Junior star Shaun Stuer ’09 carried his team as it swept the home meet against Deerfield Academy, Providence County Day, and Hyde-Maine. However, on Wednesday, the Andover Varsity Wrestling team suffered its first loss against a perennially tough squad from Tabor. On Saturday, Andover beat Deerfield with a score of 36 – 27, destroyed Providence Country Day with a score of 63 – 9, and overpowered Hyde-Maine 65 – 18. Andover came out strong in the first feature match-up of the day against a very tough and experienced Deerfield squad. Captain Gabe Worgaftik ’06, at 135 pounds, won the first match of the dual, with an overtime 5-3 victory. Victor Vazquez ’06, at 145 pounds, took an overtime win with a score of 3 – 1. Weighing in at 152 pounds, Nick Bowen ’06 won in a close and thrilling match with a score of 12 – 11, winning six team points. Competing at 160 pounds, Brian Foye ’06 captured a 2 – 1 win. After moving up from 189 pounds to 215, Stuer pinned his opponent. Akshay Paintal ’07, at 112 pounds, pinned his opponent. Nevertheless, Andover only held a 30-27 lead heading into the final matches. Colin Dunn ’07 was the definite underdog in his 130 pound match. After the first period, Dunn was falling behind 9 – 2 and after the second it was 11 – 5, but Dunn fought back. He pulled himself together and overpowered his opponent, pinning him onto his back in an amazing third period win. Andover completely annihilated Providence Country Day with Foye, Sam Cartmell ’06, Paintal, Worgaftik, and Gordon Murphy ’06 getting pins. Kassie Archambault ’06 also achieved a strong 10 – 6 victory for Andover. Against Hyde, Stuer had a huge 17 – 2 technical fall victory. Murphy, Foye, Archambault, and Worgaftik all had solid pins. Stuer is proving his worth to the wrestling community, match by match. He has now achieved an undefeated record with seven wins. Although merely a freshman, he has proven his toughness to the most worthy of adversaries. Stuer is younger and less experienced than many of his opponents, but already his contributions to the team have been significant. He said, “The thing is, in wrestling, that you can’t be afraid of your opponent, no matter how good he’s supposed to be.” In Wednesday’s meet Tabor defeated Andover with a score of 60-18 proving to be a nut too hard to crack for Andover.
