On February 23 and 24, three wrestlers from the school competed in the 2024 National Prep Wrestling Championship for independent schools. This tournament concluded the team’s 6-12 season.
The school sent two wrestlers in the boys’ division, Adam Wright ’24 at 175 lbs. and Ihsan Yumak ’25 at 132 lbs. In the girls’ division, Sadie Salter ’25 at 138 lbs. was the lone competitor. Although none of the wrestlers placed at the top of their weight class, Salter took home a win, pinning her opponent in 3 minutes and 23 seconds.
“I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend the Prep Nationals Tournament; it was an amazing experience,” Salter said. “I got to watch a lot of impressive wrestlers and meet so many nice people.”
Wright, a co-captain of Varsity Wrestling, said, “I was happy that I made it to nationals, but sad that the sport I dedicated so much of my time to was finally over. After my last match, it hit me that I would never be competing in a Hotchkiss singlet again. I am thankful for all the memories I’ve gained under the tutelage of Coach Cooper Puls [’11] and Coach Marc Dittmer.”
To qualify for Nationals, wrestlers first qualified for the Western New England Preps Tournament and then for the NEPSWA Prep Tournament. If a wrestler earned a 4th place or better finish in their weight class at Westerns, or if they had a 67% or higher win rate during the regular season, then they qualified for the NEPSWA tournament. If they earned a 6th place or better finish at NEPSWA, then they qualified for Nationals.
All three tournaments—Westerns, NEPSWA, and Nationals—use a double-elimination format, meaning that each athlete wrestles until they lose twice or have placed. This is as opposed to a single-elimination tournament, where one loss results in elimination.
The Varsity starting lineup of 12 wrestlers traveled to Greens Farms Academy to compete in the Westerns on February 10. Five wrestlers placed, including Wright and Yumak, who placed 2nd and 3rd respectively. Nicholas Lucana ’26 at 113 lbs. placed 5th, Shaan Patel ’27 at 120 lbs. placed 5th, and Keven Luiru ’27 at 106 lbs. placed 6th.
Wrestlers Marcus McGregor ’26, Lucas Ruiz ’26, Thanos Athanasiou ’25, and Andrew Lee ’26 won in their respective weight classes. McGregor had the fastest win of the tournament, with a pin in 27 seconds. Also wrestling were Henry Rowe ’27, Daniel Zhang ’26, and Cayden Kim ’26. The team placed 9th out of 19 teams at Westerns.
Following the Westerns tournament, the team competed in the NEPSWA Prep Tournament on February 16 and 17, finishing 18th out of 38 teams.
The school qualified three wrestlers in the NEPSWA co-ed division: Wright, Yumak, and Lucana. Wright and Yumak both placed 6th in their weight classes and qualified for Nationals.
Five girls competed in the women’s division: Ashley Opdyke ’26, Olivia Kwon ’26, Anya Reppa ’26, Aimee Carrasco ’24, and Sadie Salter ’25. Opdyke, Carrasco, and Salter all earned wins. Salter placed 3rd in her weight class and qualified for Nationals.
To recap the season, Yumak said, “I think it was a great year for growth. We saw a lot of wrestlers get better. We had a pretty big reset of a lineup from last year. We graduated a bunch of starters and had a bunch of new guys come and fill in the lineup.”
Looking back on the season, Coach Cooper Puls ’11 said, “Last year we had a really solid competitive team, and we didn’t have that kind of dual meet success or tournament success this year in lots of ways. But I had a lot more fun this year. I think we have a really good group of kids and coaches right now, and better energy than we’ve had for maybe any time since I’ve been here.”
