Friends of Evan Gershkovich hold a celebration in Princeton after Wall Street Journal reporter’s release

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What was originally planned as an awareness luncheon to protest the incarceration of Princeton, New Jersey native and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was instead filled with smiles and laughter Sunday — three and a half weeks after his release from a Russian prison.

“The feeling here is joy, we’re so happy that he’s out of that mess,” said Salvy Baldino, one of the event’s organizers and a former soccer coach of Gershkovich. “We’re all thrilled. We’re thrilled for his family, we’re just overjoyed for everybody, so it’s just a really happy, special event.”

Baldino coached Gershkovich’s youth soccer team when he was 10 and was an assistant soccer coach for Princeton High School when the team won the state championship in 2009. Gershkovich was a co-captain.

On Aug. 1, Gershkovich, who had been wrongly convicted of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a Russian prison, was released as part of a multinational deal involving seven countries agreeing to free 24 prisoners, the largest deal of its kind in more than 30 years. Gershkovich was arrested by Russian secret police in March 2023 while working on a story in Yekaterinburg.

While in high school, teachers say Gershkovich excelled athletically and academically, writing for the school newspaper.

Former teammates, coaches and other community members gathered Sunday at Conte’s Pizza, a longtime favorite location for Princeton High School celebrations.

Wayne Sutcliffe, another former coach, said having this kind of celebration gives the community a chance to exhale.

“It’s finally over, we do know that he’s doing well, and it’s more of a celebration now than a hope,” he said.

Sutcliffe, who still teaches at Princeton High, said Gershkovich has an open invitation to come back and meet the current soccer team.

“We’ll do a training session and you say a few words, because everyone here would love to see you,” he said.

Current coach Ryan Walsh said last year’s team wore shirts that said “Free Evan,” and participated in several awareness events.

“The whole point was just to keep his name in the news, to put some pressure to bring him home. Our job was to keep him in the conversations and our thoughts,” he said.

“It feels like happiness is in the air, and you can taste the sweetness of it,” said school principal Cecelia Birge.

She said the whole ordeal gave students an opportunity to reflect on the value of free press and speech, as well as other freedoms they all hold dear.

“This is an important life lesson, there’s a lot for all of us to learn,” she said.