photo by Peter Warren
The boys wrestling team lost a tough county match at home to Union 36-33 on Dec. 23 in a back and forth match.
In the final match of the night at 220 lbs, senior co-captain Jalen Bryant wrestled Union’s Marion-Jan Afante with the whole match on the line. Bryant had the upper hand, but due to an illegal move, Afante was awarded the win.
“He wanted to pick up the win for our team,” said coach Marc Fabiano, “He just came out a little too overaggressive.”
While the final result was a loss, there were a lot of positives to take away from the match.
At 126 lbs, 138 lbs and 145 lbs, the Raiders picked up first period pins as seniors Nadim Korkmaz, Guilliame Hardin and freshman Alex Oslislo both made quick work of their opponents.
Sophomores Michael Fleck and Sam Wustefeld also picked up victories on pins in the weight classes of 106 and 182 respectively.
Sophomore Justin Sidebottom won what was arguably the match of the night at 113 lbs against Michael Matullo. It was a back and forth match that ended with Sidebottom getting two points to make the score 9-7 with just a few seconds remaining in the third period.
“Our team has a lot of potential,” Fabiano said, “There are things that we have to work on but overall we have a great group.”
After a string of away meets, the wrestling teams returns home on Jan. 13 to face off against New Providence.