RJ Chakolis Breaks Record for Most Wrestling Wins

In the first wrestling meet of the season, RJ Chakolis, senior, reached one of his biggest milestones yet. 

Defeating a Lakeville North freshman 9-3 gave RJ his 158th varsity win, setting a new HHS record. 

RJ has been wrestling varsity ever since he was in sixth grade, and has had many mentors from then until now, one being head coach Derrick Agate. The record that RJ broke was previously held for nearly a decade by Alec Agate, the son of the head coach. 

Agate was present when both his son and RJ broke the school record.

“I was hoping that my son’s record would be broken at some point. I’m ecstatic that I was the coach at the time when it happened because I have been coaching RJ for so long,  so I was very excited that he was the one who did it. That record is going to be around for a while,” said Agate.

RJ won the state championship last year wrestling in the 195 pound weight class. It had been almost 50 years since a wrestler from HHS had won an individual state championship.

Winning a state title was great, but breaking the HHS record was also exciting for the senior wrestler.

“Breaking the record for the most wins was something I had been looking forward to since my 7th-grade year because I was wrestling at such a young age and I always knew it could happen. When it happened, it was like a big weight off my shoulders and it made it a lot easier on myself not worrying about it anymore,” said Chakolis. 

RJ gives credit to coach Agate for helping him reach the amount of success he has reached so far in his high school career.

“Coach Agate has been coaching me since I was in 6th grade, so he has taught me a lot of really good things about wrestling,” said Chakolis. “Having him as a coach since I started wrestling at HHS has been great, especially since he knows a lot about wrestling and he had a successful career himself so he can just correct me and make sure I am doing everything right.”

RJ is looking forward to the rest of the season, and he aims to stay undefeated throughout the regular season. 

His goal is to become state champion once again, and he is working hard every day to ensure that his goal becomes a reality.