Over the weekend of May 1-3, 7 Belmont Hill wrestlers traveled to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, to compete in the annual Prep Nationals tournament typically hosted at the end of every wrestling season. While the circumstances for this event were drastically different than normal with no qualifying tournament or regular season beforehand, this tournament felt as normal as possible given the situation.
Furthermore, with ample safety precautions having been taken including numerous COVID tests, quarantining, social distancing, and mask wearing among other precautions, the Belmont Hill team would remain could enjoy the opportunity to its fullest extent. As the first competition that the Belmont Hill wrestling team was able to compete in for over a year, the Belmont Hill wrestlers were eager to take part in this unique event, and accordingly Belmont Hill performed very well throughout the lineup.
After two long days of competition, two Belmont Hill wrestlers – Cord Vallis (Form III) and Jimmy Harrington (Form V) – emerged as All Americans. Furthermore, while Cord became only the 6th freshman in Belmont Hill history to achieve All American status, Jimmy became only the 3rd Belmont Hill wrestler to ever become a national champ having won the entire tournament. These two wrestlers highlighted a series of great performances by Belmont Hill wrestlers, all of whom were grateful for even the mere opportunity to be able to compete. Furthermore, while this first tournament concluded the season of Belmont Hill wrestling, all members of the team including both the Prep National attendees and those who were unable to participate eagerly look forward to a hopefully more normal season next year.
