Despite suffering a shoulder injury during his semi-final match, Co-Captain Eamon Garrity-Rokous ’20 placed third overall in the 152-pound weight class in the New England Prep Tournament at Green Farms Academy last weekend. Garrity-Rokous performance helped Andover Wrestling to finish eleventh out of 44 teams at the tournament.
Along with Garrity-Rokous, stand out competitors included Co-Captain Pablo Sanchez ’19, who placed eighth in the 182-pound weight class, and Vinny Marino PG’19, who finished fourth place in the 132-pound weight class. These efforts qualified all three wrestlers for the Prep National Tournament.
According to Garrity-Rokous, the team stayed determined and aggressive during its matches, and its strong performance was a culmination of training throughout the season.
Garrity-Rokous said, “We really gave it our all in each and every match, kept on attacking, and kept on pushing the pace in our matches. We were always aggressive, shooting, and scoring whenever we could on our feet. We always made attempts to keep moving and score escapes on bottom, and we always worked hard to pin our opponents on top. I think, in the end, all of the work we put in all season long really showed this weekend.”
Both Garrity-Rokous and Marino noted the improvements of younger wrestlers on the team.
Garrity Rokous said, “ Arnav [Bhakta ’22] and Riggs [McGrath ’21] are young wrestlers who performed really well at this tournament and especially surpassed expectations. They wrestled hard, and the technique they’ve been working on all season long really showed in their matches.”
In an email to The Phillipian, Marino wrote, “I was impressed with how many younger wrestlers qualified for the tournament. In the next few years they will return to this tournament and do even better than before.”
Andover will compete in Prep Nationals at Lehigh University this weekend.
