The Whitman Grapplers suffered two defeats on a Tri at home on January 23rd. This was a tri that was rescheduled from January 21st due to inclement weather. The Vikes wrestled the Springbrook Blue Devils in the first of the round robin matches and managed to win only one match en route to losing 66-5. Notching the only win for the Varsity grapplers was Senior Rafi Sayada (160). Rafi scored a technical fall over his opponent to garner those 5 team points. Due to injuries and absence the Vikings were forced to forfeit three weight classes.
In the last round of the evening the Whitman wrestlers rebounded admirably losing a very tight match to Clarksburg 37-34. The Vikes had the lead by three going into the last match but were unfortunately forced to forfeit that last weight class, resulting in a final losing margin of three points. Starting off the impressive dual was sophomore Stephen Sharbaugh (106) wrestling aggressively and picking up the fall with only 7 seconds left, which got the Vikes off to a 6-0 start. Two matches later, Jacob Cutler (120) picked up another fall for the Vikes, this time in the second period. Also notching victories for Whitman were Lucas Roldos (138) by fall, Kevin Whitmeyer (145) by major decision, Jack Calder (152) by fall, Rafi Sayada (170) by fall, and Bradley Taylor (182) by decision in OT. This was an inspiring match by the entire team for rebounding from a tough loss and wrestling so well. The Vikings won 7 of the 12 matches (2 matches were forfeited by the Vikes) wrestled against a tough Clarksburg squad. An additional congratulations to the JV wrestlers who wrestled aggressively and with heart in that second dual of the day picking up a multitude of wins, many of them by fall!
