Hawks wrestling is off to a hot start this season. Matched up against Elmwood Park, they coasted to a dominant victory. River Dell nearly had a full shutout on the Crusaders with a final score of 62 to 12, only dropping two matches.
River Dell was in control of the whole meet, running up the score to 40–0; seven of the 14 matches the Hawks won were pins. Only one match was won by forfeit, as the Crusaders didn’t have a wrestler for 106 lbs to compete.
Junior Jocelyn Danbe won her match—the first one of the night—in an impressive show, managing to force her opponent into a shape that would have made a pretzel uneasy. River Dell’s second female wrestler, freshman Taylor Mansfield, won her first match as a high schooler at the varsity level. Taylor made an amazing effort, with the crowd erupting after her victory.
Sophomore Anthony Daibes was responsible for the quickest pin of the night, managing to trap his opponent underneath him in a blazing 18 seconds. The following match was a 6–1 decision victory from junior Lake Loschiavo, as the Hawks continued to overwhelm the Crusaders.
The rest of the varsity team fought hard through exhaustion, being sure to conserve their energy and let their opponents fall into traps with their own tiredness. Senior Yewen Zhao used his hands to distract his opponent. Yewen’s strategy involved throwing his hands up in his opponent’s face, confusing the Crusader before landing a well-planned pin forty-three seconds into the second period.
Nearing the end of the meet, junior Sam Lee delivered another quick victory in a pin on the Elmwood Park heavyweight in just under a minute at a lightning-fast 59 seconds, leaving fans stunned as they hoped for a longer match.
River Dell came out on top in an impressive opener, building excitement for this season. Hawks wrestling returns to the mat on December 13th at 9 a.m. at Caldwell High School for the Caldwell Tournament.
