TILTON – Jack Olsen was going to skip this one. The Bow senior has been out sick for a week, and he was still under the weather on Wednesday before the Falcons wrestling match at Winnisquam.
But when Bow Coach Brock Hoffman told Olsen his team needed him, the senior captain shook off the sickness and took the mat.
“Then he went out there and pinned the kid,” Hoffman said. “Not bad for not wrestling all week. He really stepped it up as a captain.”
Olsen’s pin was one of the key wins for the Falcons as they earned a 51-30 Division III dual meet decision against the Bears.
“Winnisquam was supposed to be one of the top teams in the division, so I’m really happy with the win, that was a big win,” Olsen said. “It was one of these matches where we were giving up a lot of forfeits, so I was expecting probably to lose, honestly. It was big confidence booster for the team.”
The illness Olsen is fighting went through much of the Bow team over the holiday break, which is part of the reason for the forfeits and why Olsen’s presence was so important. The Falcons normal roster was shuffled and shrunken.
“We had to move some kids around and some kids had to adapt, and I thought they did a good job with that. I was impressed,” Hoffman said. “This was a battle of two young teams and it could have gone either way, tonight was just our night.”
While the Falcons had to fight sickness and weight issues for a week, Winnisquam has been dealing with plenty of its own obstacles all season. The Bears hope to get most of those resolved and get as many as six wrestlers back in the lineup for the D-III championship at the end of February.
But the challenges just keep coming for Winnisquam, which may have lost Reece Crawford for the season with an injury he suffered against Bow’s Zackary Anderson, who was awarded the six-point injury default win at 120 pounds.
“What you see now is light years away from what it’s going to look like when states come around. We’ve got a lot more, as long as a lot of the outside stuff we’re battling works out,” Winnisquam Coach Paul Hyrcuna said. “We just got another injury today. There hasn’t been one thing that’s gone our way. I’m not a person that shies away from the battle, but it’s always a battle.”
Wednesday night’s battle started at 160 pounds, where Bow’s Alex Bouffard took a 6-2 lead into the second period before winning by fall with :34.3 left in the second.
Winnisquam answered at 170 where Bow’s Aidan Hyslop was in control against Andrew McKinnon before the Winnisquam sophomore found a headlock that led to a pin with :13.8 to go in the second period.
Next up came 182 and Olsen, who didn’t go through his normal warm-up routine because he was trying to conserve energy. He went through moves in his head and the mental preparations worked as he pinned Mason Lacasse after 1:31.
“Once I got the feel for it, I knew it was going to be a quick match,” Olsen said. “Then I did what I could to finish it off and got out of there so I could sit down.”
The next match was the only one that went the distance as Bow freshman Chris Wheeler used some impressive strength to earn his varsity win, a 10-5 decision against Winnisquam’s Damian Donahou.
Five of the next seven matches were decided by forfeit. The only contested bouts came at 285, where Winnisquam’s Tyler Moran worked a first-period pin, and at 126, where Bow’s Anderson held a 6-0 lead before Crawford was injured.
By the end of that seven-match stretch, the Falcons held a slim 33-30 lead. But they closed things out with three straight pins – junior captain Mark Borak (138) in the second period, freshman Jonathan Muise (145) in the first period and junior Ben Boufford (152) in the third period.
“It was a barn burner and we fought hard,” said Hoffman, who got a wry smile on his face before adding a final thought. “We’re trying to build a program, and to finally start getting some dual meet wins is a new and refreshing feeling.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341, tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20.)
Concord 60,
Manchester Memorial 10
Key players: Concord – Cameron Cate (pin, 120 pounds), Liddon Ling (pin, 138), Ben Widmann (pin, 145), Jake Pickard (pin, 152), Alex Butean (pin, 220), Austin Lewis (pin, 285)
Highlights/key moments: In addition to the six wins by pin, Concord got an injury default win from Chris Munnell (152) and forfeit wins from Isaac Bosa (160) and Jay McDonald (182) as it rolled to the win on its home mats.
MV 51, Bow 49
Key players: Bow – Nate Alford (13 points), Matt Scanlon (12 points), Ryan Andrews (8 points), Ben Guertin (8 points); Merrimack Valley – James Shattuck (11 points), Jake Hebert (9 points), Caleb Laclair (8 points), Ryan Defina (8 points), Jack Prewitt (8 points)
Highlights/key moments: Laclair and Prewitt gave MV a spark off the bench in a game that went back-and-forth throughout and came down to the final seconds before the Pride pulled out its first win of the season.
