Noah Wright: Athlete of the Week

Four pounds in one day. That’s how much weight wrestling captain Noah Wright cut to make his weight class for a meet. After two hours on the bike, an hour of plank position, and no water for the entire day, his dedication paid off. Even with the full day of grueling exercise in order to drop weight, he went on to win his match.Wright began his wrestling career during his freshman year of high school. One day, after soccer practice, he was walking past the wrestling room and saw the wrestlers doing sprints. So he decided to try out the sport. “My freshman year, I finished third in my county on the JV team. The next year, my coach pulled me up to Varsity,” Wright said. “So that’s kind of what got me into the sport.”As a wrestler, Wright understands the role the sport plays in his life. Although it can sometimes be tough, wrestling is very important to him. “So at the end of a day of classes, I want to go to sleep, but at the same time, I know that wrestling is healthy for me, both mentally and physically,” Wright continued. “It helps me clear my mind. It’s been really important for me, because it helps me get reinvigorated and refreshed, and, you know, it’s also just really fun. It’s good to take out all your stress on the mat.”Wright arrived at Exeter for his upper year, and wrestling immediately became an integral part of his experience here. “Winter term has been rough for me. Especially last year, coming in as a new upper, it was really stressful. So that’s kind of why wrestling has played a huge role in my time here, because it’s sort of like a release,” Wright said. This proved to be the start of a great wrestling career at Exeter.Wright so far has had a wonderful experience with the Exeter wrestling program. He expressed the differences he has noticed between his old public school squad, and the Exeter team. “It’s different here from public school. It’s really cool having kids on the team from all around the world, all around the country.”This year, Wright serves as captain of the Boys’ Varsity Wrestling Squad, along with his fellow captains, Sean Haggerty and Curran Sullivan. “To be honest, being a captain has changed my role on the team a lot. There’s that pressure to set the example, not only as the captain, but as one of the oldest wrestlers on the team,” Wright said of his new position on the squad. He also feels that the role has brought him and his fellow captains closer to the coaches. “He leads by example,” senior and captain Curran Sullivan said of Wright. “Because he’s always trying to better himself, which is an infectious thing in the wrestling room.”Prep wrestler A.J. Pedro echoed Sullivan’s remarks about Noah’s role as a leader on the team. “Noah helps to make me a better person and wrestler by pushing myself in the wrestling room as well as outside of it to be the best person I can be,” Pedro said. “He has helped our team reach the number 1 spot in the Prep New England rankings through his hard work and dedication.”The current team is one of the best in years, according to Wright. “The team dynamic is really good, actually. There are only four seniors, so we’re a young team.” The team, while they enjoy having fun in the wrestling room, all take their sport very seriously. This determination has paid off, as the team is currently highly ranked in New England, and is endeavoring to become Class A champions for the first time in nearly twenty years. “It’s really been a fun season. It’s been serious, a lot of hard work involved, of course, but it’s definitely been one of the most enjoyable wrestling seasons I’ve had,” Wright said.The wrestling team has a large number of underclassmen, none short of praise for one of their captains and friend. “As for the wrestling team, Noah brings an intensity to practice that rubs off onto other teammates,” varsity wrestler and lower Josh Hemintakoon said. “He is a hard worker - in the wrestling room, in class, and in various other extracurricular activities.”Pedro applauded Wright on his guidance to the younger members of the teams. “Noah is a very special part of our program. Ever since I came to Exeter, he has been an older brother type figure through his leadership and guidance. He is an amazing mentor to all of the younger members of the team, as he leads by example and keeps the underclassmen in line. He is well rounded both as a wrestler and as a person, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for Noah Wright.”Wright acknowledges the part wrestling has played in his life, and how important the sport is to him. “What wrestling has really done for me, is that it’s helped breed a mentality that I have, not only on the mat, but in school, in class, wherever I am. It’s a certain kind of motivation that I don’t think you can really get from any other sport,” Wright said. “Ask any guy on the team, he’ll tell you, making weight is tough, cutting weight is tough, having to eat salads for dinner is terrible, eating half a granola bar for breakfast is awful. It’s really a kind of experience that I honestly wouldn’t have had, had I not gone to the wrestling room that day my freshman year.”Wright continues, trying to picture his life if he had not decided to try and wrestle. “To imagine what my life would be like had I not wrestled would be crazy. I don’t know what I’d be doing with my winter term. I’d probably be a completely different person.”