Wrestling Bodies Brooks, Wins 54-24
A gripping wrestling match took place between defending New England champions Brooks School and Phillips Exeter Academy on Saturday, resulting in a decisive victory for Big Red. Coming off a disappointing 35-42 loss last year against Brooks, Exeter was well prepared and determined to come out from the match as the victors this time around. This mindset led them the whole way, as Big Red was able to dominate Brooks, with the final score standing at 54-24. Although the season is still young, the boys’ wrestling team looks to have a very promising season, starting off the year with an undefeated record in the New England Prep League.
Exeter got off to a fast start, with lower Quinn Abrams pulling of a 6-2 win against a Brook’s wrestler who placed third at New Englands in 2014. Lower AJ Pedro continued the dominance, pinning a senior wrestler from Brooks in the first period. To cap off the excellent day, upper Josh Hemintakoon also pinned his opponent.
Several members of the team stood out in their respective matches. “It was a really good collective team effort, but some of the wrestlers really stepped up and pulled off great wins,” Pedro said. “Prep Kevin Lyskawa, lower Isaiah Bailey, lower Joey Rosetti and Abrams were four of the standouts throughout the tournament.”
Upper Steve Cerrone and upper Jeff MacArthur also ended up with impressive victories on the day. Senior Kelvin Borges noted, “They were each in really close matches that came down to them being the aggressor in the final period. They each had very strong finishes against tough opponents.”
Tough finishes and grit seemed to be the focal point of the win. Going in, Big Red knew that the matches were not going to be easy, but with each move and each step, they pushed forward and pulled off the victory.
“We went into the meet knowing that they had a tough line up but we also knew that if we wrestled well we could come out on top and we did,” Borges said, “Seeing how they're the defending New England champs it's a really big win, but that aside any win against a team as tough as Brooks is a big one.”
Even though Exeter won big, the team realizes that there is always room to improve. Pedro said that, although they wrestled extremely well as a team, he himself needs to compete better. "There was a lot that we did well; a lot of our wrestlers had dominant matches, but, individually, we all have things to improve," he said. "Personally, I think that coming back strong from my injury and getting back to my fitness level before the injury is important."
This Saturday the boys’ wrestling team will face several other competitive teams at the NMH quad. The team hopes to continue their dominant season as they look to keep the wins coming. The defending New England champions, Brooks school, have fallen, and Phillips Exeter Academy is back on top of the New England Prep League.