Wrestlers pin a place at States

After a disappointing 3-11 season, Blair's wrestling team has answered back, fighting its way into the running at the regional tournament held at Sherwood High School on Mar 1. Four of the six Blazers competing placed and three advanced to the state tournament.

The regional tournament turned out much better for Blair than the county tournament.  While only two wrestlers placed in Counties, both earning second, four placed in Regionals.  Juniors Scott Nguyen (103), Hansel Cedeno (171) and Muamba Muanankese (189) placed third in their individual weight classes while junior Herb Morsha-Taylor placed fifth in the heavyweight division.

Nguyen found unexpected success at the regional tournament.  Originally given the eighth seed, Nguyen overcame many opponents who had defeated him earlier in the season to place high in the competition.  "I wrestled much better than anyone had thought," Nguyen said.  "I was just on a roll."

The county tournament is traditionally held before the regional tournament but concluded nearly a week later than scheduled due to weather conditions. Counties, which is held annually at Blair's Nelson H. Kobren Memorial Gymnasium, followed suit with the Blazers' disappointments earlier in the season.

Of the nine Blair wrestlers competing, only Muanankese and Cedeno and made it past the first two rounds, seeding them first and second at the regional tournament, respectively.

Due to their success at Regionals, Nguyen, Cedeno and Muanankese were invited to compete in States on Mar 7 and 8, where Nguyen placed 6th and both Cedeno and Muanankese placed 8th in their respective divisions. All three are returning next season and hope to avenge the team's poor showing in the regular season and county tournament this year.