Andover Wrestling suffered defeat at the hands of Nobles & Greenough on Saturday, losing all but three matches. Andover’s victories came from new Lower Holden Ringer ’17 in his Andover Wrestling debut, Co-Captain Justin Muchnick ’16 and John Little ’15.
“I was excited to get back out there in an Andover singlet. I have been working and waiting for a long time to the start of this season. We have a young team, and we have a lot of new faces out there,” said Muchnick. Muchnick pinned his opponent in a swift 1:13.
Last season, Andover finished with a 9-6 record and placed fifth out of 12 teams in the Class A New England Preparatory School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) League Tournament, as well as 11th out of 50 in the All-New England Prep School Tournament. In last year’s match against Nobles, Andover prevailed 49-22. This year, Andover lost 45-27.
Following the graduation of seven Seniors last year, Andover has a younger, less-experienced squad this year. As a result, the team looks forward to a season that will be full of learning and development.
“Compared to last year, we are a weaker team. However, we are really looking forward to improving as a team. This was the first of many stepping stones in a long season,” said returner Bennett Sherr ’17. “I think we just need some more time, maybe until the end of this season, and we will be a great team.”
Muchnick added, “There were a lot of people out there wrestling their first match for Andover or even in general. Though we lost a few team leaders, this year is more like a start of a new era. I hope that this match was the first of many learning experiences in a successful season. I would like to build from this for myself and for the team.”
Andover is working to build a good foundation for beginner wrestlers to produce a highly competitive team later this season. Andover squares off against North Andover High on Saturday.
