Wrestling Squad Beats Deerfield, Starts Three-Game Winning Streak Varsity Team Breaks .500 Record Mark
By Rohit Shankar ’09
News Staff Reporter
Through eighteen matches on the season, Boys Varsity Wrestling has shown a dramatic improvement compared to last year’s results. At this point last year, through eighteen matches, the team had a 5-13 record. This year, the Boars have been impressive posting a 10-9 record as of Monday the 28th. Last year’s team had an inordinate amount of away matches, at one point having six road matches in a row. This year there are several more home meets on the schedule. The team, lead by Head Coach Chris Milmoe and Assistant Coach Samuel Doak, and captained by seniors Christian Duffy, Chris Douglas, and Jeff Mead, has improved in nearly every facet on the wrestling mat. These improvements have lead to a significantly better record and great hope for things to come the rest of the regular season, at Prep Nationals and at New England’s.
The biggest win of the season occurred this past Saturday against arch rivals, Deerfield Academy. The victory over the Doors marked Coach Milmoe’s first triumph against Deerfield. The Boars were able to defeat DA by a hefty margin of 46-18. Key performances in the win were provided by Max Patton ’11, who won his first match of the year, and from the usual suspects: Duffy, Douglass, Lane Franklin ’09, and Kendall Thigpen ’09. “The match [against Deerfield] was one of the best I’ve seen in my three years wrestling; every person who wrestled came out with intensity and focus, and we pulled out our first victory over Deerfield in four years,” said Douglas. “There were a lot of firsts on Saturday’s victory, so you can tell it was very important,” added Thigpen.
There have been several other key victories on the year over. The boys have managed to down teams such as Pomfret, the Hyde School at South Woodstock, Exeter and Hopkins. All these teams had defeat Choate last season. The meet versus Hopkins was a crucial movement in the season. As only the third match of the season, the Boars pulled away with a 37-36 win over the Hoggers. The victory over the Hyde School was also a one point contest. Yet again, Choate prevailed with a 40-39 score. However, Choate also lost very close meets. On January 5th, the Boars were defeat by the Big Blue from Andover by the score of 40-42. In fact, the Andover squad has so far marked a 14-1 record. Thus, Choate’s strong effort in the two point loss against wrestling powerhouse Andover truly demonstrates the quality of Choate’s squad.
New Wrestlers
Choate has added several key wrestlers to the team. These new contributors have been able to fill every single weight class and earn several forfeits during the season. Last season, this was not the case. The team had to forfeit two or three matches a meet, and it greatly affected the team’s performance. However, the additions to the squad at all the classes have been vital. Max Patton ’11 at 103lb and Omid Nasser-bigdeli ’08 at 285lb have great wrestlers to the squad, as they have earned many forfeits at the heaviest and lightest weight classes. As Douglas said, “Since I started wrestling my sophomore year, we have always had to forfeit matches either in the very low weight classes or the very high ones, which hurt us as a team. Having those weight classes filled has been a great help to us this year.”
Season Outlook
With Prep Nationals and New England tournaments less than a month away, the boys only have four more matches: Loomis Chaffee, Canterbury, Noble and Greenough, and Tabor. These last meets will play a pivotal role in the selection of wrestlers for the New England Tournament. Duffy, Mead, Douglas, Franklin, Thigpen, Patton, Nate Bennick ’10, Tyler Bisson ’11, Derek Bertolini ’11, Babisa Adumbire ’09, and Dave Lam ’09 all have reasonable chances of making the tournament. Douglas believes the season can only get better from here. “Hopefully, we’ll keep the momentum going through these last few meets of the season and end up with a winning record,” said Franklin. “We have plenty of standout wrestlers on our team and the benefit of having first year wrestlers is great.” After returning from Long Weekend, the squad will travel to Windsor, CT on Wednesday to face the 12-5 Pelicans from Loomis Chaffee.
Christian Duffy ’08 pins a wrestler from the Hyde School in 38-48 loss. PHOTO/Ian Morris
