With sweat dripping down his forehead, Co-Captain Christian Vallis ’14 capitalized on his opponent’s weakness and threw him to the mat and so secured eighth place in the 132-pound weight class at Nationals.
Due to his “come-[from]-behind match,” as Vallis described it, he was named an All-American for the third time in his wrestling career and outplaced the only opponent he lost to at the New England Championships last week.
“[Being named All-American is] a great accomplishment [that] only about 17 guys have ever done in New England history,” said Vallis.
Vallis competed with fellow Co-Captain James Palmer ’14 and Bennett Sherr ’17 at Nationals this past weekend.
Although Palmer and Sherr did not place in their respective weight classes, they both performed well at Nationals.
Palmer won his first match with a final score of 10-0, but fell in his second.
“In my second match, I went out too aggressive, and my opponent was able to capitalize and score,” said Palmer.
The only underclassman to qualify for Nationals, Sherr ended the day on his feet, as he did not get pinned, despite his two losses.
Nationals concluded a successful season for Andover Wrestling, finishing with a 7-2-0 record and spearheading an initiative to get more recognition as a co-ed sport through the Girls Tournament. The team will bid Seniors Vallis, Palmer, Sam Block, Dan McGurl, Matt Simon and Charlie Talcott farewell.
Palmer said, “I came in only knowing a small bit of wrestling, and I expanded that into areas I hadn’t been comfortable [with].”
The team also elected Alyssa Augustin ’15 and Justin Muchnick ’16 as its Co-Captains for the 2014-2015 season.
