The wrestling team edged the Sherwood Warriors, 39-36, and lost to the Churchill Bulldogs, 37-33, in its first tri-meet of the season Dec. 17, changing its record to 3-1.

The first match, against Churchill, had a strong showing by the upper weight classes. 160 lb. Jack Calder, 170 lb. Rafi Sayada, 220 lb. Max Sessions, 285 lb Josh Daryoush and 106 lb Harriet Symington all won their bouts, inflating the score to 33-3.

Unlike in the past two matches, however, the lower classes were unable to rally and they dropped the last seven bouts, ending the match 33-37.

The team learned from its mistakes and was able to improve on its Churchill play and go on to beat Sherwood in a 39-36 thriller.

Once again, the upper weight classes performed well, with Sayada, Taylor, Sessions and Daryoush all pinning their opponents, bringing the score to 24-6. Sessions had the fastest pin of the day, bringing his opponent down in only 32 seconds.

After Daryoush, four wrestlers in a row lost, allowing Sherwood to take the 30-24 lead. But the Vikings didn’t give up; both 132 lb. Aidan Leighton and Lucas Roldos won their bouts to tie the score at 30-30.

The next Viking wrestler lost, but Andrew Cullinane was able to pull out a win and the Vikings found themselves down 36-33 with only one bout remaining. After a long struggle, Calder was able to pin his opponent in 4:58, giving the Vikes the victory over Sherwood.

Calder was aware of the pressure he faced when he stepped onto the mat for his final bout.

“I knew coming in that I had to pin him or we would lose,” he said.  “I went really hard at the end and definitely exploded a lot more than I usually would. I just had to get that pin.”

Captains Josh Daryoush, Lucas Roldos and Kevin Whitmeyer agree that while the team was better in the second match, it still has a lot of room for improvement.

“We worked a lot more as a team in the second one, and that’s why we were able to pull out a win,” Roldos said.

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