After a prolonged struggle in the center of the mat, newcomer Eamon Garrity-Rokous ’20 pinned his opponent to secure key points for Andover Wrestling in a tri-meet against Brooks and Andover High School on Saturday. Garrity-Rokous’s 11-10 decision victory propelled Andover to defeat both of its opponents, winning 43-27 and 52-15 against Brooks and Andover High, respectively. The team’s record now stands at 3-1.
Co-Captain Pierce Bausano ’18 and Post-Graduate (PG) Haroldo Nesbeth ’17 also captured crucial wins for Andover, each earning two pins. After a rocky start to the season, the team has showed great improvement.
Nesbeth said, “During the meet we had plenty of wrestlers work much harder on not giving up in matches. There were many instances in which matches weren’t going our way, yet we managed to fight back in and secure victories in some of those matches. That was great to see.”
Against Brooks, Garrity-Rokous and Adam Cohen ’18 each added an exciting decision win to support the team’s effort. Despite losing his match, PG John O’Brien ’17 fought hard against the returning New England Champion.
Nesbeth said, “The athleticism John displayed in avoiding takedowns was unbelievable. The match was knotted up in the closing moments of the last period and we just didn’t quite pull it off. But now we know that we are definitely capable of defeating that guy, and we’ll look to seeing him again at New Englands.”
In the team’s win against Andover High, Andover collected six pins from Bausano, Nesbeth, O’Brien, Connor Haugh ’17, Quint Finney ’18, and Alex El Adl ’19.
Additionally, Pablo Sanchez ’19 and Gordon Paiva ’20 won major decisions over their opponents.
Garrity-Rokous ’20 said, “Alex El Adl fought off of his back in order to secure a pin against Andover High and Martha Gao [’17] also won a thrilling exhibition match in overtime. Overall, the whole team wrestled exceptionally well, whether one of our wrestlers either won or lost.”
Looking forward to future competition, the team hopes to practice hard and work to win more matches early on in its meets.
Jack O’Neil ’19 said, “I think what’s important before our next meet is for everyone to keep training over the break because we have a while before our next meet. Something we can improve on is focusing on the match and getting in the game and in the right mindset before the meet.”
Garrity-Rokous added, “The team could improve on their ability to sprawl and take more powerful, skillful shots. Stamina, or keeping up one’s intensity throughout the entire match, is something that the team could improve on as well. The team will look to work on conditioning more often during practice before our next meet.”
“The team will also look to improve our wrestling skills, tenacity, and mental and physical toughness for our next meet too,” continued Garrity-Rokous.
Andover looks to improve its record and continue its win streak in its next home meet against Northfield Mount Hermon on January 13.
Editor’s Note: Pierce Bausano is a Business Associate and Connor Haugh is a Business Editor for The Phillipian.
