By Paul Vozzella
Hometown Weekly Sports Reporter
Needham wrestling traveled to Newton North High School on Wednesday with sights set on its first win of the season. The Rockets put up a fight to keep the score, but it was unable to walk away with a team victory, losing 43-30.
Even with the loss, head coach Ryan Hargraves saw a valiant effort from his team” “Today was a tough loss. We were right there with them. I think we could’ve taken this team and been a little closer with the score, but they kind of snuck away from us in the later matches. Overall, though, we had guys go out there, starting at 106, and putting in a great effort. They’re doing the best they can, and that’s all I’m asking from them.”
There were plenty of close matches to be had during the meet, mainly through the middle weight classes.
Things got intense in the 138 pound match. After finishing the first period tied 4-4, Newton North grabbed an 8-6 lead in the second period. Needham’s Max Scherer was able to take the lead in the third and on the verge of a last second comeback for the Tigers, Scherer was able to maintain his grasp before giving up a point. The junior narrowly escaped with an overtime win.
In another great duel, 175 pound junior captain Daniel Burdin persevered through an injury to come out with a win. Almost finishing the match in the second period, he could not complete the pin attempt before the buzzer.
“I don’t know if I thought it should have been a pin but I definitely thought I had him there,” said Burdin. “He rolled out and I was definitely disappointed… It took a lot not to give up and take the three points instead of the six [at the end of the second period].”
Amid it all, Burdin had to fight off a second enemy: “I got a very bad calf cramp somewhere in the second period and I was trying to stick my leg out a little bit, trying to stretch it,” said the captain. “When I got up, I was like ‘oh man, it hurts so bad,’ but I was able to walk it off.”
Eventually, he was able to finish off his opponent with a pin in the third period. The performance particularly stood out to Hargraves.
“[He] just showed up ready to wrestle. He got out there and [it wasn’t an easy] matchup but he was still able to overcome when he needed to and get six [points] for the team.”
While the outcome was not optimal for the Rockets, Hargraves likes the potential his team has.
“They performed very well,” he said. “It’s only our second dual of the year and they’re already showing a lot of progression… I will say every one of them got better. However, we need to go over the small details.”
Needham will get a chance to redeem themselves against Walpole on January 8.
