Hopkins wrestling opens their season with Bradlee’s Brawl

The Johns Hopkins wrestling team opened their season on Oct. 28 by hosting the annual Bradlee’s Brawl in honor of Bradlee Hillier LaMontagne, a former member of the wrestling team before his untimely death in December 2020. 

During his senior year, LaMontagne was selected to be one of the captains of the Hopkins 2020–2021 wrestling team. He was also named a National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-American due to his record — starting at 157 in his freshman and sophomore years.

Hosted at Goldfarb Gym, the renamed Black and Blue Brawl showcased a set of inter-squad scrimmages from the Jay’s wrestling team. Supporters came from far and wide to watch the team, which was evenly distributed into black and blue teams based on weight class and experience levels. 

Highlight performances include those from graduate student Joe Paul and freshman Jake Hoffman, who were both points away from a technical victory. They were met with roars from the fans in the stands. The three matches ended in pins, with team blue ultimately edging out the win in the end. 

LaMontagne’s legacy at Hopkins was widespread. Along with being named a co-captain of the wrestling team, he was an upstanding student who loved everything from ice cream to spike ball. To reflect his fun-loving attitude, the event included a costume contest to an electric scooter giveaway. A dragon and an orange superhero in the stands were just two of the many costumed fans in attendance. In the end, a trio of princesses and a banana were crowned with the best costume award and a pirate was rewarded with the scooter.

Freshman Kadin Khalloufi, a member of the wrestling team, praised the celebration. 

“Bradlee loved to compete, loved to spend time with his teammates and most importantly loved to have fun,” he said. “The brawl was a lot of fun and was created to honor all three.”

All in all, the event was an excuse for the community to come together, with hundreds of students in attendance, coaches sporting classy Hawaiian shirts and candy available at every entrance. Additionally, many Hopkins wrestling alumni, including 2017 alum Jared Foreman, returned to campus to celebrate the team and his former teammate. 

Bradlee’s Brawl is only one of the many ways LaMontagne’s legacy will continue to grace Hopkins. Just six months ago, Hopkins wrestling held a spikeball tournament called Bradlee’s Bash and the wrestling room was also renamed Bradlee Hillier LaMontagne Wrestling Room. The phrase “no-quit,” a sentiment Bradlee preached on and off the mat, was also patched to every singlet in his honor.