MV shot well from the start, pushed its lead to as many as eight in the first quarter and finished with seven 3-pointers for the game. Bow went up by seven in the third quarter and had a chance to tie the game with a final possession, but couldn’t get a shot off.
Coach’s quote: “Finally. The kids were excited and we hope we can learn from this and move forward.” – Merrimack Valley’s Tim Mucher
Records: Bow 2-1; MV 1-3
Hopkinton 76, Sanborn 38
Key players: Hopkinton – Cam Cyr (20 points), Henry Yianakopolos (16 points), Kevin McGrath (12 points) Liam Flanagan (10 points)
Coach’s quote: “We always try and win the next battle. Every little battle won adds up throughout the game. We play every quarter like it is 0-0 and focus on winning the quarter. Great job tonight and despite our numbers being low due to illness and injury, they continued to run the floor. Hats off to Sanborn who never gave up and played hard to the end.” – Hopkinton’s Steve Signor
Records: Hopkinton 5-0; Sanborn 2-2
GIRLS’ BASKETBALL
Bishop Brady 49, Hanover 44
Key players: Bishop Brady – Sam Will (17 points, 10 rebounds), Sarah Doherty (13 points, 6 assists), Riley Bennett (8 points, 7 rebounds)
Highlights/key moments: Cait Mallahan and Lily Rivera rebounded well and Lauren Roy played some great defense as the Green Giants kept up their holiday momentum with the win at home.
Coach’s quote: “We did a good job fighting through to the next play. Lots to improve on!” – Bishop Brady’s Annie Alosa
Records: Bishop Brady 3-1; Hanover 2-2
Goffstown 49, Pembroke 44
Key players: Pembroke – Brooklyn Zanis (24 points)
Highlights/key moments: The Spartans hung tight but couldn’t pick of their first win of the new year Wednesday night against Goffstown.
Records: Goffstown 2-2; Pembroke 2-4
BOYS’ ICE HOCKEY
Concord 5, Pinkerton 1
Key players: Concord – Drew Livingston (2 goals), Matt Chorlian (goal, 2 assists), Matt Hauschild (first career goal), Dan Lebell (goal), Alex Marceau (4 assists), Trevor Bickford (2 assists), Griffin Gilbert (14 saves)
Highlights/key moments: Lebell broke the ice with the game’s first score 1:07 into the contest, before tallies from Hauschild, Livingston and Chorlian gave the Crimson Tide a commanding 5-0 lead against the previously unbeaten Astros. Pinkerton avoided the shutout with 1:33 remaining in the third period with its first and only tally.
Coach’s quote: “We came out strong in the first period and really skated well tonight.” – Concord’s Dunc Walsh
Records: Concord 3-1-0; Pinkerton 3-1-0
Bow 6, Merrimack 0
Key players: Bow – Doug Champagne (goal, assist), Chris Mead (goal, assist), Austin Beaudette (goal, assist), Brandan Tibbetts (goal, assist), Colin Tracy (3 assists), Nate Carrier (15 saves)
Highlights/key moments: The Falcons took a one-goal lead into the second period and opened things up from there, scoring three times during a 5-minute boarding major to pull away for good.
Coach’s quote: “We started well tonight which was a focus for us. But we also were able to keep our cool when the game got a bit chippy in the second period.” – Bow’s Tim Walsh
Records: Bow 4-1-0; Merrimack 0-3-0
John Stark-Hopkinton 6
Kearsarge-Plymouth 3
Key players: Kearsarge-Plymouth – Jakob Arnold (two goals), Alex Nangle (goal), Cody Rowe (24 saves)
Highlights/key moments: Stark-Hopkinton jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but Kearsarge-Plymouth cut it to 5-3 and was pressuring in the third before the General Hawks scored an empty netter to ice thins. Kearsarge-Plymouth got solid defense from Doug Breault, Gordie Hoyt, Adam Means, Maddie Folcik and Josh Johnston.
Coach’s quote: “John Stark-Hopkinton is a well-coached, fast, good-passing team. Both teams played well and kept their heads in an emotional game. It was a physical battle to the end and our hats are off to them after their victory in their own barn.” – Kearsarge-Plymouth’s David McKenney
Records: John Stark-Hopkinton 3-0; Kearsarge-Plymouth 1-3