The boys varsity wrestling team went undefeated during an at home tournament on Saturday, Jan. 13, in the Schluntz Gymnasium. The tournament consisted of seven high school teams.

During the tournament, each school faced each other in a wrestling dual. There were 14 matches in a dual, one for every weight class. Winning a match awarded a certain number of points to the team’s total. The winner of the dual was decided by the total points of each team.

The Warriors started strong with a win against the Central High School Knights.

This matchup was the hardest, according to senior and captain Gabe Thomas, a heavyweight wrestler for the Warriors. Thomas said it was important to the team to win the first dual.

“It was good to start with the toughest team. We had to bring the energy early on,” Thomas said. “Although they had some tough guys, some of our guys did well.”

The Warriors then went on to have a close dual against the Gloucester Fishermen, defeating them by nine points. The matchup was back and forth, with the Warriors and Fishermen exchanging wins. However, the Warriors went on a six-match winning streak that allowed them to gain the lead and not look back. Thomas closed out the last match, winning the Warriors the dual.

Thomas scored two points with a takedown in the first period, while his opponent got one point for an escape. In the second period, Thomas scored another takedown as well as an escape, all without allowing his opponent to score any points. The third period was a close matchup, but Thomas had a large enough lead to win the match and award the Warriors three points.

The Warriors kept the ball rolling with their next two duals, only losing three matches to Greenwich High School and two to Durfee High School.

Head coach Brandon Bruttomesso said he was satisfied with his team’s performance, especially given the difficult matchups.

“There were some tough kids that we went up against, but we wrestled well across the board. I’m proud of these guys,” Bruttomesso said.

Junior Niall O’Riain said the team has used the season to gain experience as a team.

“I think we are looking good for the season. We have a lot of first years, myself included, and we’ve been building up our team a lot,” O’Riain said.

According to Bruttomesso, the team needs to build up their confidence and continue to improve as a team.

“The biggest thing is building our confidence and getting our wrestlers to recognize just how good they are,” Bruttomesso said. “Technique-wise, there’s always stuff that we can do better, but the thing that’s going to make the biggest difference as a team is turning the corner with our confidence.”

While Saturday tournaments can be tiring, Bruttomesso said he enjoys them because of the opportunity for practice.

“Saturday [tournaments] are marathons just as much as they are sprints. It can be a challenge to make sure we’re getting the energy up over and over again,” Bruttomesso said. “It’s good preparation. Moving into February, we have tournaments where we can get some good experience and figure out what we need to do to be ready to go for all the matches of the day.”

While Bruttomesso said he will continue to push the team to improve, he also acknowledged how far they have come.

“We’ve been slowly getting better since the start of the season, with a goal of peaking in February for the postseason,” Bruttomesso said. “We keep elevating our performance every match.”