METUCHEN – Not only did the Metuchen Grapplers get a new space at Camp Kiddie Keep Well in Edison for the 2007-08 season, but they also got a professional chef.
As the Grapplers played their first match on Dec. 14 against the Marlboro Mustangs, parents, coaches, wrestlers and wrestling enthusiasts were able to get a taste of Metuchen’s own Eric Welle’s sausage and pepper heroes.
“I decided to help out the program,” said Welle, who is a stockbroker by day and chef by night. “I was told to make enough for 100 to 150 people. I was deciding if I should make meatballs and chicken cutlets along with the sausage and peppers, but I decided to go with just the sausage and peppers and see how that goes. Each match, I will make something different.”
Welle, who was contacted by the Grapplers a week before their first match, said he did a lot of the preparation and cooking at home before the match.
“I can do a lot of the small stuff at home,” he said.
Welle, who received his culinary school degree in December 2006, hopes to expand his catering company, Welle Done Catering, which he began in April.
“Everyone has mispronounced my last name as ‘well’ rather than ‘well-e’ and I thought the name was fitting,” he said. “Right now, the business is word of mouth and run out of my home, but I hope to expand my business and get a place.”
Welle said he makes everything – sauces, soups, desserts and more.
“I have always liked cooking, and I have always thought about owning a little restaurant and pub,” he said.
Parents said they love the new space with the new concession stand.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for the children and organization,” said DominickManzo, whose 8-year-old son, John Michael Manzo, is in his second year with the Grapplers. “This is a beautiful facility with plenty of room, with two matches going on at the same time. The matches are done in half the time.”
The Grapplers team consists of approximately 80 wrestlers – secondgraders to eighth-graders. The season begins in December and ends in mid- March.
The team is sharing their new space at Camp Kiddie Keep Well with the Metuchen High School Wrestling team.
Both teams were using the auxiliary gym at the Metuchen High School for their practices until this past year, when the new wellness center, which was a collaboration between the Metuchen-Edison YMCA and the high school, was built at the high school and opened in April.
The Grapplers will hold a clinic at the end of January for children who have an interest in joining the Grapplers.
“This is for kids who just want to try it out,” said Jamie Schleck, the team coordinator for the Grapplers.
The Grapplers are also hosting a fundraiser from noon to closing at the Champps Americana Restaurant at the Menlo Park Mall in Edison on Jan. 22.
The restaurant will donate 15 percent of all proceeds from food and non-alcoholic beverages sold to the Metuchen Grapplers. For more information visit metuchengrapplers.googlepages.com.