By Jessica Yatvitskiy ’21
The Pingry wrestling season began on November 20th. The team consists of 28 members and has “more kids on the team than ever,” said captain Aidan Dillon (VI). “We’ll have almost all the weight-classes filled, which helps immensely with our dual-meet schedule,” said Head Coach
George Sullivan, who has coached Pingry wrestling since 2014. He is aided by Coaches Joseph Forte, Reid Prichett, and William Lagarde. Mr. Sullivan said he chose to coach Pingry wrestling because “[he has] a unique opportunity to build a great program.”
The wrestling team’s first scrimmage was on December 6 against the Peddie School, and its first true meet is on December 16. “The team’s goal for this season is to win 15 matches and send at least one wrestler to states,” Mr. George Sullivan said.
This year’s captain is Aidan Dillon, who has had 13 years of wrestling experience. Aidan said,
“I’m super optimistic about this season. We should have the best team that Pingry has had in my time here. We’ll have the best chance we’ve ever had to win a conference championship.” The wrestling team had a great season last winter. “The team sent our first wrestler in a decade to the New Jersey state wrestling tournament, Frankie Dillon ‘17. We had four regional qualifiers: Aidan Dillon, Frankie Dillon, Tommy Tarantino ‘17, and Brandon Spellman (V),” Coach Sullivan said.
Mr. Sullivan expresses high hopes for this season: “With new freshmen joining the strong team, the future is bright. We have a talented and hard-working team that has been improving for several years, and I can’t wait to see them perform.”