Just when you thought the St. John’s Prep wrestling team couldn’t possibly bring home any more accolades from the 2021-22 season, the Eagles went to the 33rd annual National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) High School Nationals in Virginia Beach, Va., over the weekend and did just that.
And headlining it all was Prep junior Tyler Knox, who etched his name even further into Eagles history on Sunday when he earned a win by pinfall to claim the national championship title at 120 pounds.
Knox — who this year won individual titles at 126 pounds at the New England Championship, the Massachusetts All-State Meet (where he was named Most Outstanding Wrestler) and the Massachusetts Division 1 Championship — dropped down to 120 pounds for nationals and worked his way through the deep bracket of 128 wrestlers. He eventually made it to the final, where he faced off against Cleveland, Ohio’s Vinnie D’Alessandro and pinned him in just one minute and 26 seconds.
“Tyler had a gameplan and followed it to perfection,” said St. John’s Prep coach Manny Costa, a Peabody native. “He had six matches at nationals and had five first-period pins. He really continued his dominance from the high-school season.”
While Knox was the only national champion from the Prep this year, two other Eagles earned All-American status for their respective performances.
Freshman heavyweight Alexander Bajoras made a splash with his performance, finishing at fifth place overall in his weight class. After dropping his first match and facing an uphill battle the rest of the way, Bajoras won by pinfall in his final four matches — including his fifth-place match against McClure, Penn.’s Peyton Kearns.
Rounding out the All-Americans from the Prep was Rawson Iwanicki, who finished at sixth overall in the 152-pound weight class. Iwanicki was facing a tough battle from the Round of 16 on, as he suffered an ankle injury in his victory over Luke Heckert of Joelton, Tenn. After losing to Ethan Osborne of Beckley, W.Va. in the following round, Iwanicki managed two more wins before a loss in the consolation round set him up for the fifth-place match. He once again saw Osborne, and once again he fell by decision to finish in sixth.
The Prep sent six total wrestlers to nationals this year, including the duo of Salem brothers Alex and Adam Schaeublin. Adam went 3-2 at 120 pounds and finished in the top 12 of the bracket, while Alex went 2-2 at 106 pounds. The final member of the Eagles to go to nationals was Dylan Greenstein, who went 0-2 at 195 pounds.
“I’m proud of all of these guys,” said Costa. “They’ve been working hard toward these goals all year, so to see them get this far has been really rewarding.”
