The wrestling team has been matching up against some of the county’s best teams and holding their own.

In their most recent match on Jan.11 they had a tri-meet against Quince Orchard and Walter Johnson. The Patriots fell to QO 59-24. Many members on the team fell ill and they had to forfeit multiple weights, so the Cougars went home with the win. However, against WJ the Patriots came out on top. In a close match that came down to the wire, the Patriots beat WJ 42-35.

The Patriots were up by three points going into their last weight class. Junior David Gordon was the last wrestler for the Patriots and needed to win his match in order to get a win for the Patriots. He won 14-2 and secured his team a win for the tri-meet. Gordon said, “It was a good meet and I was glad I was able to win my match and help my team secure the win.”

In the Patriots previous match on Jan. 9 they wrestled Blake and came home with a commanding 66-15 win. Seniors Ben Bloch and Henry Woolley and juniors Jason Liau and Eric Liau were among those who won their matches to help send the Patriots home with a win. Bloch said, “Despite not wrestling, the greatest team, we made sure to maintain our level of play and it was a good team effort.”

The Patriots traveled to Blair and fought hard on Dec.20, but weren’t able to come through with a win, losing 59-23. Despite wins from Eric Liau and Jason Liau the Patriots weren’t able to come out on top. Prior to this the Patriots had a tri-meet against Whitman and Gaithersburg. The Patriots lost to Whitman by a score of 58-21 and lost a close match to Gaithersburg 42-36.

To keep the team active and ready for their future matches, the Patriots played in the Rockville Rumble winter break tournament. The Patriots finished the tournament 4-5 and were able to get their first couple wins as a team. In yet another close match, the Patriots wrestled Churchill on Dec.12.

Despite wins from multiple wrestlers the Patriots lost 45-36. Senior Henry Woolley said, “It has overall been a good season so far and we have lost some close matches that we could have won. I’m excited for the rest of the season and to turn things around.”

So far this season the Patriots are 2-6. Jason Liau and Eric Liau are currently undefeated and are looking to continue their undefeated streak into the playoffs. The Patriots next match on Jan. 14 against Kennedy was too late to be included in this issue.