WJ’s wrestling team started off its season winning two great matches by a landslide and eventually finishing with a record of 22-7.

In the first match, the team dominated against Wheaton with a score of 82-0, and the team continued its success against Kennedy with another big win of 73-3.

The team also placed second in their division out of 14 schools, and won first place at the Big Train dual meet.

“I feel pretty good about this season,” said junior co-captain Elad Covaliu. “To be honest, I didn’t really know what to except at first, but once I started beating out some good competition in the regular season, I set my sights high for the post season.”

Covaliu also made a season for himself by going into the MCPS Championships at 36-0, winning the 4A West Region at Regionals and placing second at states.

“My goals for next year are simple: go back and win it all,” said Covaliu. “I was only [one] win shy of going undeafted and winning states this year and next year, I won’t settle for anything less than first.

As for coach Tom Wheeler, winning matches was great, but losing some was definitely a disappointment.

“We had three close losses, which I would have liked to win, and had three major injuries,” said Wheeler. “[Senior] Jon Wolman did not get to wrestle because of his shoulder and he would have certainly added a lot of wins in the middle of the lineup, but people filled in capably and there was strength up and down the lineup.”

Even though the season had its ups and downs, Wheeler was still very proud.

“I was very pleased by the season and that we met all our goals,” said Wheeler. “The team worked hard and was successful, and since almost all of them return, [we] intend to be successful next year.”

Looking forward, Covaliu feels that the team has some things to improve on for next year.

“I think that  the team could work on preparing more in the offseason to better our technique and to learn a wider variety of moves,” he said.