Our wrestlers began their competition this year at the West Chester East Tournament. Captain Dwayne Sampson ’08 had the strongest showing at this tournament, placing second in the 125 lbs. weight class. Dwayne pinned his first opponent, catching him with a headlock in the first period. He then majored his second opponent by a score of 9-0, but was outmatched in the finals 9-5. Co-captain Steele Phillips ’09 and Jay Knighton '10 placed third at 130 lbs. and 285 lbs. respectively. It was a good start to the season, and the team continued to improve the following weekend when we traveled to Northfield Mount Hermon in Massachusetts.
At N.M.H., the five lightest wrestlers on the team all placed in the top four. Harold Kim ’09 (103), Tyler Mueller '10 (119), Dwayne Sampson '08, Steele Phillips '09, and Karl Wiszumerski ’11 (135) wrestled impressively against 11 New England Prep Schools. Dwayne again had the strongest performance with a second place finish. Harold, Tyler, and Steele all competed through four rounds of wrestle-backs to finish third. Karl “Wiz” Wiszumerski '11 won three straight wrestle-back matches to get into the consolation finals, but ran out of gas finishing in fourth place. Also performing well with two wins and two losses were Daniel Adjangba '08 (189) and David Phillips '08 (152).
Hill returned home to wrestle in a tri-meet prior to winter break. The Blues won both matches, defeating local prep school Westmont 50-30, and St. Andrew’s of Delaware 74-6. St. Andrew’s was a bit depleted due to injuries, but the Blues won every contested bout. St. Andrew’s six points were the result of a forfeit at 112 lbs.