Wrestling Secures Class A Championship
Last Saturday, the Exeter boys’ varsity wrestling team was away at the Hyde School for the annual wrestling Class A tournament. The team fought valiantly, beating 13 other schools in the New England Preparatory School League (NEPSAC), and placing first in the tournament.The team’s success, now with a record of 8-3, is an indication of their continued dominance as the New England Prep School Championships approaches.The boys’ varsity wrestling team was confident going into this tournament due to their uncontested win last year. Co-captain and upper Quinn Abrams explained how, coming off of their win last weekend as well, the team was aware of their ability to win.“Everyone was aware of our previous success at Hyde Maine, which gave us the momentum going into the event,” Abrams said. “Having that extra confidence was nice considering that the end of the season is right around the corner.”
“We need to forget our successes, remain humble and push ourselves ever harder in practice as we have done so far.”
At the tournament, Big Red dominated in almost all areas and weight classes. With almost every member of the varsity lineup placing, the team secured first place. Upper Abhijay Bhatnagar was ecstatic with the team’s performance as it compared very similarly to last year’s.“We had a few finalists, a few champions, and the overall result was akin to last year. We placed first in the tournament, and we scored almost about 80 points greater than the second place team,” Bhatnagar said.The top four schools from Class A’s, as the tournament is informally called by the team, will be present at the upcoming New England Championships, plus many other preparatory school teams from New England. Lower Kevin Lyskawa is hoping for a similar outcome to Class A’s at NE championships, but understands that the competition is going to be much greater at such a large tournament. “New England’s will bring four times as many schools to the venue, a much tougher competition for everyone and even greater stakes for the team,” Lyskawa said.This Saturday, the Exeter boys’ varsity wrestling team will travel to Avon Old Farms to compete in the championships. Besides Nationals, this is the team’s last tournament-—the one that they’ve been training all season for.Abrams looks to once again win the championship and to place well at Nationals. To do this, he said, “We need to forget our successes, remain humble and push ourselves ever harder in practice as we have done so far. This upcoming weekend will be taxing, but I am confident that we will do very well no matter what happens in the end.”