This past weekend, the Blair Academy wrestling team traveled to Maryland to compete in the National Prep Wrestling Tournament. Overall, the team placed third, with some outstanding individual performances.
Leo DeLuca ’25 (113 lbs.), Marc Anthony McGowan ’23 (120 lbs.), Lorenzo Norman ’23 (160 lbs), and Danny Wask ’22 (170 lbs.) were all seeded 1st and each won all of their matches by major decision, tech fall, or fall before competing, leading to finals match victories. Matt Lopes ’24 (126 lbs.) and TJ Stewart ’22 (220 lbs.) were both seeded 2nd in their brackets and each took first place. Will Henckel ’25 (145 lbs.), seeded 3rd, also made it to the finals but came up short, losing to the number one seed in the bracket. Blair also had many other podium placements in the tournament, including Ibrahim Ahmed ’22 (132 lbs.) and Nick Kunstek ’24 (152 lbs.) placing 4th. Paul Ognissanti ’24 (138 lbs.) and Ike Schmidt ’22 (195 lbs) rounded out the Blair place-winners, each placing 5th.
In the girl's division of the tournament, Blair Academy’s Morgan Edwards ’24 (126 lbs.) took first place in her division, winning her first two matches with a pin, each in under a minute, and winning her finals match by major decision. Jocelyn O’Keeffe ’24 (120 lbs.) placed 3rd in her bracket, after winning 3 out of 4 of her matches by fall, tech fall, and major decision. After competing with only two wrestlers, the girls placed 5th overall with a total of 37.5 team points.