Concord has put together a nice string of wrestling seasons, finishing second in Division I last year after two straight third-place finishes. Those Crimson Tide teams had talent, grit and leadership. This year’s version of the Tide inherited all that, and it also brings something extra to the table.
“The past three or four years we’ve had some great teams, but this group has brought it just a little more,” Concord Coach Ham Munnell said. “There’s a certain old-school mentality in the room that I haven’t seen for maybe 10 years. They’re just a little tougher. I usually try to make it fun, but I haven’t tried to make it fun this year and they don’t care. I don’t have to pull out the dodge balls. These guys are tough. They want to go and just keep going.”
The Tide showed that toughness in Wednesday night’s opener, a 65-17 win at home against Alvirne. Concord won seven of the matches with a pin, one with a technical fall decision and three by forfeit.
“I think our team wrestled tough, and we’ve got a few younger kids out there. It’s nice to see them control themselves in front of the big crowd,” said senior captain Jake Pickard, who claimed a 16-0 win at 152 pounds. “A lot of our team put in a lot of work in the offseason, I’d say more than usual. Hopefully it turns out to benefit us. I think it will. We’re looking pretty sharp in the room.”
No one has put in more work than Concord’s two returning D-I champs – seniors George Tarwo and Chris Munnell – and the D-III champ who transferred to Concord – junior Ben Widmann, who won back-to-back D-III titles for John Stark the last two years and finished runner-up at the 2016 Meet of Champions at 132 pounds.
“George and Chris and Ben probably put the most work in,” Coach Munnell said. “Chris had 52 matches in the offseason, George is up there and Ben has done close to that, and those are the guys that are the state champs.”
Tarwo was the D-I and MOC champion at 182 last year, and he made quick work of his opponent from Alvirne on Wednesday night. Munnell had to sit out the match against Alvirne for an incident at the end of the football season, but no one was cheering louder from the Tide bench. Once he returns, Munnell will be moving up a weight class to 160 (he was the 152 D-I champ last year), but he should once again be earning big points for the Tide.
Widmann flashed quickness, skill and strength in his first moment wrestling for Concord. Right off the opening whistling against Alvirne’s Frank Roark, Widmann picked Roark’s ankle, lifted him off the mat and nearly pinned him instantly. Roark fought off the initial assault, but Widmann worked the fall less than a minute later.
“Ben is a good kid, a quality human being,” Munnell said. “It’s nice to get a good wrestler with that type of integrity.”
Returning varsity wrestlers Liddon Ling (145) and Isaac Gladey (170) both won by pin against Alvirne and looked good doing it. Senior Jake Linquata (113) won by forfeit, but Munnell is happy with how much work he’s put in. The coach also expects good things from another lightweight, freshman Sam Wagner (106), who was a New England finalist at the middle school level last year.
On the other end of the weight spectrum, Concord is in good hands with Noah Giffard (195), Alex Buteau (220) and Austin Lewis (285). Buteau wrestled against Alvirne’s heavyweight and turned in a workman-like pin.
Senior Danil Noordergraaf earned a third-period pin at 120 for Concord before Alvirne sent out its two state champs – Nicholas Milinazzo (126) and Cam McClure (132). Concord sophomore Nick Bunch lost to Milinaazo and sophomore Forest Mackenzie lost to McClure, but Munnell has high hopes for both his young wrestlers.
“I thought (Mackenzie) brought it to him and put him in jeopardy,” Munnnell said. “Forest is a great runner (he finished fifth overall at the D-I cross country championship this fall), but I think he’s a better wrestler, I really do, he’s that good. The ceiling on him is high.”
Munnell thinks the ceiling for his team is high, too, but he knows taking that final step from runner-up to champ is a doozy in New Hampshire, where Timberlane has won 15 of the last 16 D-I titles and 13 straight MOC crowns.
“We want to do a lot, and to win states in New Hampshire you have to do a lot,” Munnell said. “But our goals are high and these guys are capable of doing anything.”
“I’m not going to say much, I don’t want to jinx us, but we’ve got some pretty high hopes,” Pickard said. “I think we just have to stay tough and work hard in the room. We’ve got a really tight-knit team, we all bond really well. There’s a lot of love in the room, and that’s what we like to see.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3371 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timoullivan20.)
WRESTLING
Bow 48, Pelham 23
Key players: Bow – Aidan Hyslop (sophomore, 160 pounds), Jack Olsen (senior, 182) and Michael York (senior, 113) all had pins.
Highlights/key moments: With nine freshman on an 18-member roster, Bow will look for more strong performances from its younger wrestlers like Hyslop while relying on the consistency of its upperclassmen.
Coach’s quote: “We have a lot of work to do, but we look strong.” – Bow’s Brock Hoffman
Franklin 18, John Stark 6
Key players: Franklin – Lucas Ford (160 pounds), Kyle LaVoy (285)
Highlights/key moments: The Golden Tornadoes won the match with LaVoy’s victory by decision in the 285-pound weight class.
Coach’s quote: “This was our first dual meet win in a few years.” – Franklin’s Jeffrey Kaplan