On an unseasonably warm Saturday morning, eleven Middlesex wrestlers traveled to the Graves-Kelsey Tournament at Thayer Academy where the team and individual championships of the ISL were to be decided. The Zebras came away with five placewinners, including an individual champion, and finished eighth as a team.

Senior Cam Fries, entering the tournament as the number one seed at 195, looked poised and confident as he picked two quick wins by fall in the opening rounds. He dominated his opponent from Nobles in the semi-finals, winning by major decision 9-0, and sealed the championship with a dramatic feet to back throw in the finals which resulted in a fall and the first Graves title for the Zebras at 195 since Andrew Zhang in 2016. 

Senior co-captain Nick DeBruin (285) battled all the way back from a first round loss to earn third place the hard way, with three gritty matches in the consolation round, all won by fall, including a come-from-behind third period pin over his opponent from Belmont Hill in the medal round. 

Senior Jojo Nwosu earned fourth place at 170 in one of the toughest brackets of the tournament, picking up a hard-fought overtime win in the quarterfinals before falling by 6-0 decision to the eventual champion. He dominated his opponent in the consi-semis and dropped a 9-1 major decision to a very talented wrestler from Govs in the medal round, proving one of the toughest outs in the whole event.

Sophomore Maya Douge, wrestling at 113, bounced back from a wild 12-2 loss by major decision in the consi-semis to pick up a crowd-pleasing second period pin in 5th place match and earn a top-five finish in her first championship tournament.

Senior Alex Pittelli picked up two wins by fall on his way to a sixth place finish at 182; senior Pranav Natarajan went 2-2 at 195 and senior Love Daley (145) picked up a nice win in the consolation round of 8 before falling by 8-5 decision in the consolation round of 4. Senior co-captain Mark Conde, senior Ethan Chang and freshman TJ Kane also competed.

The Zebras now head to Deerfield Academy for the NEPSWA Championship, where they hope to earn more accolades and crown a successful season.