Yesterday morning, the wrestling team took on three different schools in a home meet that brought plenty of action to the mats of Swanson Gymnasium. In the first tilt, the Bears met a former foe from our days in the Ivy League, the Hackley School. The Brook gained a quick 12-0 lead courtesy of two Hackley forfeits at the 96 and 103-pound classes. In the 112-pound match, Jeffrey Fung battled his opponent for six minutes and worked his way out of several precarious situations to prevent the Hornets from getting a pin while falling, 8-3. Hackley followed with a pin in the 119-pound class to make the score 12-9, but in the 125-pound class Austin Hulse pinned his man for the fourth time in as many matches with just two seconds remaining in the second period to extend the Bears’ lead to 18-9.

The pin set off a string of Blue and White victories as Anthony Garone followed with a 4-0 win in the 130-pound division, Wyatt Piazza pinned his man in 1:07 in the 135-pound match, Kevin Palmer dominated his Hornet opponent 11-1 in the 140-pound match, and Ben Cotten pinned his man in just 38 seconds in the 145-pound class to build a 36-9 edge. A pin and forfeit for Hackley followed but Tyler Anderson righted the ship with a hard fought 5-2 win against his much taller opponent in the 171-pound match. The win was the last for the Brook as they were pinned in the 189 and 215-pound matches and forfeited the 285-pound match, but the two forfeits, three pins, and three wins were enough to give the Bears a 40-39 win against their former rival.

The Stony Brook grapplers continued their winning ways against Archbishop Stepinac. The Bears again benefited from two forfeits at the start and, after the Crusaders took a win in the 112-pound match, the Brook took wins in five of the next six matches as Paul Chung pinned his man in 2:06 and Hulse, Garone, Daniel Bennett, and Palmer earned forfeits. A final highlight for the Bears was Anderson’s pin in 1:35 as the Blue and White rolled to a 48-35 victory.

The Bears fell to Iona Prep in the final match of the day, 24-58, but pins by Hulse and Anderson remained undefeated on the season with a pair of pins. Hunter Hulse earned a win and Piazza earned a pin against the Gaels.

The Blue and White matmen will face Port Jefferson on Wednesday January 19 at home @ 4:00pm.

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