Bella Shmuylovich’ 26 stands warily against her opponent.
45-30 W against Choate (AGV)
9-4 W against Open Invitational
46-29 W against Concord Academy
On Saturday, Varsity Wrestling had an impressive 45-30 win away at Choate. On Wednesday, Team Abbot Wrestling hosted an Open Invitational, securing a 9-4 win, while the Varsity team traveled to Concord, winning 46-29. On Wednesday, Sebastian Haferd ’25 set a new school record, pinning his opponent in seven seconds.
Narek Hambardzumyan ’26 pointed out the consistency of Co-Captain Dani Nugent ’25’s impressive wrestling skills, allowing her to always stand out from the crowd, but especially in her performance on Saturday against Choate.
“The people who always stand out during the meet are our two Captains, Julian Rios ’26 and Dani Nugent. They’re both, by far, the best wrestlers on the team. They always stand out in their matches. Julian didn’t wrestle at Choate, but Dani did. It was actually a really good match, too. She was one point away from a technical fall, which is winning by one point. [Nugent’s] match was really good,” said Hambardzumyan.
Grace Kim ’27 highlighted the performance of Co-Captain Eva Murphy ’25 and Tony Elliot ’27 on Wednesday at the Open Invitational, who wrestled their way to victories by having good pins and movement on the mat. In her first meet back after recovering from an injury, Murphy managed to pin her opponent in rapid succession.
“Eva Murphy just came back, and she did really good. I think she got a ten-second pin. That was really nice. And Tony Elliott also did really well.” said Kim.
Kim also noted the positive energy and strengths that members of the team possess, highlighting the competitive nature of the team, athletes’ commitment, and willingness to improve.
Kim said, “Honestly, we’re just really aggressive, and we’re very passionate about what we do, and that is one of our strengths. We just have to keep trying hard.”
Kai Wang ’27 highlighted Co-Captain Bodhi Beroukhim ’25 and Haferd’s notable matches against Concord Academy on Wednesday, contributing to the overall points.
“Bodhi definitely had a really exciting match today. He and his opponent went back and forth and the final score was 15-10. That brought us to the lead by 28 to 17. Also, Sebastian Haferd won his match and set a new school record of seven seconds,” said Wang.
Hambardzumyan talked about the camaraderie and the tight-knit community that the wrestling team brings to its meets. With only one whole team home match this season, Hambardzumyan noted Wrestling’s ability to bring its lively energy on the road.
“It’s really always great for the meets. It has been rough this year because we’ve only had one home meet, which was our first dual meet of the year. After that, we’re all away, Choate, Concord. But even at away meets, we’re always bringing the energy to the matches. People who aren’t wrestling are always watching along, always cheering their teammates on, and people who can give advice at all times. Everyone’s just really supportive of each other,” said Hambardzumyan.
Wang gave an insight into a creative activity that the team participated in the day before the meet, allowing athletes to calm their nerves and picture their matches in advance.
“One thing we did yesterday, which was something different than what we usually do, is we sat down in the dark for about 20 minutes. We visualized how the matches would go tomorrow. That’s just a technique for getting into a good habit with your movement, even if you’re not physically moving. We also do live matches with our wrestling partners. That’s another way to get used to being in an actual match environment. We do a lot of physical drills as well, like push-ups [and] sit-ups,” said Wang.
Varsity Wrestling will take part in the Eight Schools Meet on Saturday at Choate.
