The Watertown wrestlers had a successful return to the mats when five Raiders placed in the top five at the Wakefield Lisitano Tournament on Dec. 13.
Jimmy Shrestha and Hagop Shabazyan each finished second, while Fahad Khan and Billy Werra placed third, and Ruben Kostanyan got fifth place, said Watertown Wrestling Coach Kevin Russo.
“It was a good day overall. Last year we had three wrestlers place top five (third, and two fourths) so we definitely improved,” Russo said. “Jimmy made it to his first finals and Ruben is a freshman so that was a great showing on his part. He actually pinned a wrestler in his last match for fifth that pinned him earlier in the day, which is never easy.”
The Watertown wrestling program has enjoyed some success in recent years, with two athletes reaching the New England Wrestling Championships last year, but those wrestlers have graduated.
The sport continues to grow in Watertown. In 2025-26, the program has 60 wrestlers combined between the middle school and high school, Russo said.
“Last year, we had 42 between the two teams at this point. The sport is really growing in Watertown which has been a huge help to our program,” Russo said. “We have a couple starters out of the line up (junior and senior) and the young athletes have stepped up for us.”
The Raiders are preparing for the first home meet of the season, on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. against Josiah Quincy Upper School. The meet will be held at Hosmer Elementary School, 1 Concord Ave.
See the Watertown High School Wrestling schedule by clicking here https://arbiterlive.com/Teams/Schedule/7731409?activeEntityId=24909