The Lynnfield/North Reading wrestling team rang in the new year the same way it said goodbye to the old year — with a pair of clean sweeps in back-to-back quad meets.
Saturday, the Black and Gold (12-1-1) took part in a quad meet at North Reading High. LNR opened with a 54-15 win over Danvers, followed that with a 71-6 win over Malden/Everett, and capped the day with a solid win over Greater Lowell, a team that finished ninth in the 2024 Division 1 state tournament.
Nathan Barstow (113) and Jason Kouyoumdjian (132) were undefeated, winning all three of their matches via pins. Jakob Hulett (120) and Jack Cuddy (175) also finished the day 3-0. Freshman Griffin McCarthy (150) won his first varsity match and Zack Morse avenged a loss he suffered in the Pentucket Holiday tournament.
“Sweeping the quad meet was a great way to show the home crowd the talent and depth on this year’s team in our first home meet of the season,” head coach Craig Stone said. “We are getting contributions from everyone in the line-up and not having to rely on certain individuals. We had a great start in 2024 and we are looking forward to continuing this momentum into 2025. We have come so far, now it is back to work and see how far we can go.”
Against the Falcons, every Black and Gold win was via pins with only one going into the third period. Pin winners included Zach Inafuku at 106 (3:30), Barstow at 113 (5:07), Hulett at 120 (59 seconds), Kouyoumdjian at 132 (1:55), Isaac Medford at 138 (1:48), Cuddy at 175 (56 seconds)James Fodera at 190 (1:29) and Morse at 215 (1:10). McCarthy, David Glynn and Cam Arya won matches by forfeits.
LNR was flat out dominant in a 71-6 rout over Malden/Everett with only two matches going the distance. Glynn prevailed in a 15-0 technical fall and Morse won a 12-11 thriller that went right to the wire. He led 11-8 with under a minute to go. His opponent tied the score at 11-11 with a takedown with about 30 seconds to go, but, with under 10 seconds left, Morse escaped to clinch the match-winning point.
Other LNR winners included Barstow at 113 (4:26), Kouyoumdjian at 132 (1:33), McCarthy at 150 (1:54), Arya at 165 (2:53) and Cuddy at 175 (22 seconds). Inafuku, Hulett and Medford picked up wins by forfeit, while Fodera won by injury default.
“It was a battle of two co-op teams,” Stone said.
Greater Lowell held a slim 24-22 lead after eight weight classes only to fall behind for good when LNR took the next four matches.
Winners included Barstow at 113 (5:54), Hulett at 120 (13-3 major decision), Kouyoumdjian at 132 (3:14), Medford at 138 (27 seconds), Glynn at 157 (5:01), Arya at 165 (3:31), Cuddy at 175 (17 seconds) and Fodera at 190 (52 seconds).
Lynnfield closed out the year with a New Year’s Eve sweep at Watertown High School. The Black and Gold opened with a 53-30 win against Carver, then followed with a 60-18 win against Northeast Metro Tech/Bishop Fenwick and a 51-30 win against Watertown. Fodera (190) and Kouyoumdjian (132) finished with 3-0 records.
“It was a great way to end 2024 with a very competitive dual meet coming down to the final matches,” Stone said.
Against Carver, LNR won nine of 14 weight classes, seven of them via first-period pins. Winners included Inafuku at 106 (1:20), Barstown at 113 (3:00), Hulett at 120 (1:51), Kouyoumdjian at 132 (17-2 technical fall), Medford at 138 (1:42), Glynn at 157 (1:10), Arya at 165 (1:06), Fodera at 190 (1:30 and Morse at 215 (1:20).
Northeast/Fenwick struggled to fill weight classes and forfeited six matches. Winners who wrestled included Kouyoumdjian at 126 (2:38), Abdel Abdalla at 150 (2:19), Fodera at 190 (2:12), Morse at 215 (39 seconds) and Dylan Matthews at 285 (1:46). Inafuku, Barstow, Hulett, Glynn, Lucas Lopes and Arya won matches via forfeits.
In the last match of the day, LNR led 33-30 going into the last three matches then clinched the win with three consecutive pin wins. Morse had a three win, three pin day, while Kouyoumdjian also had three wins.
Other LNR winners included Barstow at 113 (1:44), Hulett at 120 (3:19), Glynn at 157 (35 seconds), Arya (13-10 decision), Fodera at 190 (27 seconds) and Matthews at 285 (2:31).
The Black and Gold are back in action Saturday at North Reading High in a quad meet against Salem and Northeast/Fenwick (10 a.m.).
