Concord Places 2nd, Salem, Amherst Place 6th At Minickiello Wrestling Invitational

KEENE, NH — Dozens of wrestlers from four states competed in Keene for the 2023 Annual David Minickiello Holiday Invitational wrestling tournament on Saturday.

The event, put on by the Keene High School Blackbird Wrestling program, lasted nearly 12 hours, as wrestlers competed in multiple matches in various weight classes. Keene placed first while Concord came in second on points. Spaulding High School of Barre, Vermont, came in third with Otter Valley Union High School of Brandon, VT, coming in fourth. Bow High School rounded out the Top 5. Schools from Maine and Massachusetts also attended, but the majority of schools participating were from New Hampshire.

The event marked the 58th year of varsity wrestling in Keene. In 1965, David Minickiello formed the team. At the time, only Timberlane Regional High School had the only program in the state. While coaching Keene kids, he went 361-84, with five ties, including 10 state titles and 17 invitational titles.

Minickiello mentored more than 60 wrestlers who went on to win titles — including 51 New England place winners and four earning All-New England recognitions.

Organizers noted the event was named in his honor due to his accomplishments and his work advancing the sport of wrestling in New Hampshire and New England.

“This tournament is just one exemplar of the inspiration of this competitive spirit,” they noted in the event’s program.

Minickiello retired from coaching about a quarter of a century ago but was on hand for Saturday's event.

School Results

1. Keene High School: 248

2. Concord High School: 209.5

3. Spaulding High School, Barre, VT: 186.5

4. Otter Valley Union High School, Brandon, VT: 174

5. Bow High School: 155

6. Salem High School and Souhegan High School/Amherst and Mont Vernon (tied): 120

8. Noble High School, North Berwick, ME: 112

10. Portsmouth High School and Team Zeras/Concord High School (tied): 100

11. John Stark Regional High School, Weare: 98

12. Frontier Regional High School, Deerfield, MA: 88

13. Keasarge Regional High School, Sutton: 79

14. Manchester Memorial High School: 74.5

15. Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical School, Palmer, MA: 73.5

16. Lebanon High School: 62

17. ConVal Regional High School: 61

18. Campbell High School, Litchfield: 49

19. Bedford High School: 29

20. Monadnock Regional High School: 26.5

21. Newport Middle High School and Raymond High School (tied): 13

23. White Mountains Regional High School: 8

24. Dover High School: 0

Individual Results

Weight 106

1. Coy Lyford, Spaulding
2. Taran Prak, Pathfinder
3. Lily Runez, Keene
4. Alex Luedke, Noble
5. Isaiah Brien, Concord
6. Will Healy, Lebanon

Weight 113

1. Alex Lenfest Salem
2. Maddie Brown Souhegan
3. Shane Sanborn, Manchester Memorial
4. Seth Starkey, Nobel
5. Thomas Given, Otter Valley
6. Ethan Deroche, Raymond

Weight 120

1. Peyton Gowell, Keene
2. Griffin Norwalt, Concord
3. Adler Moura, Bow
4. Logan Smith, Salem
5. Cullen Burke, Zeras (Concord)
6. Ivan Keever, Souhegan

Weight 126

1. Carter Trubiano, Keene
2. Tucker Levasseur, Noble
3. Leo Johnson, Spaulding
4. Hunter Richard, Zeras (Concord)
5. Chase Knuckles, Souhegan
6. Blake Ploss, Newport

Weight 132

1. Logan Brown, Souhegan
2. Lincoln Wilcox, Otter Valley
3. Carter Spencer, Keene
4. Levi Madison, Concord
5. Austyn Bruce, Noble
6. Jaxon Carter, Zeras (Concord)

Weight 138

1. Elias Kalat, Spaulding
2. Silas Runez, Keene
3. Caleb Whitney, Otter Valley
4. Cam Monahan, Salem
5. Sawyer McCready, Concord
6. Reilly O'Brien, Salem

Weight 145

1. Nick Wray, Bow
2. Alexavier Waters, Keene
3. Jonathan Belkus, Salem
4. John Marcellus, Spaulding
5. Elvis Myles, Portsmouth
6. Wesley Thompson, Concord

Weight 152

1. Logan Allaire, Campbell
2. Tucker Babcock, Otter Valley
3. Dylan Selby, Kearsarge
4. Christian Knuckles, Souhegan
5. Jeydon Wilson, Concord
6. Ben McDowell, Bow

Weight 160

1. Jack Hebert, Keene
2. Landin Larrabee, Spaulding
3. Miles Keefe, Frontier
4. Eric Bergeron, ConVal
5. Chase Cram, Otter Valley
6. Josiah Funches, Bow

Weight 170

1. Conner Hoffman, Frontier
2. Colby Reid-Lamonda, Spaulding
3. Seth Adams, Monadnock
4. Joseph McDowell, Bow
5. Stephen Johnston, John Stark
6. Owen Hope, Keene

Weight 182

1. Rumi Mistry, Concord
2. Isaac Whitney, Otter Valley
3. Jackson Hall, Bow
4. Solomon Page, ConVal
5. Deltyn Williams, John Stark
6. Ben Nelson, Lebanon

Weight 195

1. Chris Robbins, ConVal
2. Elijah Josey, Portsmouth
3. Hollis Jones, Bow
4. Jake Mattson, Frontier
5. Patrick Vachon, Manchester Memorial
6. Alex Descoteau, John Stark

Weight 220

1. Austin Wells, Concord
2. Charlie Turner, Portsmouth
3. Colby Cummings, Kearsarge
4. Keevon Parks, Otter Valley
5. Evan Ray, Keene
6. Lukas Boulanger, John Stark

Weight 285

1. Jason Canavan, Keene
2. Yexiel Opio, Pathfinder
3. Nathan Feudner, Concord
4. Jayden Kuilan, Manchester Memorial
5. Derek Li, Otter Valley
6. Isaac Coker, John Stark

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