Local Wrestlers Place at New Englands

By Betsey Ross

Seabrook Middle School

Four Seabrook Middle School and three Hampton Academy continued their season this weekend as they took part in the New England  Youth Wrestling Championships at Nashua North. 

SMS Wrestlers – Robbie Maclean, Michael Dow, Jaden Lesperance, Dylan Colpitts and Hampton Academy wrestlers – Ryan Boyle, Jared McCann, and John Ferrelli, along with 900 other champion wrestlers from the states of VT, Maine, NH, Mass, CT, and Rhode Island, wrestled off for the illusive title of “New England Champion.” 

Maclean and Dow, in the extremely competitive weight class of 94, had to wrestle each other twice, as they fought their way through their 32 man bracket. The two friends were even in points throughout the two matches, switching the lead over and over again in both matches. In the final few seconds of each match, Dow was able to outscore Maclean by two takedown points, taking both matches. At the end of a long day of wrestling, Dow stood on the championship podium with a 5^th place medal and Maclean finished with a 6^th place medal. The two are now qualified to move on to the Northeastern Championships to be held at Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, PA in May. 

In the 70 pound weight bracket, Lesperance also had a very impressive day – with his final match going into triple overtime – generally a feat that is not seen in the world of wrestling. Unfortuntley Lesperance lost the match, due to the overtime rule that his opponent just happened to score first way back in the first round. Lesperance finished the tournament in 9^th place. 

Colpitts, due to his birthdate, had to be bumped up from the Novice Division to the very tough Middle School Division, and had to wrestle alone without his team mates presence on Sunday. Despite being a first year wrestler in a division filled with 10 year plus wrestlers, Colpitts held his own against the  very experienced competition. Colpitts was able to finish in the top twelve wrestlers in all of New England in his division of 134.   

Joining the Seabrook wrestlers for the weekend were Hampton Academy wrestlers – Boyle, Ferrelli and McCann. The three wrestlers did Hampton proud while competing in their very competitive weight classes of 140, 113 and 70.  Boyle, seeded number 1 in all of New England, had the disadvantage of having byes his first 3 rounds.  In the 4^th round, with extreme pressure on him and the 3 hour wait, dropped his first match of the day.  Boyle wrestled hard the rest of the tournament, but was unable to break into the top 6 places and finished in 12 place – still a very respectable finish at New Englands.  SMS Coach, Jimmy Deshaies stated, “Boyle is an outstanding wrestler, and WHS will be fortunate next year as he brings his talents on the mat to the varsity team.”  

Fan favorites – Ferrelli and McCann also wrestled with good technique and skill, and finished in the top 12 of all of New England. 

Coach Deshaies stated, “It was a pleasure to coach these talented wrestlers today – they all wrestled with good sportsmanship and attitude, even when things went against them, they wrestled hard. Coach Reno couldn’t be there to watch his wrestlers, but he would have been very proud of their finishes.  As for my SMS-4, as they are only in grade 6 and only first year wrestlers – I look forward to next season!”