Finishing second in the 145-pound weight class, Co-Captain Justin Muchnick ’16 guided Andover to a third place finish at the Class-A Interschols Tournament this past weekend. The team competed against 12 other teams in the competition, which was held at Hyde.
Three-year wrestler Alex Cleveland ’17 placed second in the 106-pound weight class. Christian Milotte ’16, Pierce Bausano ’18 and Evan Park ’18 placed third in their respective classes, while Kal Parvanov ’16 and Co-Captain Ian Blythe ’16 finished in fourth for their respective classes.
Josie Simmons ’17, Adam Cohen ’18, Quint Finney ’18, Danny Levine ’18, Moyo Oyebode ’18 and Alex El Adl ’19, also contributed to Andover’s success at the meet.
The team was able to utilize its training techniques during the meet. New recruit Adam Cohen ’18 said, “Everyone did a good job in executing their best takedowns and escapes, which is what we primarily focused on in practice all week.”
Andover’s wrestlers, nonetheless, struggled to stay aware of their positioning on the mat and use it to their advantage.
Cohen said, “There were plenty of times when someone could have scored if they only knew what was going on at the time.”
Exeter claimed first place with 227 points, while Choate came in second with 145 points. Andover then followed with 143 points, taking third place.
Due to their performances at Interschols, Muchnick, Cleveland, Park, Bausano, Milotte, Parvanov and Blythe all qualified for the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (Nepsac) Tournament next weekend.
Exeter, which has an 8-3 record so far this season, will be Andover’s toughest opposition at the upcoming Nepsac Tournament. Kevin Milkowski ’18 said, “Most of the team is consistent in getting takedowns, but I think we have to work on finishing them and also being able to get off bottom and not get pinned.”
Andover will look to build off its steady improvement this season going into the Nepsac Tournament. Strong results at Northerns and the Class-A Championships will give the team momentum in the final stretch of the season.
David Moon ’17 said, “Although [we have] only four Seniors wrestling for varsity meets, we have become a very strong team and have turned in our best performances in the last two tournaments. We only have a week left of wrestling, but I believe that the team can finish the season strongly.”
The Nepsac Tournament, held this year at Avon Old Farms, will take place this coming Friday and Saturday.
