Hollis Brookline wrestling takes first at Nor’Easter Invitational
HOLLIS – Brian Bumpus knows there’s more to winning tournaments than having wrestlers reach the finals.
HOLLIS – Brian Bumpus knows there’s more to winning tournaments than having wrestlers reach the finals.
The Hollis Brookline High School wrestling team had three get to the finals Saturday, and although none came out on top, the Cavaliers were still able to walk away with the team title at the Hollis Brookline Nor’Easter Invitational. The Cavs scored 153 points to finish ahead of Bedford (150.5) and Windham (141).
“I’m happy with the tournament win,” Bumpus said. “We didn’t have any champs and we kind of showed that even though we may not win every weight class, we have guys who can wrestle back through the (consolation rounds) and score points for us when it counts. That’s a good thing because at the end of the year, we’re going to need that.”
HB got seconds from Garrett Klausner (120 pounds), Andrew Butler (160) and Wyatt Farwell (170), and also got one third- and two fourth-place finishes. After HB was second in each of its first two tournaments to open the season, Bumpus felt the win was a good sign of where the team is heading.
“We wrestled tough all day,” he said. “I think we made some mistakes in situations where it cost us. If wrestled up to our full potential of where we are at this point in the season, the team scores would have been different.”
Windham had four wrestlers in the final, with Patrick Hume (220) pulling out a 3-1 overtime win against Merrimack’s Lucas Gardenour, who lost for the first time this season. The Jaguars also had seconds from Sam Cavallaro (106), Peter Caron (113) and Jon Ferri (182).
Bobby Heald (285) and Yuri Gromakov (145) both won their weight class for Bedford, as Heald defeated ConVal’s John Voorhees in the finals for the second time in two weeks.
“I wrestled him last week and I pinned him,” Heald said. “I was expecting to pin him again, but this was more of a battle than I thought it would be. I had pins all to the last match. It’s really impressive I think, because he wouldn’t quit and I couldn’t turn him.”
Ben Down (126) and Ryan Belz (195) both finished second for the Bulldogs.
Pinkerton came in fourth with 127.5 points and had three individual winners, with Shayne McCann (113), Tyler Wilson (160) and Dylan Barreiro (195) each taking home first.
Cam Bennett (132) and John Sweeney (170) both finished first for Nashua North, which was fifth overall with 127 points. David Muite (152) also reached the final of his weight class, finishing second.
Campbell finished sixth with 117 points, getting two wrestlers into the finals. Both Tyler McCrady (138) and Marc Boomhower (145) came in second, while the Cougars also had two wrestlers finish third and one fourth.
“I love tournaments like this so we can get the experience,” Campbell coach Bob Gannon said. “If we want to grow our program, this is where we have to wrestle. They know that to be the best, you’ve got to be the best.”
Alvirne, which finished seventh with 113 points, had one first, as Nick Milinazzo (126) won one of the best matches of the day against Bedford’s Dow and was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler. Milinazzo was down the entire match, but managed to pin Dow with just 13.9 seconds left.
“He’s a consistent wrestler,” Alvirne coach John Mirabella said of the sophomore. “It’s reassuring and he’s an example for everybody else on the team. The fight is still the same, regardless of whether he’s winning or losing.”
Goffstown came in ninth with 90 points, and had two wrestlers reach the final. Connor Bourque (138) took first with a 3-1 win over Campbell’s McCrady, while Jacob Nault (132) was second, falling 5-0 to North’s Bennett.
Richie Mills (182) was the lone finalist for Winnisquam, as he defeated Windham’s Ferri 13-4 to take home a first, despite battling illness.
“It’s difficult and hard to breath, but I just pushed through it,” Mills said. “No matter who I wrestle, it’s always my style. The way I wrestle is to make it my match, not your match. It’s nice to see some new techniques from other guys, too, that you don’t usually get to see.”
Two Bishop Guertin wrestlers reached the finals, and both came out on top, as Jordan Rowlette (106) and Brandon Levesque (152) finished first.
“It felt great and it was a great tournament,” Levesque said. “There’s a great turnout and there were a lot of tough matches. You can gauge where you’re going to be at. It’s just a good day to have fun and show your stuff.”
Also taking home a first place as Kingswood’s Brian Lindsay (120).
Team scores
- Hollis Brookline 153
- Bedford 150.5
- Windham 141
- Pinkerton 127.5
- Nashua North 127
- Campbell 117
- Alvirne 113
- Merrimack 98
- Goffstown 90
- Plymouth 77
- Winnisquam 76
- ConVal 71.5
- Newport 67.5
- Bishop Guertin 67
- Nashua South 40
- Kingswood 26
- Franklin 17
- Manchester West 13
- Spaulding 13
- Coe-Brown 5
