Winning a Division title is a challenge. Winning a state title a week later against the same opponent is even tougher. But that’s what Concord’s Sam Wagner and Alex Buteau managed to do, following up last weekend’s Division I crowns by winning the 106- and 220-pound titles, respectively, during Saturday’s Meet of Champions at Nashua South.
Just like the D-I championships, Concord placed second as a team.
Isaac Gladey (runner-up at 170 pounds), Isaac Habimana (third at 152) and Noah Giffard (third at 195) joined Wagner and Buteau as the five Tide wrestlers who qualified for New Englands next Saturday in Providence, R.I.
Cam Cate finished sixth at 132 and all 13 of Concord’s wrestlers who competed won at least one match and scored points.
Longtime powerhouse Timberlane won with 251.5 points. Concord (140.5) and Pinkerton (124.5) rounded out the top three.
While it took Wagner, a sophomore, until the last 15 seconds of the D-I finals to take down Timberlane’s Nick Roeger, Wagner wasted no time Saturday, earning a trip to New Englands and a state title with a decisive 10-1 victory over Roeger in the rematch.
“Sam got healthier from last week,” said Concord head coach Ham Munnell, referring to the illness that Wagner battled last weekend. “He had great composure. It’s harder to beat someone over and over again. For Sam, it wasn’t close, he just dominated. This week he opened it up and did a nice job.
Wagner didn’t waste any time in his quarterfinal or semifinal matches either, topping Goffstown’s Alden Harvey and D-III champion Noah Dutkewych of White Mountains with pins at 1:35 and 3:55.
Senior captain Buteau had a similar MOC final to his D-I final, winning a 3-2 decision over Pinkerton’s Robert Fahey on Saturday. Buteau defeated in a Fahey in a narrow 1-0 decision in the D-I title match. This was the fourth time that Buteau and Fahey have grappled with each other this season. The pair split their two regular-season meetings.
“(Fahey) is pretty good. He has New England aspirations,” Munnell said.
Buteau needed some time to do it, but secured wins over Nashua South’s Nathaneal Tejeda and Keene’s Kyle Garappy by pin (at 4:22 and 5:25) to earn his spot in the finals.
Junior Isaac Gladey defeated Salem’s Dylan McKeon in the quarterfinals by pin and Timberlane’s Brandon Berube in the semifinals in a 10-1 major decision to reach the finals.
ConVal’s Dan Curran, the D-II champion and a contender for a New England title, pinned Gladey 1:35 in the final match.
“(Gladey) did great. He’s a great kid,” Munnell said. “He and senior Isaac Habimana are only in their third year of wrestling ever. They’ve come a long way. They didn’t know how to put their shoes on or how what the head gear was. They know a lot more now.”
Munnell emphasized the performance of all 13 wrestlers who competed, including Jack Sargent (113), Ethan Comeau (120), Trey Fortier (126), Nick Bunch (138), Ben Widmann (145), Habimana (152), Tyler Simpson (160) and Hugh Gunnison (182).
“Timberlane was a little out of reach for us, but we wanted to beat everyone else and we did,” Munnell said. “We needed all of the guys to help the team win. There wasn’t a soft match out there. Everybody did as much as they possibly could for the team.”
Munnell said the team’s depth is a reflection of “a great coaching staff,” which includes assistants Nick Zeras, Bob Daniels, Dan Breen, John Widmann, Vinny Benincasa and Troy Colby.
Bow finished 23rd as a team with 25 points and was led by Mark Borak’s fifth-place finish at 152.
Kearsarge (15 points) finished 27th behind Mason Benedict’s fifth-place finish at 132.
John Stark (7) and Coe-Brown (5) finished 30th and 32nd, respectively.
Concord 7, Bishop Guertin 4
Key players: Concord – Colin Kastle (3 goals), Shane Riley (goal), Derek Kelleher (goal, assist), Matt Hauschild (goal), Andrew Paquette (2 assists), Devin Philbrick (2 assists), Spencer Burgess (23 saves)
Highlights/key moments: Kastle scored a hat trick to lead the Tide to a win that wrapped up the top seed for Concord in the Division I tournament. With the score tied 3-3 heading into the third period, Concord broke the tie 4:30 into the period and Kastle scored 1:30 later to give Concord a 5-3 lead. The Cardinals scored shortly after to make the score 5-4, but Kastle completed his hat trick 40 seconds to double the Tide’s lead. The game was even until the third. The score was tied 1-1 after the first period. Concord had a 30-27 advantage in shots.
Coach’s quote: “This was a big win. Guertin is a good team. We’re certainly happy about the way we played. It’s the tournament now, so its one game a time.” – Concord’s Dunc Walsh
Records: Concord 16-2-0; Bishop Guertin 11-6-1
Portsmouth-Newmarket 2, Bow 1
Key players: Bow – Ben Tobeler (goal), Ryan Tobeler (assist)
Highlights/key moments: The Falcons tied the game 1-1 in the first period, but Portsmouth-Newmarket scored again to secure the win the regular-season finale for both teams.
Records: Portsmouth-Newmarket 6-12; Bow 3-14
Moultonborough-Inter-Lakes 4,
Kearsarge-Plymouth 1
Key players: M-I-L – Alex Sorokin (3 goals), Garrett McCarthy (goal), Hunter Sanders (35 saves)
Highlights/key moments: The Renegades won their regular-season finale, securing a spot in the D-III tournament.
Records: M-I-L 8-9-1; Kearsarge-Plymouth 4-14-0
Hopkinton 62, Mascenic 37
Key players: Hopkinton – Kevin Newton-Delgado (14 points), Dustin Rose (13 points), Zachary Signor (12 points), Kevin McGrath (11 points), Caleb Yianakopolis (8 points), Jake Tomlinson (4 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Hawks’ defense and size advantage was too much for the Vikings, as Hopkinton held Mascenic to seven points in the first quarter and four points in the fourth. The Hawks extended their lead in the opening and closing frames of Friday night’s game, scoring 14 and 15 points, respectively.
Coach’s quote: “I was very happy to see how much pride they took in getting stops tonight, which turned into fast-break points. They held a very good team to one shot opportunities and extended their offense with second chances. The selfless ball movement allowed four players to score in double digits.” – Hopkinton’s Stephen Signor
Records: Hopkinton 16-2; Mascenic 13-5
Nashua North 42, Concord 36
Key players: Concord – Kasie Maloney (8 points), Caitlyn Kelley (7 points), Brighid Weeden (7 points), Gabby Evans (rebounding)
Highlights/key moments: The Tide trailed the Titans at halftime, 21-14, but cut the deficit to five points after the third quarter and to two points with two minutes left in the game, but Concord couldn’t complete the rally in its season finale Friday night.
Coach’s quote: “This season has been about progressive growth. We’ve grown as a group from the first day. We’ve had ups and downs, but our girls never stopped competing. We learned a lot from each other this year and for that I am thankful. This is just the beginning for us. Our seniors will move on, but have made an impact on our program. Our younger players are excited to help it grow. We are where we need to be. I am grateful for the opportunity to coach these kids.” – Concord’s Tim LaTorra
Records: Nashua North 8-10; Concord 5-13