Andover Wrestling (5-1) had its first tournament of the year in the Northern New England Wrestling Tournament (Northern’s) on Saturday. Fifteen of Andover’s wrestlers traveled to Bath, Maine to compete against twelve other schools. Andover placed second overall, with Julian Rios ’26 and Daniella Nugent ’25 finishing in first place in their respective weight classes. Rios was also awarded the Outstanding Wrestler of the Tournament.
Suhaila Cotton ’24, who finished in fourth place at Northern’s, commented on the outstanding performances of both Rios and Nugent. She also highlighted Magnus Julin ’25’s impressive stamina and the success of the new wrestlers in particular.
Cotton said, “Dani and Julian stood out because both of them were champions. So they got first place in their weight classes, which is always an incredible feat. Then Magnus had a good one. He had six matches on that day, even that in itself is a lot. I think he got fourth place. Some people who it was their first time wrestling, ended up still placing in their first tournament which is really impressive.”
Describing Northern’s as different from any dual meet he’s participated in thus far, Caleb Beroukhim ’27, who placed fifth at Northern’s, discussed the lively atmosphere at the tournament.
“Northern’s was something else entirely from anything I’ve done earlier in the season. The atmosphere was electric with so many amazing wrestlers. Every match was so intense because it felt like so much was at stake with each match. Even in between matches energy was still so high because we had so many matches that day and in between matches we were usually watching someone else’s match while also trying to prepare for our match which was coming up shortly,” said Beroukhim.
Leading up to Northern’s, Andover wrestlers prepared using a variety of methods, according to Narek Hambardzumyan ’27, who placed sixth at Northern’s.
Hambardzumyan said, “We did a lot of general stuff during our practices. We did a lot of drilling and stuff on specific moves, and we learned specific moves. The big thing for me that we did is we just went over all of our best moves… and then we work[ed] on certain scenarios. And [then] we would just practice for a real match.”
With major tournaments such as Interschols, New England’s, and National’s coming up, Northern’s served as a jumping-off point for the second part of the Wrestling team’s season.
Cotton said, “Northern’s is a kickoff to our [post] season… I would say it’s positive for people because it gets you into the mindset and [gives you a] taste of what a tournament is. We have our big ones, Class A’s and New England’s, coming up in these next two weeks…”
Wrestling will compete at the Interscholastic Class A Tournament on Saturday.
