Top Wellesley High wrestlers extend seasons at All-States & New Englands
The Wellesley High School wrestling team has been wrapping up its successful season over the past few weeks at sectional and state tournaments, and for a couple of the Raiders’ top performers, things aren’t quite over yet. Two wrestlers—senior Jonah Ginsberg and freshman Claire Roney—placed in the top 5 in their respective weight categories at All-States in Salem, Mass., this past weekend and will now go on to the New England Championship in Providence this coming weekend.
Ginsberg, coming off a first place finish at Sectionals in Springfield in the 175-lb. group, finished the season as the state’s third-ranked wrestler in his weight class (we recently highlighted Ginsberg as an Athlete of the Week).
Wellesley High Coach Chris Sywetz said Ginsberg only lost 1 match at All-States, falling short against Central Catholic’s Nathan Blanchette, who has committed to wrestling at Rutgers next season. Ginsberg will take his talents to NYU.
Roney took fourth as a freshman at 107 pounds in the girls’ All-States.
“Claire is the toughest 14-year-old female walking the streets of Wellesley,” said Sywetz, who is in his third season as head coach. “When we found Claire she was doing boxing and crossfit; she is the equivalent to a walking Swiss army knife. She has had a great season, besting a number of her male opponents and has only lost to 3 girls this season.”
Sywetz, who himself was honored as Coach of the Year by other coaches at the recent Sectionals meet, said he believes this is the first time Wellesley has sent a wrestler to New Englands since Rollie Peterkin in ’06, and that it has been decades since the Raiders have sent two wrestlers to represent the school at the New England Championship. “These are extremely dedicated student athletes that exemplify all the core values we expect out of our Wellesley Raiders,” Sywetz said.
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The team finished its season at 5-5, and has rebuilt itself from having just a few members coming out of the pandemic to almost 30 athletes.
“Honestly the numbers are due to the leadership from guys like Jonah Ginsberg and Darren Jimenez—this has helped us develop as a group,” Sywetz said. “Kids crave structure and our coaches certainly deliver plenty of that. I coach football, wrestling and lacrosse in town, so I am always looking for talent.”
The outlook is good for the 2024-2025 season.
“We have an extremely talented group including returning Captains Oliver Knight and Paul Woods. As well as a plethora of underclass talent led by Dominic Staunton, who is a two-time state qualifier as a freshman,” Sywetz said.
