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After the Winchester High wrestling team dropped a close match to visiting Arlington on Jan. 14, 39-28, they didn’t waste any time to return to their winning ways during a weekend tournament in Brookline.
The Spy Ponders brought a large squad with lots of JV wrestlers to the first dual league home match in the new WHS gym. An equally impressive fanbase also came out to witness history, which only hyped the energy level.
Maria Baldwin (113-pounds), Kai Napadow Baquero (120, tech fall), Eddie Donlon (138, pin), Jack Allen (144, major decision), Luca Kovacev (165), Ilyas Malik (175) and Shaun Garrett (215) recorded the Winchester wins, exactly one-half of the varsity matches that were on the docket.
“Unfortunately, in the end, it just wasn’t enough against a tough Arlington team that scored bonus points in most of their wins,” said Assistant Coach Vitaly Napadow.
A trip to Brookline followed for the Winchester wrestlers to participate in the annual Warrior Duals at Brookline High School on Jan. 17. By the end of the day, the Red & Black came away with a 5-0 record to win the tournament.
Among the winning wrestlers were senior captains Napadow Baquero (120), Donlon (138) and Malik (175), who was also chosen the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler during the awards ceremony.
Sophomore Leo Gannon (132) and Allen (144) rounded out the local wrestlers, who achieved perfection.
Several other Winchester wrestlers gutted out tough matches, and among them were Ian Welsh, who returned after a bout with the flu, Kovacev (165, 4-1) and Casey Trumbower (150). Trumbower literally bled for the team to come away with close wins, while keeping the losses to a minimum to secure three points for his teammates.
“It was great experience for the entire team since most of the varsity starters picked up wins in five matches, which doesn’t happen that often in tournaments,” said Napadow. “As we are getting healthy, we are picking up steam and as a result are barreling forward to the postseason. We’re hoping for even better health in the coming weeks, and hopefully will get there by the time the postseason rolls around in mid-February.”
The JVs competed the next day at the same venue. Edison Zhang and Jacob Quave took home second place finishes. Jacob Lieberman came in third. Declan Price, Jonathan Juarez and Adam Khater ended up in fourth place.
“It was a great showing by the JVs,” said Napadow.
The team’s overall regular season record after a weekend in Brookline was 10-5.
“It’s a solid record, for sure, given our tough in-league and out of league schedule,” said Napadow.
The Red & Black have since lost to visiting Woburn, one of the top teams in the state this year, on Jan. 21, 45-25. After the match against the Tanners, head coach Ryan Errico’s team has been preparing for a Saturday (Jan. 24) tournament at West Springfield High School, which will give them a chance to checkout the competition in the western part of the state before the postseason gets underway next month.
Senior Night reminder
After their return from Springfield, the Winchester grapplers will be gearing up for Lexington in a home matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m.
Prior to the start of that match, the Red & Black seniors will be honored for their contributions to the program the last four years. It’s always a special night for the seniors, and this one will be no different.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024.
