By Andy Loigu

The media covering the event voted Jarod Ostir of Warren Hills the Outstanding Wrestler award winner at the 38th Easton Lions’ Club All-Star Classic last week,

Ostir is the first Blue Streak to be so honored since Corey Miller in 1990, when Warren Hills was the state champion for Group 3 as a team, a memorable year.

“This was my last match and I just wanted to have fun,” Ostir said. The match was no fun for his foe, senior Adam Lizak of Parkland, who was nearly pinned three times in Ostir’s dominant 11-1 win by major decision at 182 pounds, which helped the New Jersey team beat Pennsylvania for the first time since 2012. The final score was 32-17 as the Jersey boys did some inspired wrestling, tired of losing to their counterparts from across the river.

Ostir has struggled through several nagging injuries during his four-year varsity career at Warren Hills and said it was nice to feel comfortable and be able to finish his career wrestling at his best. “To be able to maintain control against a Pennsylvania state qualifier gives me a feeling of accomplishment,” he said. Despite his misfortunes with injuries, he won four consecutive district titles, making Blue Streaks boosters proud.

Although Jarrett Hosbach, who has coached Warren Hills for over a decade, resigned from said position earlier this week, he still came to the famed 25th Street Gym in Easton to cheer on one of his most successful pupils. “He made me a better wrestler and a better person in the community,” Ostir said of his longtime coach. Ostir plans to attend college and pursue a career in veterinary medicine.

The Lions’ Classic, under the leadership of Mike Moore (a long time sports broadcaster with WEST radio out of Easton), raises funds for worthy area charities in the Skylands region of New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania.

All five of the starters on Hackettstown’s boys basketball team, which went 19-9 and reached the North 2 Group 2 section final under head coach Mike McDonagh earlier this month, have earned All-Conference honors by a vote of the coaches in the Northwest Jersey Athletic Conference Freedom Division.

Seniors Cole Reardon and Jelani Awai made the first team. Senior Eddie Omelia and super sophomore Tyler Gorzycka (as hard to stop as he is to spell) made the second team and senior Jack Quinoa earned honorable mention.

These fellows are notable not necessarily for how many points they registered in the box scores, but rather for how few points they allowed their opponents to score. Playing a helping man to man defense that put pressure on the ball virtually all the time, the Tigers wore down their opponents and were a tough team to beat.

On the girls side, Caitlin Nicholls, a senior, was named to the first team, while junior Lisa Kaditus was a second team selection. Junior Jess Scheper was an Honorable Mention.

Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building.