It’s not madness: the Spartans, Stuyvesant’s co-ed wrestling team, has finished the season with a winning record.
After finishing the 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons with records of 1-11, 1-11 and 3-7, respectively, the Spartans completed the 2008 season 7-3. However, this wasn’t enough to qualify them for the Dual Meet Championships, which will be held the weekend of February 22. They missed out by one win.
During the weekend of January 16, members will compete in the City Championships as individuals, not as a team.
Despite the disappointment, Spartans are still more than pleased with their resilient season.
“I’m very happy with the season,” coach Richard Murray said. “We were competitive in every match. I was happy with how the individual wrestlers performed.”
One of the most important factors propelling the turnaround is the new rating system implemented this year. At the beginning of the season, teams were given ratings of either one, three or five, one being the weakest and five being the strongest, based on their quality. Stuyvesant was gven a rating of one, and only wrestles teams with the same rating. The resulting lack of challenging opponents allowed the Spartans to win more matches. Out of 11 rating one teams, the Spartans placed fourth. The top three teams from each rating made the Dual Meet Championships.
Several wrestlers have also displayed great strength this season. Senior and co-captain Chris Stair and senior Jeffrey Liaw finished their Stuyvesant wrestling careers well. Stair won all of his seven matches. Liaw won seven of nine.
The regulations regarding weight classes also helped the Spartans this season. If one team has a wrestler in a weight class not represented by the opposing team, the opposing team automatically forfeits that particular class.
This rule has favored Stuyvesant many times, such as in the Monday, January 28 54-24 victory over Springfield Gardens. Eight of the 10 weight classes the Spartans won were due to such forfeits.
This wasn’t always the case.
“When I was a freshman and sophomore, we lost all our matches because we couldn’t fill the weight classes,” Stair said. “So it’s finally turned around, and I don’t feel sorry at all being on the other side.”
The weight class regulations, nonetheless, pose some difficulties for Stuyvesant. For example, Liaw, who weighs 240 pounds, must wrestle in the 275-pound weight class to ensure the Spartans are represented there. He has made the best of this situation.
“Jeffrey is a good wrestler and is more fit than his opponents,” junior Shayanta Hasnat said.
Also alleviating the strain of having to wrestle up a class is the strength of the lower weight classes. “We’re stronger in our lower weight classes this year,” junior Kelvin Chen said. Chen, for example, wrestles in either the 103- or 112-pound weight class and has won seven of his nine matches this season. Senior Henry Cham, who wrestles in the 119-pound weight class, has gone undefeated in nine matches. Overall, the Spartans won 27 of 36 matches in weight classes of 125 pounds or less.
Despite the aid provided by the rating system and the weight class regulations to the Spartans’ division standing, members of the team do not believe they would have made the playoffs without their talent.
Each wrestler has his or her own special abilities upon which in-match strategy is based. Stair, with his long wingspan and powerful torso, specializes in throws, or using leverage to throw his opponent to the ground. Senior and co-captain Dawood Din capitalizes on his overall strength to execute a leg takedown, where he gets under his opponent and lifts him, before driving him down.
“Technique is still the most important thing in wrestling,” Hasnat said. “You have to know at least two moves in every position to be a decent wrestler.”