Darius Khani Qualifies To Wrestle In The New Jersey Scholastic State Wrestling Championships

On March 3, 2013, Chatham's 55-pounder, Darius Khani, traveled to Fair Lawn High School determined to qualify to compete in his weight class at the Scholastic State Wrestling Championships.

Darius is a 5th grade student at Lafayette. He is a mixed martial artist who started wrestling in November.

In round one, Darius wrestled a technically sound match to hold on to a 2-1 win over a tough wrestler from Washington Township. After a second round loss, Darius beat his next opponent, a wrestler from Monroe Township, in the consolation round 13-0 to take third place. This third place finish earned Darius a spot in the 55 bracket for the State Championships which will take place later this month. Darius became the seventh youth wrestler to quaily for this event.

The efforts of brothers Michael (75) and John Rohe (65) deserve mention. They too traveled to this tournament intent on qualifying. An unlucky draw prevented them from doing so. Michael was placed in a bracket with 11 other wrestlers. After pinning his first opponent in the third period, Michael ran into the number one seed, National Champion Dylan Weaver. Although Michael lost this match 10-0, he wrestled extremely well. Unfortunately, this loss prevented Michael from advancing any further. Michael's younger brother John experienced a similar fate. After pinning his first opponent, John advanced to the second round to face a great wrestler who beat him 6-1. Since John was also in a twelve man bracket, this loss prevented him from advancing any further.

Darius, John and Michael are among Chatham's toughest wrestlers and we are very proud of them.