Nashua North wrestling tops Concord in season opener

NASHUA – There typically isn’t much hype surrounding the opening night of high school wrestling matches, but Wednesday’s dual meet between Concord and Nashua North wasn’t just any match.

The meet featured a rematch between Joe Chimelski of North and Walters Ndi of Concord, who faced each other last year in the 195-pound championship match in Division I and at the Meet of Champions. Ndi took the D1 title, while Chimelski returned the favor at MOCs.

The pair of seniors didn’t disappoint in the early-season contest, as Chimelski scored late in the third period to take a 5-2 win over Ndi. That win helped the Titans to a 43-25 victory over the Crimson Tide, their first loss in a dual meet to anyone other than Timberlane in nine years.

“I was excited to see how the team came together as a group,” Chimelski said. “This is a great way to start the year. It’s a major confidence builder for these guys. They’re all really excited for every match and we’re just going to get better after every match.”

The Titans also got wins from their other big guns, as Marcel LaPlante (113, pin), Cam Bennett (126, pin) and Peter Daniels (132, 10-8) all picked up victories. Cole Nickerson (106), Evan Manns (182) and Jack Stone (145) also had pins for North while Hanzla Sheikh (220, 11-5) and John Sweeney (152, 9-1) also won their matches.

Ian Wager (160), Calvin Crowell (170) and Dylan Naylor (285) each recorded a pin for the Tide, while Concord also got wins from Connor Stadnicki (120, 12-4) and Chris Munnell (138, 9-7).

Munnell’s win came in overtime against North’s David Muite, who led 6-3 after the first four minutes. Naylor’s pin was also in extra time, coming at 7:47 of his match against Eric Blecharczky.

But Concord just didn’t have enough in too many of the other close matches.

“You’ve got to win those, the 50-50s we call them,” Concord coach Ham Munnell said. “It’s been a slow start and we’ve got a lot of young kids. We’re a little out of shape. We’ve got a lot of football guys, and I’m just back in the room after missing the first week.

“North looked good. They have good seniors and good leadership and good coaches over there. They were up for it and they have a good team.”

Chimelski believes so, too, and he was excited to get the opportunity to face Ndi, despite it being the first match of the season.

“I was ready to wrestle him,” Chimelski said. “I was psyched about this match. Everyone was going back and forth and saying who was going to win.

“It’s a tough way to come out, but I was really excited for that because if you think about it, that’s a great way to start your year. I’m going against one of the top kids in the state, one of the top kids in New England. I was really excited to wrestle him and see what I got.”

The two were scoreless after one and Chimelski took a 1-0 lead when Ndi elected to let him up at the start of the second period. The Concord senior went on top 2-1, but Chimelski tied it before the end of the period with another escape.

Both wrestlers began to tire in the third, and it looked like Ndi might have the advantage when he lifted Chimelski off the ground while the North senior was on Ndi’s back. But Chimelski regrouped and scored the winning points moments later.

“I got him over the back and reversed him on the top,” Chimelski said. “I was ready to go to overtime with him because I trusted that I could take him down. But taking him down in regulation takes away any controversy of who won the match.”