DEERFIELD — Northfield Mount Hermon wrestling coach Zachary Bates knows all about the tradition and pride of his team’s program.

One of the top prep teams in New England year after year, Bates, who grew up in Leyden and attended Pioneer Valley Regional School before wrestling collegiately at Bridgewater State, took over the program in 2016 with high expectations and has seen incredible success with the Hoggers.

In his first year, he was named Massachusetts Prep Coach of the Year by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame. Last season, he led NMH to a near-New England championship, tying for first place.

“I’ve had a connection to (NMH) since high school,” Bates said. “Going to Pioneer, we used to train together a lot. NMH has had a dominant program for a lot of years so it was really exciting about the opportunity to come home and coach and teach at such a good school. Since I’ve gotten here, I’ve been happy with the kids, not only their ability as wrestlers but their character as human beings. It’s been fun.

“I feel like I’m carrying the torch from Frank Millard when I was a kid,” Bates continued. “He did an amazing job building it up and Rob Buyea took it from there and then Sean Foley was a great coach before me. I’ve just been riding that wave. The success is about the kids. The school supports the program and we have talented kids that come in and make me look good.”

Now in his fourth year with the Hoggers, Bates has a talented team that can compete with the best New England has to offer. 

In a dual meet Wednesday against Deerfield Academy and Avon Old Farms, NMH showed off the depth of its roster. 

The Hoggers picked up a 64-12 win over Avon, dropping just four matches, and lost just one match against the Big Green en route to a 65-6 victory.

Though NMH made it look easy on Wednesday, that hasn’t been the case all season for the Hoggers, as injuries have hurt them in different meets.

“This year, dual meet-wise has been a struggle for us compared to other years because we’ve had so many injuries,” Bates said. “If we’re healthy for the tournament season, we’ll be all right.” 

Guanru Li (113), Tristan Keyser-Parker (126), Hunter Hockensmith (152), Charles McLaughlin (160) and Yudai Huguchi (170) all picked up two wins on the day for NMH, with the Hoggers earning 14 total wins as a team.

Hockensmith, McLaughlin and Huguchi won both of their matches with pins in what was a dominant day for the middle of the lineup for the Hoggers.

It was a solid day for Keyser-Parker, an Ashfield native, on the mat. The sophomore wrestled for Mohawk Trail Regional in middle school, but is now enjoying his transition to the prep scene, where he challenges himself with stiff competition on a daily basis. 

Keyser-Parker is currently ranked sixth in New England at 126 pounds, and he showed off his talent Wednesday with a win against Avon before scoring a first-period pin against DA’s John Chung.

“It was a good day,” Keyser-Parker said. “I feel good. I feel like I wrestled well. I love the team here. Hopefully, I’ll place sixth or better in New Englands this year.”

While it was a great day for NMH, it was a tough outing for an inexperienced DA squad.

The Big Green, who have just four seniors on their roster with wrestling experience, have taken their lumps as the team is largely made up of newcomers to the sport. 

Before losing to the Hoggers, DA suffered a 78-6 defeat to Avon, but wrestling against fierce competition is what head coach Daniel Houston wants for his team. 

“It’s aspirational for our team to build up to their level,” Houston said of the two other squads in action Wednesday. “We have a young team this year and building is part of the game. You learn from going against better wrestlers. It’s been a rough season but we’re a very young team. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores, so we’re in a building phase right now. We’ve faced some losses but we’ve had some individual victories.”

One of those individual victories came from Big Green junior Mat Panikar.

The first-year wrestler had the lone win against NMH, earning a pin over Matt Lam at 132, something Houston was happy to see.

“These kids are national-ranked wrestlers and our kids are walk-ons,” Houston said. “I’m telling them if they can last one period, if they can do one of their moves and if they can come off the mat smiling no matter if it’s a win or loss, that’s what matters for us.”

Now in his second year running the program, Houston is hoping to fill out his roster next season, as DA had to take forfeits at three spots on Wednesday. 

“My three-year plan is to fill out all the weight classes,” Houston said. “This year, we came close, but we’re still forfeiting some. We need some light kids and we need some heavy kids. That’s my three-year goal, which is next season. It’s so important in dual meets because you’re giving up points every time.” 

For NMH, the goals go beyond winning dual meets, as Bates wants his team to improve every time they’re out on the mats.

“In my second year coaching at NMH, I was focusing way too much on winning,” Bates said. “I was putting too much pressure on the kids. Last year, I said we weren’t going to talk about that. We’re a good program but our focus is improving every day, getting better, handling ourselves with class and respecting the people we compete against. These kids work hard so they have high expectations for ourselves. If we handle our business right, practice every day, eat right and prepare the right way, the winning will handle itself.” 

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