Varsity Wrestling (2023-2024)
By ROHIT KANTAMNENI ‘25
The Exeter wrestling team had much success with their new head coach, Justin Muchnick. Captains senior George Varghese, senior Alex Rosen, and upper Sebastian Hiller led the team to a 10-7 record. Big Red Wrestling finished the season off by narrowly edging out Choate to finish in fourth place at the Class A tournament. The qualifiers from the Class A tournament led Exeter wrestling to a 14th place finish at New Englands.
Their season started with a dual meet against Thayer Academy and Beaver Country Day School, beating each team out 51-18 and 69-0 respectively. Co-captain George Varghese had two good wins on the day, while co-captain Alex Rosen pinned his opponent from Beaver Country Day. Marek Jin also recorded a quick pin in his first varsity start for the Big Red. However, the team would fall to St. Paul’s, 48-36, and Governor’s, 48-33.
After the break, the team regrouped to earn a win over Williston before heading to a an important quad-meet against Deerfield, Hyde, Roxbury Latin, and marquee rivals Andover. Big Red wrestling suffered a close defeat to Andover, 43-33, but bounced back to earn wins over Deerfield and Hyde. However, they ended the day with a loss to Roxbury Latin.
During the weekend of Jan. 20, the Exeter wrestling team traveled to Deerfield Academy to compete in a tournament. Along with Exeter, three other schools competed: Choate, Deerfield, and Hotchkiss. The Exeter wrestling team went 3-0 against all three schools. The Deerfield score was 48-27, the Hotchkiss score 55-21, and the exciting score of Choate being 43-33.
“We are putting in the maximum effort every day no matter what, and we’ve all gotten better for it,” said prep Ikaika Toves. The whole team has been working very hard and their results show this well.
After Exeter Wrestling ended another quad-meet with victories over Avon Old Farms and Brooks and defeats to Northfield Mount Hermon and St. Sebastian’s, Exeter’s grapplers traveled to Hyde to compete at the Northern New Englands Tournament.
The team placed 3rd overall, with wrestlers co-captain Sebastian Hiller, prep Konrad Kutt, and senior Jack Mosley leading the charge with individual championship wins. In addition, eight other Exeter wrestlers, Marek Jin, co-captain George Varghese, co-captain Alex Rosen, Nathi Lomax, Zain Reza, Ikaika Toves, Becket Moore, and Jack Breaks all placed at the tournament.
“The team had a solid performance at the Northern New England tournament, finishing third behind Eagle Hill and Andover,” said coach Justin Muchnick. “It would have been nice to have pipped Andover for second place at the end, but overall the weekend went well. The main goal of the tournament was to get us prepared for the upcoming Class A and New England tournaments, so I’m glad that our wrestlers gained experience in a long day of tournament competition.”
Exeter wrestling competed at the Class A tournament where they placed fourth. Co-captain Sebastian Hiller led the Big Red with a second-place finish in the 215-pound weight class, upsetting a highly ranked St. Paul’s opponent with a quick pin in the semifinals, while Bella Bueno earned a strong second place in the 165-pound girls division. Wrestlers Ikaika Toves, Konrad Kutt, Jack Breaks, Zain Reza, and Marek Jin all came third and earned qualifying spots for New England Championships.
Sebastian Hiller, Marek Jin, and Bella Bueno all punched their tickets to Prep Nationals after strong performances at the New England Championships. The Exeter wrestling team’s season finally concluded with admirable performances at a competitive Prep Nationals tournament from all three wrestlers. Exeter wrestling has an exciting future with young athletes of high caliber and potential, and with the hope that first-year head coach Justin Muchnick can bring Exeter wrestling back to being as dominant as it was in the late 2010s.
