THE VARSITY wrestling team kicked off its 2013 regular season with a match against Thomas Edison High School. This match, which was won 51-22, ensures that this is the third season in a row in which the team has won its first league match of the season.
The team won over Edison in a dominating fashion, with many players winning through fall decisions. A fall, or a pin, is an automatic victory where a wrestler wins by pinning their opponents. Seniors Syon Das and Darren Chen, sophomore Muhammad Safdar, and freshmen Bartlomiej Skica and Rifat Ahmed all won their matches that way.
Coach Raymond Adamkiewicz was proud. Coming into the match, he “anticipated a win because Edison had lost to a team [they had defeated].” Still, Coach Adamkiewicz believes that everyone performed their best and that this match was important because it allowed everyone, from his first string wrestlers to his third stringers, to compete.
Many rookies were able to compete and get their feet wet. In particular, Coach Adamkiewicz was very proud of sophomore Brian Balayon’s performance. While all the other rookies pinned their opponents, Brian’s match lasted all three periods and he won on a decision 8-4. Coach Adamkiewicz saw how Brian went the distance and pushed hard to win his match.
Reflecting on his own performance, Brian also expressed pride: “I think I did pretty well. I had control throughout the whole match and was very pleased with this.” Overall, Brian was excited with his first ever league match, stating that for him, this first year was a chance to just enjoy himself and try out the sport.
Other rookies of the team stepped up in the first appearance of their wrestling careers. Brian, Bartlomiej, and Rifat all won their first high school career league matches. Bartlomiej was “rather pleased” with his quick win of 1 minute 47 seconds. He said, “I could tell my opponent really wasn’t a strong wrestler. Building my confidence helped in my victory.”
Not all rookies were able to begin their wrestling careers with a win. Freshman Alexis Sarabia’s first time on the mat was not too great. According to her, “I was so nervous and scared that my mind was completely empty. I blanked out and the next thing I knew, I was on my back getting pinned.” Although Alexis struggled hard to get out of the pin, her failure to do so led to her defeat. Despite that, she remains optimistic for the upcoming season: “I’m just glad I got to experience a real match and hopefully I get a lot better with harder work in practice.”
