebrate the wins, but I take even more pride in the way our wrestlers handled adversity. Every match was a learning opportunity, and they took every defeat as a chance to get better. This is exactly what we teach our wrestlers, that it is a process and to continue to improve and get one percent better every day,” he said.
Two wrestlers who are prime examples of Coach Denver’s assessment are Elek Kozlowski and Lucas Churpakovich.
Elek was in search of “some form of martial arts to compete in,” when he stumbled–or in this case, made a short walk—into wrestling
“I live real close to the Middle School and I can walk there easily from my home on Foothill Road,” explained Elek, who also competes in soccer and track and field. “If I was going to do some boxing, I would need rides both ways from my parents. Plus my schoolwork takes up a lot of time. I had friends who wrestled so I gave it a try.”
In the Raritan Valley League Tournament’s 150-pound final, Elek tied the match and forced overtime when his opponent, Justin Santana of Manville, was penalized a point for stalling. Then, Elek captured the championship with an escape to earn a 7-6 decision.
“Yes, I plan to continue and wrestle,” Elek revealed.
Lucas’s primary sport has been wrestling, which he has participated in for three years.
In the 126-pound title bout, he cradled Ethan Popeck of Somerville to gain the pin in the second period and the championship.
A runner-up finish in the league tournament in 2024 motivated Lucas.
“I was determined to win this year after I came in second,” Lucas said.
Eight of their teammates also received medals.
Finishing in third place were Thomas Wodarski at 105 pounds, Dhroov Jaiswal at 112 pounds, Jacob Aragon at 133 pounds, Nolan Moy at 140 pounds and Payton DeFelice at 225 pounds while Will Suozzo placed fourth at 100 pounds.
Two of the team’s female wrestlers–Amor Gonzalez and Isabel Bolanos– placed second in the girls’ tournament, which used the Madison format that doesn’t use weight classes but instead, wrestlers are grouped into brackets based on weight at weigh-ins and allows athletes to compete regardless of their size, age or gender.
The accomplishments that these wrestlers and the team achieved can be traced to Coach Denver and Coach Silva.
“We really like our coaches,” both Elek and Lucas shared.
The coaches enjoyed their wrestlers, too.
“One of the biggest highlights of the season was knocking off eventual league and tournament champs Somerville in a dual meet,” Coach Demver said. “Every wrestler did their job to help the team win the match. It was a full team effort. I am looking forward to seeing the 8th Graders grow as individuals as they move on to wrestle for Coach (Kyle) Murphy at the high school level.”
Here is the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School 2024-2025 Wrestling Roster
Hunter Karp
Will Suozzo
Isabel Bolanos
Amor Gonzalez
Thomas Wodarski
Jamie Jaggi
Dhroov Jaiswal
Josh James
Viaan Salwan
Lucas Churpakovich
Jacob Aragon
Nolan Moy
Maseone Christian
Noah Cascais
Elek Kozlowski
Anthony Deledon
Journey Ford
Antonio Jimenez
Payton DiFelice
Diego Gallegos