SALEM – Brent Nicolosi didn’t want first-place factors to safe the group title within the 2024 MIAA All-State wrestling event.
But it meant fairly a bit to the senior grappler, his squad and town of Haverhill.
Nicolosi, the highest seed at 165, put the group trophy and his first-ever All-States title to mattress with a powerful 11-2 main determination over No. 2 seed Vincent DeMaio of Methuen.
Haverhill completed up on prime of the standings with 115 factors, adopted by Shawsheen Tech with 104.5, and St. John’s Prep, final season’s winner, in third place at 102. Rounding out the highest 5 have been Methuen (76.5) and Tewksbury (76).
Nicolosi picked up the 202nd win of his profession as Nicolosi can now declare his first All-State title together with the Hillies’ first group All-State title in class historical past.
It was an general group victory with Matt Harrold (215) and Shea Morris (138) every with third-place finishes. Mike Morris (113) positioned fourth, Cale Wood (120) sixth, and Aiden Morris (106) with a seventh-place end.
“Brent is just an incredible kid, and he has been working hard for four years and his brother was on our team, so their family has been Haverhill through and through so to see him his All-State title and also sealing the team title at the same time is just awesome,” stated head coach Tim Lawlor. “Those six kids there have all grown up together doing Haverhill youth wrestling, Haverhill public schools together, just Haverhill born and bred. We take a lot of pride in that.”
“I think this means a lot as our city has had a lot of tough times recently. Been in the newspaper, but usually for the negative things, so I think this shows people you can come to Haverhill High and succeed,” Lawlor stated.
Nick Desisto (113) was looking for his first All-State title after being three-time North Sectional champion and two-time state champion for Tewksbury however got here up simply quick. Dominic Gangi held on to a 1-0 win for the one Methuen first-place chip with an escape within the second interval for the one level of the battle.
“They were one-and-one on the season, so we knew it would be a dog fight,” stated Tewksbury head coach Steve Kasprzak. “Not disappointed at all and proud of Nick, but you know – he will be back.”
Brothers Sidney and James Tidsley wrestled back-to-back within the 138 and 144-pound divisions to raise Shawsheen to second place. The prime seeds didn’t disappoint.
After a scoreless fast-paced first interval, Sidney Tidsley and Michael Boulanger wrestled to a 6-6 tie in regulation time as Boulanger picked up an escape level with 10 seconds remaining to ship it to additional time. While No. 2 seeded Boulanger led many of the manner in a see-saw battle, Tidsley completed it off in dramatic vogue with a takedown 23 seconds into the additional interval for the come-from-behind 8-6 determination within the match of the day.
“This year was the toughest match. I haven’t been taken out all year … that’s the first time being taken down,” stated Tidsley, who’s now a three-time All-State champion. “Obviously I realized that was tough but with hard work and dedication to my coaches, it pays off.”
Brother James had it just a little simpler with a 5-0 shutout determination over Aiden Baum of Milford for the clear sibling sweep for the Rams.
In an anti-climactic ending, Chelmsford’s Thomas Brown continued his dominance in a rematch from this season’s state closing in opposition to Alex Bajoras from St. John’s Prep. He took consecutive leg takedowns en path to a dominant 9-1 victory.
“I have film on them, but obviously they have film on me. Alex has great coaches, so I know they are going to change things, do something different,” stated Brown, now a three-time All-State winner and two-time All-American. “I have a ton of respect for Alex as I’ve been wrestling him my whole life.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com