Concord’s Chung wins at 175, Crimson Tide boys place second and other Meet of Champions results

Concord senior Max Chung wanted redemption after losing to Timberlane’s Colton Seuss in the Division I State Championship. When he faced him again in the Meet of Champions final bout, he jumped on the opportunity.

The Concord boys, and wrestlers from Bow, John Stark, Hopkinton and Winnisquam all made appearances at the boys’ wrestling MOC on Saturday.

“Feels pretty great, getting one back from my loss against him,” Chung said after winning the championship.

The Crimson Tide had another standout day, and finished second overall as a team behind Timberlane. In total, seven wrestlers placed in the top six for the Tide and three booked spots in the New England regionals.

Chung received a first-round bye with the second seed and beat White Mountain’s Alden Willey by decision 5-4 and Keene’s Ilias Azizeddine in a heated triple overtime semifinal.

He got a reversal in the second overtime and managed to escape in the third overtime period to seal the win.

Against Seuss, he dominated. Chung took Seuss down early and almost forced a fall in the first period. He sealed the win with another takedown and one last escape in the third period.

Third-seeded 106-pound Biswas Darji was the only other Crimson Tide wrestler to reach the championship bout. He won his quarterfinal by fall in the first period over Manchester Memorial’s Nadim Abbari and upset No. 2 Mason Verocchio of Alvirne by technical fall with two takedowns and three four-point nearfalls.

His championship bout came down to the wire. He gave Timberlane’s Matt Boucher too much space and was taken down twice early in each of the first two periods before getting a reversal.

By then, Boucher just had to bide his time and shut down Darji to win. Darji lost by the slimmest of margins, 6-5.

The third Tide wrestler to qualify for regionals was 215-pound senior Isaiah Puckett, who shut down Goffstown’s Antonio Hebert in the third-place match, 4-0, to win the last bout.

“It’s pretty good. I’m glad, just happy to end on an odd number,” Puckett said. He added that the team was very motivated and that he’s going to keep doing what he has been doing in regionals.

Concord’s only Division I champion, senior Dominic Schinella, fell in the third-place bout against Goffstown’s Willem Pierce, 14-1.

Concord’s other podium placements were seniors Jaxon Carter (144 pounds, fourth), Daniel Sheehan (150, fifth) and Wayne Gutierrez-Sakakeeny (285, fourth).

Overall, it was a large improvement upon last week and on a tougher stage. Many Concord wrestlers dropped bouts in the consolation semis in the divisional championship but on Saturday they followed through until the end.

For Assistant Coach Nick Zeras, it will be tough to see the seniors go. This class brought the team to heights not seen in years, but their departure also opens the doors for young talent to step up.

“It was a great day for us. It was better than last week,” Zeras said.

Bow

Sophomore Kevin Mullen (215) was the only Falcon to make it deep in the tournament. After finishing runner-up in the D-III championship, Mullen faced five opponents before reaching the fifth-place bout.

In total, he won three of his bouts and ultimately placed sixth after losing by decision to Kingswood’s Ryan Greenwaldt, 12-5.

Senior champions Chase Flagg, Jake Todisco-Coulon, Herbie Madden and Hunter Hutchinson all saw premature ends to their days at the Meet of Champions, but all enjoyed a strong final season after completing the D-III three-peat last weekend.

John Stark

132-pound junior Lyncoln Jablonski made it deep into the tournament for the Generals and finished sixth.

His wins were against Salem’s Jacob Haibowicz, Windham’s Brayden Sovereign and Exeter’s Hudson Berry.

On the flip side, he fell to eventual finalist Gabriel Perez of Londonderry, Winnisquam’s Dylan Griffin and eventually to Timberlane’s Peter Morrissey in the fifth-place bout.

It was a promising run from Jablonski, who finished as a runner-up to Griffin in the D-III final bout.

Kearsarge

Noah Sevigny (175) fell early in the quarterfinals but battled back with two big wins over Merrimack’s Nicolin Stevens and Dover’s Jackson Molleur to get to the consolation semis.

After falling by a major decision in a high scoring semis bout, he faced a very gritty Reese Fischer of Kingswood, who outwrestled him by getting one more reversal than Sevigny to win, 10-9.

Winnisquam

Out of all other local high schools, Winnisquam had the strongest overall performance.

Senior D-III Champion Dylan Griffin led the Bears by finishing fourth at 132 pounds. He lost narrowly to Souhegan’s Jack Kaler in the semifinals, 4-2, but roared back.

His loss to Bishop Guertin’s Austin Steinruck also came by decision, 11-7, in a hard-fought bout. Griffin led, 5-4, after two periods but an early takedown and a late nearfall sealed the defeat.

His teammate, junior Colin Parenteau (157), won his final bout with a pin to finish fifth over Merrimack’s Cash Torres after already having beaten Torres once in the quarterfinals.

Bears junior Noah Bassett (190) finished sixth as he lost his final three bouts of the night. The Bears seem poised for another strong season next year and will try to return Parenteau and Bassett for a shot at redemption.

Hopkinton

The Hawks’ lone wrestler, Nolan Linstad, had a tough day on the mats as he faced third-seeded Chase Knuckles of Souhegan and was subsequently knocked out by Newport’s Brandon Gray.

What made the day special for the senior was that he received a New Hampshire Wrestling Officials Association award through the Peruccio scholarship.

Linstad joined the Generals’ team for three years and built a legacy of his own on the mats. He accrued over 100 career wins, took third place at states and was a two-time MOC qualifier.

“Over the past three years, I’ve been blessed with some of the best coaches and teammates I could ever have,” he wrote on social media. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity to wrestle. It wasn’t always perfect but that’s what made it great.”