The wrestling team lost to the Damascus Hornets, 43-25, Jan. 4, lowering its record to 5-3.

The match started off roughly for the Vikes, with the first three wrestlers losing. After taking four of the next six bouts, the Vikes captured the lead but were unable to maintain their advantage and soon lost the lead for good.

Despite the loss, many wrestlers performed well individually. Jack Calder, who wrestled at 160 lb., continued to impress as he pinned his opponent in 1:55. 182 lb. Rafi Sayada also won, pinning his opponent in 1:22. 190 lb. Max Sessions extended his win streak with another major win and heavyweight Josh Daryoush remained undefeated as he pinned his opponent in just 56 seconds. Revealing both potential and promise, freshman Aidan Leighton recorded another win.

132 lb. Abby Fisher took part in her first varsity match of the season, but got pinned after a tough struggle.

Regardless of the outcome, dual meets provide valuable education opportunities, Daryoush said.

“We haven’t done as well as we hoped this year but we’re really young,” he said. “Every match we can learn new things and improve, and hopefully by the end of the year we’ll be putting it all together.”

In addition to the team’s relative inexperience, Leighton believes that the team needs to improve its endurance in order to win.

“We were a little bit lacking in conditioning but coach [Manon] will work us,” he said. “Hopefully in the future we’ll grow, get some more experience, and be able to pull of this win against Damascus in later years.”

The team travels to face the Kennedy Cavaliers Jan. 11 at 6 pm.

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