Wrestling Continues to Grow

Now in its second season under head coach Cooper Puls, the varsity wrestling program will boast an even larger roster and the potential for more successful results at the end of the season.

At the top tier, the Bearcats field four wrestlers who have previously competed at New Englands and hope to make their way back again – Nick Adams ’19 (132 lbs.), AJ Caba ’20 (138), Christian Crider (160), and Duncan Sopko (195). Adams and Crider made New Englands in 2018, and Caba and Sopko qualified in 2017.

“Our top four wrestlers could all go to Nationals and win a match,” said Puls. “Some of them could do better than that.”

Beyond that, the roster continues to expand, providing deeper talent at several weight classes. This year’s squad includes 27 wrestlers, a 35% increase over last season. Puls noted that he hoped to attract a few more athletes and that there were still some weight classes that the team is trying to fill.

Having the extra wrestlers has given the coaches more flexibility in meets to handle injuries and absences, and has also given the team opportunities for more variable training programs in practice. This year’s group size has allowed the team to split into a beginning and an advanced group, each working on separate skills, said Puls.

Another benefit to having more wrestlers is giving each athlete more exposure to different techniques, said Adams. “This is a sport where each individual athlete has their own style, techniques, and moves,” he said. “Having a larger team means more opportunities to practice against the different stances, ways of moving, and techniques that we might come up against in competition.”

Another exciting development for Puls is the six female wrestlers on the roster, an all-time high for Hotchkiss. Puls said he hoped for a not-too-distant future where the school might field a girls wrestling team if more girls are drawn into the program.

For Adams and fellow captains Sopko and Peter Coumantaros ’19, the goal will be to find a balance between fun and hard work. “Like any Hotchkiss sport, most of us use wrestling as a time after school to forget about any stress and problems in our life to go be on the mat, be active, and enjoy ourselves,” he said. “Just because we’re having fun doesn’t mean we take the sport lightly. As captains we must push the team.”

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