Girls’ wrestling on the rise

BY JOE EMANSKI

The end of February may signal the end of wresting’s regular season, but one coach in Hopewell Valley says that in some ways, March is actually the most exciting time of the year in the sport.

The first week of the month will bring the high school state championships. And later in the month, national collegiate champi- onship wrestling is set to kick off.

“Just (speaking) as a fan, the postseason is when wrestling is definitely on the brain,” says Brendon Morfe, a Pennington resident and coach with Hopewell Valley Youth Wrestling, formerly known as the Hopewell Valley Junior Bulldogs.

Championships are not the only reason that Morfe has wrestling on his mind. He is also excited because Hopewell Valley Youth how far would you go if they were sick? of township committee meetings, sets the agenda for meetings.

Wrestling has been part of the growth of girls’ wrestling at the youth level. His daughter, Elinor, a kindergartner at Toll Gate Grammar School, was one of four girls to participate in the program this year.

Each year, the committee nominates and then votes on which members will become mayor and deputy mayor for the year. Considering the committee’s now longstanding Democratic majority — John Hart was the last Republican to serve, in 2019 — the choice of mayor often comes down to which member of the committee is most ready to make the commitment.

“I always consider us equals, but the mayor is the chair because somebody has to chair,” Ruger said.

The mayor is the member of the committee who works most closely with the township administrator, George Snyder. The mayor represents the township at events and, of course, has the power to officiate a marriage ceremony, a privilege that Ruger has already had the chance to enjoy.

Ruger said that while all the committee members work pretty closely with the township administrator, as mayor he has weekly phone meetings with Snyder to talk about township issues. “He keeps me informed about what’s going on with the departments, and I offer the advice and guidance that I can,” Ruger said. “We have an excellent working relationship, and I’m really glad we have him leading the township staff.”

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Morfe hopes that more will join next season, and for many of them, March could be the time of year when they get on the mat for the See WRESTLING, Page 6

“Courtney had an absolutely fantastic term as mayor last year,” Ruger said in an interview last month. “I served as her deputy. This year, we talked about it and with my twins graduating this year, it works out that it’s a good time for me to do it.”

As mayor, Ruger serves as chair

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One of our most important duties as a committee, Ruger said, is to develop and deliver a “responsible, realistic” budget. The committee started work on the capital budget in January with hopes to finish work on it by the end of February.

Then it’s on to the operating budget, with the hope of having

See RUGER, Page 4 see our ad on pg 7

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