In a year where the St. John’s Prep wrestling team has taken home every trophy it possibly could, the Eagles added one more to the case on Sunday night when they finished first overall at the Massachusetts All-State Wrestling Meet.
The Prep scored 139.5 points to earn the title, beating out second-place Minnechaug by more than 40 points.
“It was a great team performance, and I’m just so proud of this team,” said Prep coach Manny Costa, a Peabody native. “Our goal at the beginning of the season was to run the table, and with COVID it wasn’t easy. It was a difficult season to navigate, but in the end those guys have dominated and have put themselves into the history books.”
Headlining the day for the Prep was a pair of team leaders who have been on fire all season long in Tyler Knox and Rawson Iwanicki. Knox, who has been a true star for the Eagles in his time there, became the overall champion at 126 pounds and was also named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
As for Iwanicki, he took home the All-State title at 152 pounds.
The brotherly duo of Alex and Adam Schaeublin, both Salem natives, also performed well at the meet, as Adam finished in second place at 132 pounds and Alex finished third at 113 pounds.
“Tyler, Rawson, Alex and Adam have really led this team all year,” said Costa. “They’re great leaders, and they’ve guided us from the front since our very first practice.”
Also putting up great finishes in the win for the Prep were Charlie Smith at 285 pounds (fifth place), Elias Hajali at 120 pounds (eighth place) and Jack Blizard at 220 pounds (eighth place).
With the Eagles’ All-State win, St. John’s Prep wraps up the 2021-22 season having won the Lowell Holiday Tournament, the Woburn Tournament, the Division 1 North title, the Division 1 state title and the All-State title. The Prep has also beat powerhouse teams along the way to earn those wins, taking down the defending state champions from New Hampshire (Timberlane), Connecticut (Xavier), Rhode Island (Mount Hope) and from Massachusetts’ Division 2 (Milford), among others.
The Prep went 32-0 over the course of the season.
