NORTH READING — The Lynnfield/North Reading wrestling team finished 1-2 Saturday at a quad-meet against Bedford/Acton-Boxborough, Salem and Saugus/Peabody at North Reading High.
The Black and Gold opened with a 41-40 loss to Bedford, then rompled over Salem, 53-29, before closing with a 53-25 loss to Saugus.
“It was a very competitive day of wrestling with three talented opponents,” coach Craig Stone said. “We need to wrestle at this level to continually assess our skill level and conditioning and to motivate us toward future goals.”
Zach Inafuku (106), Nathan Barstow (113), Jason Kouyoumdjian (120), and Jakob Hulett (126) led the way with three wins each. Griffin McCarthy (157) and Zack Morse (215) had two wins apiece.
LNR and Bedford split the individual matches with each team winning seven of the 14 weight classes. Inafuku took the 106-pound match with a 13-1 major decision. Barstow followed with a pin win in 1:31 at 113 pounds. Kouyoumdjian (120 pounds, 2:16), Hulett (126 pounds, 22 seconds), Luke Molla (150 pounds, 38 seconds), McCarthy (157 pounds, 1:09) and Lucas Wilkinson (215 pounds, forfeit) also won matches.
“We just came up a couple of points short,” Stone said. “A match like this emphasizes the importance of each team member earning and saving team points by pinning and not being pinned.”
LNR bounced back with a win against Salem, winning nine weight classes against what Stone described as “a strong Division 2 program.”
Winners included Inafuku at 106 (1:28), Barstow at 113 (3:12), Kouyoumdjian at 120 (17-0 technical fall), Hulett at 132 (2:31), McCarthy at 157 (1:54), David Glynn at 165 (1:40), Gianni D’Apolito at 175 (forfeit), Jack Cuddy at 190 (50 seconds) and Morse at 215 (forfeit).
Winners against Saugus/Peabody included Inafuku at 106 (16-0 technical fall), Barstow at 113 (14-9 decision), Kouyoumdjian at 120 (18-2 technical fall), Hulett at 126 (3:47) and Morse at 215 (45 seconds).
On Jan. 7 at Lynnfield High, the defending CAL champion Black and Gold dropped their first match, then won nine of the next 12 matches to easily defeat league rival Triton, 54-27, in the first league match of the season. Stone said the Black and Gold are hoping to repeat as league champions, something they haven’t done since 2015.
Winners included Barstow at 113 (1:42), Kouyoumdjian at 120 (1:21), Barstow at 126 (forfeit), Hulett at 132 (forfeit), Molla at 150 (forfeit), McCarthy at 157 (1:31), Glynn at 165 (45 seconds), Cuddy at 175 (24 seconds) and Morse at 215 (19 seconds).
LNR (9-4) has another busy week with a dual-meet at Pentucket Wednesday and the Cohasset Tournament Saturday.
