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Health & Fitness

Tiger Varsity, Girl Wrestlers Triumph against Cherokees

Terra Nova's wrestlers faced off against the Sequoia Cherokees Thursday, January 16th in their first dual meet of the season.

The evening began with a dual meet between Terra Nova's Lady Tigers and Sequoia's girls' wrestling team. The Tigers claimed a decisive victory in hard-fought matches, winning all but one of the contests. Marian Mejia, Katie Filar, and Mallory Moore defeated their opponents by pin, earning top points for the team effort. The final team score was 36-6.

Terra Nova's Junior Varsity held their own against the Cherokees and were in the lead as a team until they were forced to forfeit the last two weight classes due to a lack of teammates in those divisions. What had been a 28-20 lead became an unfortunate 28-32 loss for the Tigers. Despite the team loss, there were some bright moments for Terra Nova. Louis Roth, a junior, defeated his opponent with quick first round pin, and Christian Almaguer, a sophomore, dominated in a high scoring match (11-3) in which he took down his opponent again and again.

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The Tiger Varsity took the mat next and began their quest to repeat last year's PAL dual meet title. Terra Nova overpowered Sequoia with a team score of 51-21. Niko Richardson, Chase Edgington, Ryan McGannon, David Melton, and Adam Noce each bested their opponents by pin, but the most exciting match of the night, by far, was one that did not end in victory for the Tigers.

In the the 220lb match between Josh Bradshaw, a first year wrestler, and his seasoned opponent from Sequoia, Bradshaw confidently charged off the whistle, earning an immediate take down and 2 point nearfall. Sequoia answered back with a reversal and 2 nearfalls to end the first round. The second round scoring would be dominated by Sequoia; nevertheless, Bradshaw's athleticism and determination had his entire team jumping to their feet to cheer him on. There aren't many lifts in the upper weight classes because it takes a great deal of strength and stamina to lift a person who weighs 220 pounds, but Bradshaw nimbly lifted his unsuspecting adversary off the ground and threw him twice. The sound of the impact echoed through the gym.

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By the midpoint of the second round, Bradshaw had worn his rival out. The Sequoia wrestler was clearly spent, and the referee called him for stalling. In the end, Bradshaw was not able to pin his opponent who lay on the mat in a ponderous hulk because it is very difficult to roll 220 pounds over when it doesn't want to move. The final score was 9-20, which is pretty good for a novice wrestler in a varsity match!

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