by David Kwartler

Wrestling is looking forward to the postseason with high hopes. It finished its season Tuesday with a record of 8-9-0 after a 39-33 win against Brookline. “The team is getting ready for competing in sectionals on Saturday,” said coach John Staulo.

Senior Jordan Long, a captain with seniors Pat Bryson, Zach Ferguson and junior Nick Mariano, said, “We’re all hopeful for the postseason and looking to qualify for states.”

The team’s strength lies in its experienced wrestlers. “We have strong heavyweights and middleweights; lower weights are mostly freshmen and they are inexperienced,” said Long. The team struggled with missing injured players.
“Two of the captains being hurt, it’s very difficult to establish leadership. The other two guys on the mat did a great job. Leadership is key in wrestling. You have to have somebody for the inexperienced kids to follow, so even though leadership was depleted, it was still strong,” Staulo said.
Ferguson has been out all season with a shoulder injury. Bryson also missed most of the season. However, “Bryson wrestled last weekend against Walpole and was the deciding factor in our win,” Long said.

In wrestling, experience plays an important part in the strength of the team. “Injuries hurt us a lot. We had to put in inexperienced wrestlers to fill their spots,” Staulo said.

Despite missing two captains for the season and having inexperienced wrestlers in the spotlight, the team has performed very well, according to Staulo. “You wrestle at sectionals and the top four in each weight class qualify in states. The kids are getting ready both mentally and physically as well as trying to stay healthy in preparation for sectionals,” Staulo said.

The team wrestles in sectionals tomorrow, and every wrestler hopes to be one of the top four of their weight class and to move forward in the postseason to state-wide matches.