This past Wednesday, January the 21st, South Windsor High School’s wrestling team celebrated their Senior Night at a home duel against Manchester High School. In addition to these events, a special award and speech was held for former head wrestling coach, Knapp.
The tradition of Senior Night aims to celebrate the seniors of the wrestling team on the last home duel of the season. In addition to this, a special award was given to former head wrestling Coach, Mr. Knapp, for his great contributions to South Windsor wrestling.
The night opened with both teams having their time on the mat to warm up before beginning the duel. Afterwards, a speech by current head wrestling coach, Coach Mike, was held for Mr. Knapp’s contributions not only to the school’s wrestling program, but also to the school in general.
Afterwards, the three seniors (and team captains) Sophia Gordon, Noah Benson, and Holden Crane, were given their recognition as they were walked out by their families and loved ones. Each senior had their plans after graduating read out loud as they were walked to the mat for a group picture.
The duel officially began afterwards, already starting off close with the score going back and forth between both teams. Due to South Windsor winning with a tech fall rather than a pin in one match, the rest of the duel became quite close and South Windsor needed to wrestle extra hard for the points they gave up.
In the end, South Windsor walked away with an incredibly close win of 41-40, making the team one step closer to placing in the top 3 for the conference at the end of the year.
“We are focusing on a CCC North Conference top 3 at the moment. Manchester was our next big match and victory there puts us in the top two and then we’ll focus on Glastonbury,” South Windsor High School head wrestling coach, Coach Michael Cunningham said. “From there, it’s a straight shot to states where we’ll push to get in peak shape and technique.”
As the team walks away with a satisfying victory against Manchester, their next big opponent is Glastonbury, a team that gave South Windsor trouble at the earlier Glastonbury duel meet. The team plans on keeping their momentum up in practice to prepare for the big day.
“We’re emphasizing fundamentals and sharpening the things we already do well,” South Windsor High School assistant wrestling coach, Coach Kevin Crosen said.
The success that was senior night is all the more reason for South Windsor’s wrestlers to continue working hard as they approach the conference at the end of the year. A win over Glastonbury will prove to be truly monumental for the team.
