Wrestlers have been practicing every day in preparation for their first tournament that started on Dec. 7. Their first match then follows today. Junior Benham Sari said, “I am excited for the season to finally start and to see what we can do as a team.”
Junior captain Ben Bloch will be leading the team into their first tournament. Bloch has years of experience not only with wrestling here, but also for years prior to high school. He started wrestling in the fourth grade on the Rockville Raptors. He got his passion for wrestling from his dad, who wrestled his whole childhood and even wrestled four years at University of Delaware.
Bloch continued his wrestling career in rec on the Raptors until sixth grade. In fourth grade, he placed second in the whole rec tournament and then won the following year in fifth grade. In the sixth grade, he went to the Beltway league, which consists of the best wrestler in the state. After a year in Beltway, Bloch decided to finish his middle school career with the Raptors. He won the tournament for the second time in seventh grade.
Coming into high school, Bloch fought his way for a varsity spot. His freshman year, he wrestled in the 106 spot until the end of the year, when then-senior Vijay Dey took his spot. Bloch’s sophomore year he wrestled JV again and placed fourth in the JV competition. Fast forward to the present, and Bloch is a third-year wrestler who is now a captain on varsity. Bloch said, “Wrestling has been a part of my life for a long time. It is a lot of work, but it always ends up being worth it.”
The team is led by head coach Shane Bramble and assistant coaches Ralph Bernardo, Kyle Ramp and Spencer Tritto. These new group of coaches will be looking to help the Patriots improve from last year’s record of 3-13.The combination of veteran leaders like Bloch and players new to the wrestling team leave hope for a promising season.
Junior Henry Wooley, who is a three-year veteran, said, “Our first match is coming up and I am excited to finally put all of our work into a real match. The tournament will be a good warm-up for the match.”
