Paramus’ Eric Kim is a big reason behind the Spartan’s solid start to the 2012-2013 season. Coach Tim Donohue thinks Kim, and teammate Harold Choo, could make some noise at next week’s Bergen County Meet of Champions. (DEMITRIUS BALEVSKI/Staff Photographer)

Before I begin, make sure to cast your votes on the post above — or CLICK HERE — regarding who you think will win Sunday’s Big North Championships. I’m interested to see who everyone thinks are the favorites heading into the event.

Anyway, today’s news comes out of Paramus, thanks to an e-mail from coach Tim Donohue. The Spartans’ boys team is having its best season in a long time, currently sporting a 5-3 record and have won three in a row as of Thursday after suffering tough losses to Bergen County powers — Bergen Catholic, Ramapo and Ridgewood. Leading the Paramus emergence has been senior Eric Kim and junior Harold Choo, both who should be in contention for county titles in their respective races later this season. According to Donohue, Kim is an “extremely versatile swimmer” and can swim any event and is willing to do so depending on the meet. He excels in the 200 IM, 100 Free and 100 Back and has been “under 2 minutes in the 200 IM” and “under 50 seconds” in the 100 Free. “Those are very impressive times and he’s a fun swimmer to watch,” Donohue said. Kim has lost only one dual meet individual race during his high school career and he’s looking to end his career on a high note.

As for Choo, “he’s been a standout since his freshman year,” Donohue said. His best events are in the 100 Breast, 200 IM and 200 Free. “Like Eric, he is able to swim any event that we need on a particular day and has lost only one individual event at dual meets [in his career]. He, too, should do very well at the county meet this year in both of his individual events.”

Click continue reading for results from around North Jersey from Thursday and Friday’s action… Continue reading →

Ramsey is widely considered the best public hockey team in North Jersey, perhaps in all the state. But the Rams are taking nothing lightly. They came to Ice Vault on Friday night ready for a late night battle with rival Ramapo, and that’s exactly what they got.

Ramapo gave Ramsey all it could handle before the Rams finally pulled away in the final seconds for a 5-3 win.

“It’s a rivalry game,” Ramsey coach Bob Toy said. “And Ramapo’s a real good hockey team, and they’re playing really good hockey right now … we knew we would have our hands full and we did. Our guys just fought through.” Continue reading →

History buffs will love this one. Saturday’s game between Teaneck and Paramus could be one of the most interesting of the season because each team could have a girl reach the 1,000 point career mark. Teaneck junior C Kayla Gibbs goes into the game 17 points shy of the milestone while Paramus’ sharp-shooting junior G Brittany Stone is 32 points away.
Stone would become just the second girl in school history to reach that plateau.

WRESTLING

Becton/Wallington at Rutherford - This is a local rivalry and NJIC crossover game that could get interesting between two teams that are looking to challenge for their division titles. Rutherford is unbeaten at 4-0 and Becton/Wallington is 3-2. There could be an interesting matchup at 182 if Becton/Wallington’s Nathan Bueno, a Bergen Holiday runner-up at 170, bumps up to face Rutherford’s Jake Regina, a Bergen Holiday third at 182.

Brian Giuffra will be covering Hackensack’s match v. Old Tappan. Hackensack is off to an unbeaten start while Old Tappan is coming off a loss to Demarest. Despite it’s perfect start to the year — Hackensack is currently 6-0 — the Comets still have to prove they can win in a tight match — their closest match this year was a 27-point win — and Old Tappan should test them. Justin Barso, Amir George, Taj-Aziz Brown and Goran Krasic. Old Tappan counters with Tyler Mullen, Zach Forhlich and Dan Bendul.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

New Milford at Midland Park – The Panthers have picked up right where they left off last season, Mark Czerwinski will be there to get a closer look at junior PG Rebecca Rabeiro, who has made herself an early candidate for Player of the Year.

The Cetrulo boys fencing tournament will be held this Saturday at Voorhees High School in Lebanon Township. The Cetrulo is the top early-season boys fencing event in the state and will encompass about 550 fencers from 47 teams throughout New Jersey.

Continue reading →

Lakeland High School’s Patty Kebrdle has announced she will step down after nine years as the head field hockey coach for the Lancers.
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A preview of what to look forward to in high school sports on Wednesday, January 9. All content below is written by each sport’s respective beat writer(s).

WRESTLING

Some great wrestling matches to watch out for on Wednesday, including several Top 25 match ups.

Brian Giuffra will be covering Wayne Valley’s match at Passaic Valley, which starts at 7 p.m. This is a Big North Independence league match between the two preseason favorites and The Record Top 10 members. Both teams are off to strong starts as expected, but this is only Wayne Valley’s second dual meet of the year because they’ve competed in three tournaments already. That could be a good or bad thing. This match should answer that question.

Greg Schutta will be at River Dell to see the Golden Hawks face off against North Bergen in a matchup of teams that are ranked among the top 15 in North Jersey by The Record. River Dell’s Drew Nirchio and Devin Garrido of North Bergen could have a rematch at 106 of Nirchio’s win over Garrido in the wrestlebacks of the Bergen County Holiday Tournament. Continue reading →