After a prolonged struggle in the center of the ring, Co-Captain Justin Muchnick ’16 pinned his opponent to secure key points in Andover Wrestling’s match against Hyde, on Saturday that helped propel Andover to a 69-11 victory.
Andover also squared off Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH), winning 59-15 before losing 36-44 to Deerfield. The victories over Hyde and NMH gave Andover its first victories of the season, bringing its season record to 2-4 to pair with a 2-2 record in the New England Preparatory School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC) Class A league.
In Andover’s match against Hyde, Muchnick, Christian Milotte ’16 and Alex El Adl ’19 all recorded pins to end their matches. Martha Gao ’17 also won her match, pushing Andover towards a decisive win.
Co-Captain Ian Blythe ’16 said, “Against Hyde, we went out and wrestled hard. They had some tough middleweights who we were able to compete with, and coupled with some forfeits on their part, we were able to come out with a win.”
Similarly, Andover dominated the mat in its match against NMH. After losing to NMH last season, the team’s lowerclassmen led the charge to secure multiple victories. Wins came from Blythe, Milotte, Alex Cleveland ’17 and Moyo Oyebode ’18.
“It felt awesome to get our first wins this weekend, especially against NMH. Our younger wrestlers showed a lot of heart and potential this weekend with some key victories in each of their matches,” added Blythe.
Against Deerfield, Andover struggled to gain its momentum and maintain its consistency. Although the team adapted and recovered well to the hard blows coming from its opponents, Andover dropped points in crucial situations.
Kal Parvanov ’16 said, “We only lost by nine points to Deerfield, so we definitely could have worked harder. We will have to perform even better in the future, as the teams we will be seeing from now on will be at Deerfield’s level or even better.”
Parvanov won his match, earning extra points for Andover to keep the score margin close. Quint Finney ’18, David Moon ’17, Cleveland and Muchnick also earned wins, boosting the team’s overall score.
Blythe said, “Against a really tough Deerfield team, we wrestled hard but ended up coming short. Some of our lightweights had really strong performances to help us, but in the end Deerfield came out on top.”
Looking forward, Andover hopes to improve its season record when it faces off against Belmont Hill, Loomis Chaffee, Tabor and Phillips Exeter Academy this weekend.
