MYA Wrestling Competes in 25th Annual Jon Spohn Tournament

The Merrimack Youth Wrestling Program competed in the annual 25th Annual Jon Spohn Memorial Wrestling Classic held at Salem High School in Salem, NH on December 30, 2018. Top three in each respective bracket were awarded medals and Merrimack took home seven medals on the day. Fifteen wrestlers from the MYA competed with individual results below:

Kindergartner Bennett Meehan took home third place medal grabbing two wins by pin and one by points on the day.

Kameron Lewis, grade 1, battled his way back in the consi bracket to take third place on the podium in an exciting final win in OT by two points. His other two wins were by pin.

Second grader Cash Torres made a strong showing in his inaugural tournament also earning third place medal. He fell in his initial match by a couple of points. After dropping into the consi bracket he pinned his way through his other three opponents. He faced the same opponent in his final match as his first and ended up pinning him after losing to the same wrestler in first rounds.

Fourth graders Aiden Kennedy and Luke Emond wrestled in the same bracket and ended up wrestling each other in the consi semis. Emond secured one win by pin while Kennedy earned two wins by points on the day, taking home fourth place. Other fourth graders Liam Newman and Rhys Dewar earned second and third place respectively. Newman pinned his way to the championship finals falling by a couple of points in his final match in a back and forth battle. Dewar had three wins by pin on the day and narrowly fell in his single loss by a mere 1 pt in double overtime.

Our fifth grade contingent consisted of Griffin Turgeon, Gryffen Gelinas, Cayden Dine, Nicolin Stevens and Jackson Meehan. Gelinas, Turgeon and Stevens each had one win on the day with Stevens and Turgeon securing their win by pin while Gelinas had a win by points. Meehan had one win by points and one win by pin, grabbing fourth place in the consi finals. And Dine took home second place medal, pinning his first match, beating his second opponent by points and narrowly falling by a few points in the championship finals.

Ivey Johnson, grade 6 pinned her way to the championship finals where she fell by a couple of points to take home second place medal.

Seventh graders Emily Angelo and Mitchell Krupp each had one win by pin on the day battling tough in their respective brackets.

The Merrimack Youth Wrestling Program is part of the Merrimack Youth Association. It strives to provide a safe recreational activity for Merrimack children in grades K-8. The program promotes the sport of wrestling, the world's oldest sport, by providing a safe practice environment, by delivering high quality instruction, and by facilitating tournament competition opportunities. The Program is in its 14th season and currently has 40 wrestlers on its roster.

Photo caption 1: Gryffen Gelinas cradling his opponent

Photo caption 2: Liam Newman pulling down on the arm of his competition

Photo caption 3: Cash Torres running the half

Photo caption 4: Emily Angelo in neutral position

Photo caption 5: Luke Emond trying to pull his opponent to the mat

Photo caption 6: Kameron Lewis completing one of his two pins on the day

Photo caption 7: Bennett Meehan trying to work his competition off their belly