by Aaron Jaffe ’21

Coming into this season, Sherwood was already at a disadvantage. The Warriors only retained five starting wrestlers (out of the 14 spots needed), making almost two-thirds of the roster open season for 2020.  “I knew we were going to have some growing pains as guys got more experienced,” said senior captain Adam Pfeiffer. 

Led by coach Pete Siarkas, the Warriors tasked themselves to rebuild and fill out the roster. Unfortunately for Sherwood, the new roster had a less than memorable regular season performance. Sherwood finished 6-8 in the regular season, followed by finishing 14th at the county tournament.

Individual wrestlers had a successful year, including senior captains Brandon Holda and Pfeiffer. Holda, who spent all four of his years at Sherwood on the team, placed a solid fourth place in counties. Like Holda, Pfeiffer is a four-year wrestler for Sherwood, finishing his final counties with a second-place finish. 

At regionals, Sherwood’s wrestlers shined. Pfeiffer lived up to his ranking, second in the state, winning the 195 lb weight class. Senior Alex Cohen, in his first year on varsity, won the 152 lb weight class. The other notable finishes included Holda, third, freshman Jace Munoz, fourth, and senior Alessandro Ramirez, fifth, in their respective classes. The five wrestlers qualified for states, with Ramirez being the alternate fifth wrestler. 

At states, Pfeiffer made it to the semi-finals, before falling 2-1 to top-ranked Tim Furgeson of Damascus for the third time this year. Pfeiffer went on to still place third, finishing his final Sherwood season with a 34-3 record. 

Next year already figures to be better for the Warriors, thanks to the infusion of youth into the program. Freshmen Jace Munoz, PJ Webster, and Sam Dickey showed promise in their first year and will likely grow in their sophomore year. Sophomore Liam Haley will also be back for his junior year and incoming freshman and current eight grader, Vasili Siarkas, both project to be contributors for Sherwood in 2021.