On Sunday, December 13, the MTA Wrestling Team started the season off on the right foot. Competing in the Port Richmond Holiday Tournament, the Lions finished in fifth place with three finalists and four place finishers overall. Making their way to the finals were Naftali Horowitz ‘16, Izzy Frasko ‘16 and Ariel Dubizh ‘17. Horowitz, team captain, dominated the field, coming from the 3 seed last year to earn the championship. For his outstanding performance, he was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler in the upper weight division. Izzy Frasko too got to the top of the podium, defeating a quality opponent. The biggest surprise on his way to the finals was Ariel Dubizh, a junior. Ariel has worked vigorously to attain his standing, and although he did not win in the finals, he is looking forward to a great season. With his continued effort, he will add plenty of team points during future tournaments. Others who added wins and team points were Benji Bral ‘18, Avrumi Lazarnick ‘16, Noah Dure ‘18, Alex Knapp ‘17 and Yaakov Kurlantzik ‘16, who took fourth in his weight class. Overall, the tournament served as a great start to the season and has brought the team one step closer to winning a champions title.

On Thursday, December 17, the MTA Wrestling team began their official season by taking on the reigning champions of YU’s Wittenberg Tournament, the SAR Sting, in their first match. Despite their presumed underdog status, MTA wrestlers won by pin 4 out of the first 5 matches. The winning streak continued throughout the match, leaving SAR with only 1 pin and 3 major decisions. Special shout outs go to Izzy Frasco ‘16, Yosef Kurlantzick ‘16, Naftali Horowitz ‘16, Yaakov Kurlantzick ‘16, Alex Knapp ‘17, Ariel Dubizh ‘17, Chaim Dov Roffman ‘16, Abie Veroba ‘19 and Nadav Heller ‘19 for their wins.

By Akiva Axel ‘16 and Benji Bral ‘18