It was a mixed week for the Andover Grapplers. After rolling to a 52-30 win over Tilton, the Andover Varsity Wrestling team extended its winning streak to 9 with a 45-27 win over the Northfield Mount-Herman Hoggers, their first against them in five years. Andover then lost a Tuesday home meet against local powerhouse North Andover, 51-12. Against Tilton, the meet started at the 160-pound weight class, with a third period pin by a very highly ranked Tilton wrestler. Dan Hackney ’05 then pinned his opponent late into the second period to even out the score, 6-6. Alex Bois ’05 helped give Andover the lead with a decisive pin in the first period, but Andover forfeited the 215 weight class and gave up a pin in the heavyweight category to give Tilton a six point lead, 12-18. Taking a forfeit at the 103 and 112 weight classes, The Big Blue moved up, 24-18. Gabe Worgaftik ’06 also contributed, adding a solid pin in the last period of his match. Mark Shvartsman ’05 maintained his undefeated season with a 15-0 technical pin over his wrestler. Andover forfeited the 130 pound weight class, but the forfeit was not enough to stop Andover’s momentum. Randy Garcia ’06 won 15-0 by technical fall, and two Tilton forfeits followed to seal the Andover win. Andover continued to a 9-0 winning streak with a long awaited victory over NMH. Lars Trautman ’04 kicked the meet off with a second period pin over his opponent to give Andover an early lead. Conditioning paid off for Hackney, who won a 6-4 overtime match to give Andover a 9-0 lead. NMH won the next match by points and took a forfeit at 215 to tie the score. PG Stephen DeSimone ’04 gave Andover a six-point lead with a dominant first period pin, and the Big Blue never trailed from this point on. Kassie Archembault ’06 had a first period pin over her wrestler, and Tom Treat ’04 followed with another decisive first period win. Worgaftik scored fifteen points while shutting out his opponent to earn a technical fall. Shvartsman pinned his wrestler in thirty-five seconds, giving Andover a comfortable 38-9 lead. After a forfeit at the 130-pound weight class to NMH, Co-captain Jeffrey Peña recorded a major 12-0 decision over his opponent. Co-Captain Leon Fay ’04 continued the winning streak with a tight 3-2 decision over a difficult opponent. The pair of wins by the captains ensured the victory for the team, giving Andover their first victory over the Hoggers in half a decade. The current 12-4 leaves early season lukewarm 3-4 record in the dust. Said Co-captain Peña, “It was nice to finally beat NMH. Through hard work and dedication, we have shown that we can beat any team in the league. We look forward to proving ourselves in the tournaments ahead.” Andover wrestled an unusual Tuesday meet against non-league opponent North Andover’s squad. Andover lost the first match of the day at the 215-pound weight class. North Andover took the lead early and never gave it up. DeSimone lost a see-saw battle with his heavyweight opponent 10-8. Andover fought hard not to get pinned in the next two matches, and gave up a decision at the 103 and 112 pound weight classes. Worgaftik won the first match of the day with a decisive 11-4 win. Shvartsman kept his undefeated record through 16 meets with a 7-4 victory over a skilled opponent. Peña lost his first match of the season, a heartbreaking 13-10 match he lost in the very end. Andover gave up a pin in the next four weight classes to make the score 43-6. Trautman fought hard but was not quite able to pull out a win and lost 11-10. Even with the meet already decided as a North Andover victory, Hackney fought hard and pinned his opponent with just seven seconds remaining in the period. Andover gave up a technical fall at the next weight to make the final score 51-12 to end the week 2-1.
