SALISBURY — The Hotchkiss School varsity wrestling team defeated Salisbury School 42-33 in the final meet of the regular season on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
The afternoon of sparring featured top-tier Founder’s League competition inside Salisbury’s Flood Athletic Center. Wrestlers paired up by weight for three rounds of two minutes each. Winners earned 6 team points for a win by pin or win by forfeit, and 3 to 5 team points for a win by decision.
Weight classes represented in the meet ranged from 106 pounds up to 285 pounds, but not all categories had counterparts on the opposing team. Including forfeits, 14 official matches took place when Salisbury hosted Hotchkiss.
Hotchkiss won two matches by decision and three matches by pin. Ihsan Yumak, Ethan Woo, and Daniel Zhang all pinned their opponent for 6 team points each. Winners by decision for Hotchkiss were Adam Wright and Shaan Patel, earning 3 team points each. Hotchkiss’ remaining team points came from forfeit wins.
Two of Salisbury’s wrestlers, Brian Lawson and Robert Madison, won their matches by pin for 6 team points each. Long Ngo won his match against Thanos Athanasiou in a 9-7 decision for 3 team points. Salisbury’s remaining points came from forfeit wins.
When the matches were over, Hotchkiss claimed team victory in the final regular season meet of 2024.
Between the two programs, 28 wrestlers went on to the Western New England Prep School Wrestling Association Championship in Fairfield Saturday, Feb. 10. Of the group, 13 qualified for the New England regional tournament Feb. 17.
Salisbury will send Luc Fillion-Raf (132 pounds), Robert Madison (138), Dom Valcin (175), Michael Taylor (215), and Jahnoi Prentice (285) to regionals.
Hotchkiss will send Nick Lucana (113), Ihsan Yumak (132), Adam Wright (175), Olivia Kwon (114), Ashley Opdyke (114), Anya Reppa (120), Aimee Carrasco (132) and Sadie Salter (138) to regionals.
Hotchkiss’ Adam Wright embraced his inner boa constrictor when wresting Salisbury’s Dom Valcin. Riley Klein
