The All-Gender Wrestling team kicked off its season at Choate Rosemary Hall (Choate) on Saturday with seven returning wrestlers and three new members taking to the mat for the very first time. Setting strong examples were Serra Akyali ’28 and Toni Elliott ’27, who both won their respective weight classes. Following the weekend, the team went on the road again for another match-up against St. Paul’s and NMH, where Co-Captain Julian Rios ’26 achieved his 100th career win.
Toni Elliot ’27 shouted out three new wrestlers: Mari Uchino-Garcia ’29, Alyssa Schoonmaker ’26, and Reina Hisada ’28, who, despite it being their first matches, had a great showing. She also praised Co-Captain Ophelia Lee ’26 for her excellent match against a Co-Captain of Choate.
“Mari, Alyssa, and Reina, who are all new wrestlers this year, all had really great matches to start off their season in. All three of them were really good at doing what they had learned and not letting the other person control the match. They also did a good job with listening to the coaches. Other than that, Ophelia Lee had a really good match against the Choate Co-Captain,” said Elliott.
The team looks to continue building and expanding on its skillset while also improving its weaknesses. With the commencement of the season, Elliott listed her goals and outlook for the season ahead.
“I am, first of all, really going to focus on broadening my own repertoire of moves and making sure that everybody can develop their own specific repertoire once they have a broader range to choose from. Whether that’s knowing you can always work for a single and it almost always works for you, or knowing exactly what you’re going to hit coming out of the bottom without having to think about it, just working on that. Making it more instinct and less something you have to think about is something I think everybody will move toward” said Elliott.
From the boys roster, the team had its first match on Wednesday. Reflecting on the experience, Devin Akyali ’29 shared his excitement and mindset as he began his wrestling career at Andover.
“Personally, I was nervous because I’ve never wrestled on a team with a school before. I was hyped up and trying not to psych myself out. It’s hard, you’re about to get on the mat, and you’ve got to go out there and fight for it. But I was able to calm myself down, get in the right headspace, and perform well,” said Akyali.
Despite only being a few weeks into the season, the team has already developed a strong sense of camaraderie and community. Narek Hambardzumyan ’26 described the positive and strong bond that the team has developed in such a short span of time.
“This team is a community. We’re all connected and want each other to win. If you were at the match, you’d see everyone cheering each other on constantly. Whenever someone gets a takedown or gets out of a bad position, there’s constant encouragement from teammates and coaches. I think the wrestling team is one of the most tight-knit teams on campus. It’s always an incredible vibe during the matches and in training,” said Hambardzumyan.
The team will travel to the Avon Old Farms School for its next matchup on December 13.
