Aiden Hebert ’25
Contributing Writer
It has been 19 years since Trinity Wrestling has secured back-to-back winning seasons. With a team of 27, and ten starting spots, the Trinity wrestlers have battled their way through each and every competition, striving to accomplish their personal goals and re-write history.
Leaving February 24th, Trinity competed in the 2023 Northeast Regional Championship, located in Southern Maine. As they prepared for competition, the team was full of excitement and laughter. The brackets were set, and each athlete was battling for a spot on the podium and a ticket to Nationals. In this two-day tournament, making it to the semi-finals or winning in the consultation quarter-finals, automatically place you in the top 8, securing your participation in the second day. In addition, the top three place winners go to Nationals, and continue their season for another two weeks in hope of achieving the honorable All-American or National Champion status. Trinity sent five wrestlers to the second day, Adam Schaeublin ’26, Christopher Perry ’25, Adam Frost ’24, Kevin Lyskawa ’23, and Anders Klass ’23. The effort of all ten wrestlers placed Trinity at 6th, above all other NESCAC schools.
This accomplishment wasn’t the only commendable performance. 2018 was the last time the school sent wrestlers to Nationals. The Trinity wrestling coaches are proud to announce two wrestlers, Adam Schaeblin (’26) and Christopher Perry (’25), are headed to Roanoke, Virginia, to compete at the 2023 DIII National Wrestling Championship.
As Adam Schaeublin, a freshman, prepared himself for his first year of collegiate wrestling, he had to deal with the difficulty of acclimating to college. “It’s a whole different game in college,” Schaeublin said. As the season progressed, Schaeublin understood the responsibility and effort necessary to succeed, and saw every day as an opportunity to compete and enjoy life. Whether it was dealing with defeat, making weight, or the rigor of school, Schaeublin felt grateful for the camaraderie of the team. “I don’t think it gets talked about enough,” Schaeublin said, “There were ten guys that got to wrestle at regionals, but there wouldn’t have been ten if there weren’t the thirty that were in practice everyday.”
The support he received motivated his performance at regionals with a victory over the number 1 ranked wrestler in the region from Springfield, alongside an upset against an opponent from Bridgewater. These two victories secured his placement in the finals and a trip to the National tournament. Schaeublin was very thankful of the team and wanted to recognize some teammates in particular. “Shout out the team honestly, Heebs [Aiden Hebert] drilling with me everyday, Ski [Christian Dwirantwi] always being in my ear, Cooper Kelley, Greg Deeley, I’ve been through so much with them,” Schaeublin said. “The upperclassmen Anders, Kevin, Nico, they’ve done so much keeping me grounded and reassuring me.”
Perry, sophomore captain, was just as thrilled to declare his future competing at Nationals. Before the match, while he warmed up, he felt a little pre-match anxiety. “You’re alone with your thoughts thinking, how am I going to pull this off?” Perry said. “What am I going to do? What’s going to happen? The next seven minutes are a complete uncertainty.” Regardless of the anxiety, Perry was triumphant in his efforts, “I remember walking off the mat and giving the coaches a hug.” After beating his opponent from Coast Guard 3-1 in his match, Perry placed 3rd at Regionals and secured his ticket to Nationals. Throughout the year, Perry overcame the doubts of falling short in one of the first tournaments, but this didn’t stop him from achieving a winning season, going to Nationals, and hopefully becoming an All-American. He found a way to help relieve the pressure or doubts of competition through jokes, listening to old light-hearted or funny songs, and just keeping it casual. Perry has become more comfortable with his style of wrestling and wants to acknowledge his drilling partner Finn McGovern ’23 for pushing him throughout the year. As the team wishes Perry luck in the following weeks at Nationals, he wanted to pay homage to his teammates. “We only have ten starters, there’s a lot of unseen work that goes on in the practice room, and I think that’s a huge part of the team and the culture we’ve created here at Trinity,” Perry said. “I know I wouldn’t have reached my goals without my other teammates. The work they put in goes unnoticed, but it’s vital to the success of the team.”
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