Spartans Surprise by Winning Manhattan Championship

“That's easy. It’s because we can get sleep.” —Allard Peng, senior and co-captain.

“The team also has a huge family vibe this year, where we have this love for each other that’s more than just [one for] teammates, and I think that’s gonna help [us] perform better and attract more people to join in the future.” —Adam Abbas, senior and co-captain.

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The Spartans, Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity wrestling team, are charging ahead to City Championships after putting on a spectacular performance at the Manhattan Borough Championships on Saturday, February 3. Seven Spartans medalled, and five qualified for the City Championships, leading Stuyvesant to 1st place in Manhattan. This achievement was a great way for the Spartans to close out their season, proving that they were more than capable of overcoming the challenges they faced earlier in the season.

“A lot of newcomers were sophomores, meaning two years from now they’ll be seniors, and really skilled wrestlers,” senior and co-captain Adam Abbas said. All year long, the newcomers have been gaining experience through both wins and losses. The team has bounced back from their 84-0 loss to Brooklyn Tech last month with strong performances.

When asked about the reason behind the success of their recent weekend meets, where the wrestlers performed significantly better than they did in the weekday dual meets, senior and co-captain Allard Peng replied, “That's easy. It’s because we can get sleep.”

Peng, senior Edward Ro, senior Danil Chernov, senior Nicholas Tan, and sophomore Timothy Peng all placed high enough in Boroughs to advance to City Championships. Their success has been largely due to hard work and pushing themselves to their limits during practice, all with the help of head coach Michael Cigala. “Coach has been a very good pushing factor, but the assistant coaches have helped tremendously in terms of keeping us humble and teaching us technique,” senior Danil Chernov said.

Heading into Cities, not much will change in the team’s practice schedule. The Spartans will be training with other schools in preparation for the big tournament, and will focus on fine-tuning moves and keeping the mood light. “We go through the same intense training, and we go through it together, so when we go out on the mat, we're not just wrestling for ourselves, but for our teammates as well,” said junior and first-year wrestler Rubin Peco. In every weight class, the top two wrestlers of each borough will be competing in City Championships, presenting another level of challenge for the wrestlers. Ro placed first at boroughs and is aiming to qualify for states.

The young team is looking forward to a strong season end. “I think the future of the team is the best it’s ever been, and it’s only going to get better,” Abbas said. Passion, heart, and commitment are abundant. “The team also has a huge family vibe this year, where we have this love for each other that’s more than just [one for] teammates, and I think that’s gonna help [us] perform better and attract more people to join in the future,” he said. Now all that’s left for this season is finishing strong, and carrying over to next year.