Team Slideshow
Team Info
Wrestling - Varsity
Overview
Overview
Wrestling is one of Taft's oldest and most storied sports programs. The wrestling room is named for John Wynne, legendary coach from 1965-2000. Taft has enjoyed 29 winning seasons in the past 30 years. Since 2001, the Taft wrestling team has fielded six Western New England champions and one New England champion. We compete in the Western New England wrestling association with 16 other teams, including Hotchkiss, Avon, Hopkins and Brunswick.
The philosophy of Taft wrestling is that we are part of the education of the whole person. While we have had alums wrestle in college, many of our wrestlers enter our program with minimal or no experience. We do not differentiate between the Varsity and JV teams. We are one program, and we try to get as many wrestlers into the Varsity lineup as we can during the course of the season. Wrestling is about building character. You both walk out onto the mat as an individual and as a member of a team. Taft's winning dual meet tradition is about that sense of team. Taft wrestlers (all wrestlers) learn the value of hard work, of learning to push through discomfort and finding out that limits are made to be transcended. Taft wrestling is another facet of the school's mission to educate and cultivate the whole person.
Schedule
Schedule
Opponent | Date | Time | Location | Advantage | Type | Details | Result | Score | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
vs.
Taft Rumble
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Home | Details | |||||
vs.
Tabor Academy
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All Day
|
Tabor Academy | Away | Tournament | Details | |||
vs.
Canterbury School
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Home | Details | Win | 48-12 | |||
vs.
Hotchkiss School
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Home | Details | |||||
vs.
Marvelwood School
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Home | Details | Win | 72-0 | |||
vs.
Brunswick School
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Home | Details | 15-61 | ||||
vs.
Choate Rosemary Hall
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|
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Choate Rosemary Hall | Away | Details | 6-78 | |||
vs.
Avon Old Farms School
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|
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Avon Old Farms School | Away | Details | Tie | 39-39 | ||
vs.
Salisbury School
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Avon Old Farms School | Away | Details | Win | 48-33 | ||
vs.
Wilbraham & Monson Academy
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Wilbraham & Monson Academy | Away | Details | POSTPONED: Postponed | |||
vs.
Hopkins School
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Wilbraham & Monson Academy | Away | Details | CANCELLED | |||
vs.
Prep Nationals
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|
All Day
|
Prep Nationals | Away | Details | ||||
vs.
Hotchkiss School
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Home | Details | |||||
vs.
Trinity-Pawling School
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Trinity-Pawling School | Away | Details | ||||
vs.
Forman School
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Home | Details | CANCELLED | ||||
vs.
Western New Englands
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|
All Day
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Western New Englands | Home | Details | ||||
vs.
New Englands
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Phillips Academy at Andover | Away | Details | ||||
vs.
New Englands
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|
All Day
|
Phillips Academy at Andover | Away | Details | ||||
vs.
JV Westerns
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Home | Details | |||||
vs.
Prep Nationals
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|
All Day
|
Prep Nationals | Away | Details |
Roster
Roster
# | Name | Position | Class | Hometown |
---|---|---|---|---|
Jackson Almasian | 2023 | Watertown, CT | ||
Ben Bazarian | 2025 | Ridgefield, CT | ||
Luka Bunnell | 2023 | Bronx, NY | ||
Aarav Dodhia | 2026 | Edison, NJ | ||
Lachlan Hawes | 2023 | Watertown, CT | ||
Jack Johnson | 2023 | Southbury, CT | ||
Chris Joszczyk | 2025 | Southington, CT | ||
Jefferson Kao | 2024 | Hong Kong | ||
Oliver Meuse | 2025 | Ross, CA | ||
Mary Nichols | 2023 | Chapel Hill, NC | ||
Drew Niewinski | 2023 | Wolcott, CT | ||
Jude Okeleke | 2026 | Surulere | ||
Anishka Perera | 2023 | Torrington, CT | ||
Jayden Piparo | 2025 | Bronx, NY | ||
Matt Ramirez | 2023 | Maspeth, NY | ||
Colin Randol | 2023 | Wilton, CT | ||
Elijah Reyes | 2025 | Poughkeepsie, NY | ||
Serafym Rybachkivskyi | 2023 | Chornomorsk | ||
Khai Shulman | 2023 | New York, NY | ||
Carm Sievers | 2025 | Seymour, CT | ||
Matthew Surin | 2024 | Scarsdale, NY | ||
Tori Thorman | 2024 | Denver, CO |
Coaches
Coaches
About Head Coach Greg Hawes
Greg began teaching at Blair Academy in 1994, when former Taft faculty member and former Blair headmaster Chan Hardwick tapped him to be Blair’s writer in residence and help with the wrestling program. After several years of trying to break into screenwriting, the move to the classroom proved a better fit, and Greg has never looked back. Greg eventually returned to Taft, his alma mater, where he is head of the history department. In addition to being an AP U.S. History teacher, he introduced AP Comparative Government to Taft, designed the lower mid history course, served as dean of students in the Taft Summer School, and helped run the Taft Education Center. He is an AP reader for the College Board and has held multiple workshops on teaching research-based writing. Greg now serves as head wrestling coach. He and his wife, Rachael Ryan, also a Taft history teacher, live in Watertown with their two boys, Peyton and Lachlan.
Click the photos below for additional coach bios and contact information
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Head Coach