Westwood’s Hirstius excels at Dumont quad by Kevin T. Czerwinski special to The Record
DUMONT – Westwood senior Justin Hirstius wasn’t exactly having the swan-song season for which he was hoping prior to Saturday. He had a .500 record and was having trouble building personal momentum despite the Cardinals’ overall success.
Hirstius, however, might have found the panacea for his fragmented season at Dumont, winning a trio of matches to help Westwood sweep its quad match against Glen Rock, Verona and the Huskies. The Cardinals (9-0) defeated Glen Rock, 53-13, Dumont, 52-15, and Verona, 37-26, with Hirstius picking up a pin and two decisions to improve to 8-5.
“This makes me feel good,” said Hirstius, who opened his day by pinning Glen Rock’s Conor Fagan in 1:47. “I feel like I’m doing better. I feel like I progressed a lot. I feel like I’m learning more now and retaining it. I’m able to use it [what he learned] in matches and it is making me tough mentally.
“I’m also being told that my matches really count and that’s making me work harder. When I’m told I have a big match and I have to win for the team, [the mindset becomes] you have to do what you have to do.”
Hirstius followed his opening pin with a 6-0 decision over Dumont’s Matt Doherty and a 10-2 decision over Verona’s Jake Parent. It was the kind of day he hadn’t had all season. It also brought some more attention to what is a sentimental year for Hirstius. He’s been wrestling since kindergarten but will call it quits at the end of this season after choosing not to wrestle in college.
“I’m not thinking about wrestling next year I’ll be thinking about school,” said Hirstius, who is still undecided as to where he will attend college. “I feel like wrestling in high school was good enough for me.
“It’s bittersweet. Like today at the end of the matches. It’s the middle of January already and it’s almost over. It [the end] is going to come faster than I think. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was a freshman.”
While the end may be approaching, Hirstius can look back on his time at Westwood and see that he has evolved, not only as a wrestler but as a person. He’s become a team leader and that’s a position in which he never thought he would himself.
Westwood coach Paul Castellini, however, has seen the change in Hirstius, acknowledging his growth during the last three seasons.
“He’s more mature,” Castellini said. “As a freshman, it was a learning process. But he’s a great person and he learned on the job. He knows the situation and has been very coachable. He’s a little on the quiet side; very reserved. I’m happy to see that he had a good day.”
It was a day that may spark Hirstius to a strong finish to the season and his career.