The boys varsity wrestling team entered Schluntz Gym hungry for a victory over the Walpole Timberwolves on Tuesday, Jan. 10. The Warriors faced a series of losses through the beginning of the season, mostly from forfeited points due to a lack of wrestlers from all different weight classes. However, the team came out with fire, beating Walpole 54-24.

Players from each weight class on both wrestling teams were announced by Jesse Mayfield-Sheehan before the matches began. The speakers blasted the national anthem and the lightest weight class opened the meet.

The Warriors started off with a tough loss, but junior Ezekiel Kasen bounced back with a 6-0 win over the Timberwolves in his weight class.

Freshman Manny Tolkoff wrestled next and came out with a 13-4 win. Junior and captain Jamie Evarts said he was proud of Tolkoff.

“A lot of JV kids stepped up. Manny got his win on varsity. He stepped up because our 132 pounder got injured,” Evarts said.

Tolkoff’s match was followed by a succession of Brookline victories from junior Jack Henry, who pinned his opponent and won his match 2-0 in just 30 seconds and Evarts who won 16-4. Evarts said he drew his match out for the crowd.

“It’s a home match so I tried to make it entertaining. I didn’t just pin my opponent right away. I got in some nice takedowns. It was for the crowd,” Evarts said.

Henry said he was happy with his performance and was proud of particular moves as well as his thought process throughout the match.

“I’m proud of my neutral takedowns and pins. Today, there was only one moment when my opponent was crawling and I wasn’t sure if I would score, but I got the takedown and pinned him,” Henry said. “I’ve mainly been working on my confidence, which has slowly been building.”

Brookline suffered three losses in the following middle-upper weight class matches with scores of 2-0, 14-6 and 7-0. However, these losses were not enough to give Walpole an upper hand in the meet and junior Gabriel Thomas dominated his opponent in the final heavyweight match, winning 2-0 within the first 40 seconds.

The meet ended in a landslide victory for the Warriors with a final score of 54-24.

Evarts said the boys wrestled their best with few mistakes and enjoyed the process as they rolled toward victory.

“Today, I’m most proud of the team. Lots of kids stepped up,” Evarts said. “As a captain, it’s just good to see us getting the victory, especially at home.”