Concord High School Varsity Wrestlers Fall To Bedford, 40-36

CONCORD, NH — The Bedford Bulldogs varsity wrestling team came to Concord on Wednesday undefeated, with 12 wins under their belts, including beating Timberlane, historically some of the best wrestlers in New Hampshire, and then, came away with another win.

The Bulldogs beat the Crimson Tide, 40 to 36.

Concord led for most of the night and, at one point, had a 24 to 6 lead. But Bedford clawed back, winning the next three matches and then, four of the next six matches.

With the junior varsity wrestlers, it was a different story. The Crimson Tide dominated the Bulldogs, 15 to 4.

It was “senior night” on Wednesday and the Tide’s last home match. So, they celebrated with cheerleaders and by giving flowers to the moms of seven senior wrestlers and assistants and feted them for their support of the players and helpers.

Ham Munnell, who has been coaching the team for more than a quarter of a century, said losing so many players was a normal thing for the 2022-2023 season.

“I would say that we are losing less this year,” he said. “Usually, it’s seven or eight kids. But we have a lot in the pipeline.”

At the same time, there are always new wrestlers coming into the program from the Rundlett Middle School. There are also four years’ worth of students to round the roster out.

“It depends on what happens in the off-season,” he said. “What we do this off-season will tell it all … just get our motor going again … we can’t finish the season and come in the same way. We have to come in different … much better.”

There were 20 freshman wrestlers this year, which, he said, was a lot. Some will continue with the team, while others may choose not to.

“It really depends on what they’re doing ... the whole team (actually),” he said. “They need to go get it; they need to kind of figure out a way to train again and not just what we offer. They have to seek it out.”

Results

Weight 106: Isaiah Brien of Concord, forfeit.

113: Peter Rincan of Bedford forfeit.

120: Mykhaylo Samaruck of Bedford over Dominic Schinella of Concord, Fall 5:05.

126: Nathan Pass of Bedford over Hunter Richard of Concord, Decision 6-1.

132: Levi Madison of Concord over Ahmet Saribas of Bedford, Fall 5:56.

138: Seth Hastey of Bedford over Sawyer McCready of Concord, Decision 7-3.

145: Wesley Thompson of Concord over Sam Cowette of Bedford, Fall 0:58.

152: Teghan McConnell of Bedford over Jeydon Wilson of Concord, MD 18-8.

160: Connor Carrier of Bedford over Anthony Gualtieri of Concord, Fall 5:31.

170: Zachary Jones of Bedford over Austin Freire of Concord, Fall 1:48.

182: Rumi Mistry of Concord over Brennen Krause of Bedford, Fall 0:54.

195: Noah Blake of Concord over Tucker Watson of Bedford, Fall 3:59.

220: Austin Wells of Concord over Drake Sutton of Bedford, Fall 1:13.

285: Jacob Benn of Bedford over Nathan Feudner of Concord, Fall 0:15.

Got a news tip? Send it to tony.schinella@patch.com. View videos on Tony Schinella's YouTube.com channel or Rumble.com channel.