“Saturday was a great day for Dalton Wrestling,” head coach Cory Cowles said. “The coaches have been talking about being aggressive and taking control of the matches, and they did just that.”

Dalton finished 18-2 overall. The 175-lb championship opposed two Tigers, with senior Carlos Rohm defeating junior Jake Kleinhandler. 

“It’s all love between me and Jake,” Rohm said. “Wrestling him for the gold medal shows we’re all about friendly competition. We can be competitors on the mat, but we still learn from each other and have a great time. It was honestly really fun. We laughed about it after.”

In matches against other schools, Dalton notched a 17-1 record. All 17 wins were via pin with Dalton delivering 25 takedowns and allowing just one takedown. The Tigers surrendered points in only 4 of those 18 matches. Senior Stephan Leathers was victorious at 126 lbs while junior Chris Brown secured gold at 150. Promising sophomore Hank Weller won his first tournament title in the 165-lb finals. 

“A big part of it is getting used to competition and being in the training room every time imagining it’s the real thing,” Weller said. “I don’t like to watch my opponents compete before I compete with them. If I stay focused on my goal no matter who my opponent is, then I will believe I’m going to win no matter how I see them perform.” Weller remains undefeated this season. 

Junior Errol Henry also sits undefeated and claimed his first championship at 138 lbs. Henry battled a variety of injuries his first two seasons.

“It was fulfilling,” Henry said. “It showed me the work I was putting in was working. I put some work in over the fall before the season. I think every second I practiced really counted. I used everything I learned and stuck to my techniques, and that’s what helped me get the gold.”

Sophomore Shiv Lalvani, wrestling at 110 lbs, joined Kleinhandler as a silver medalist. Cowles noted his coaching staff largely knew what to expect from most of Saturday’s participants, but two grapplers caught his attention.

“It was amazing to watch both Chris and Shiv do as well as they did,” Cowles said. “Shiv wrestled in the first match of the tournament and won it via pin. That started off the entire day, and each wrestler built off of that excitement. Chris winning his weight class was also special. It is always great to see first-year wrestlers have success, and it is rare to see it so early.”

Mount Saint Michael Academy edged Dalton for first place as a team, but the Tigers entered about half as many wrestlers. Hackley, Lexington, Long Island Lutheran, Martin Luther, and Stony Brook also competed Saturday. 

Dalton next hosts Horace Mann on Wednesday, December 17 at 4:15 PM.