The fifth Ironman Series tournament was held from May 23 to 25 at Hudson High in Hudson, Mass. Wreslers competed in three different styles of wrestling that encompass takedown, freestyle and folkstyle.

Local wrestlers that competed were Phil Silva (Nashua South), Mitch Fokas (Bishop Guertin) and middle schoolers Mike Silva (Fairgrounds) and Tyler Ellwood (Elm Street).

Phil Silva won his matches on two pins and a technical fall. Although he didn't place at the event, he wrestled with great effort, coming back from a previous injury.

Fokas wrestled hard, finishing in fourth place in the freestyle and second in folkstyle. Fokas recorded two pins, a major decision and a one-point win.

Mike Silva took home the gold medal in the folkstyle tournament, going undefeated with one pin, one technical fall and one major decision. Silva was asked to wrestle in a folkstyle exhibition match with a high school sophomore where he showcased his skill and determination.

Tyler Ellwood earned a silver medal in each style of wrestling, becoming the runner-up to the Ironman Champion. During the takedown tournament, he performed two technical falls and two major decisions, giving away zero points in those bouts. Ellwood went 1-1 in freestyle and 2-1 in folkstyle with a major decision and a 24-second pin. His only losses for the entire series were to the same wrestler, who he later pinned in an exhibition match.

Angelica Levesque of Nashua Catholic turned in two solid performances in two recent wrestling tournaments.

Levesque competed in the US Girls Wrestling Association Northeast tournament in Rochester, N.Y., finishing first in the Middle School Division and second in the High School Division. Levesque moved on to compete at the USGWA National Tournament in Michigan last weekend.

On the first, Levesque wrestled five matches to determine her seed, winning three matches to earn the third seed. In the tournament, Levesque advanced to the finals of her weight class, before falling, 4-0.

Levesque leads girls at tourney

Angelica Levesque of Nashua Catholic won her weight class at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association New England Championship meet on March 15 in Dorchester, Mass.

Levesque was also one of a handful of local wrestlers to competed at the South County (boys and girls) Wrestling Tournmanet and the Southern New England All-Girls Tournament on March 16 in Naragnsett, R.I.

Levesque finished second in the South County tourney and won the girls tourney. Kristin Dechene of Elm Street came in third at SC and was second in the girls tourney. Jen Lowry of Fairgrounds came in fourth at SC and won the girls tourney. Kelly Levesque, also from Fairgrounds, took fourth at SC and second in the girls tourney. Chelsea Gawlik from Nashua North came in fourth in the high school division.

Five local wrestlers placed at the New England Middle School Championships held March 9 at Hudson (Mass.) High School. Team New Hampshire finished third among the six New England states; Team Connecticut was first.

Connor McBride was the top local finisher. The Pennichuck Middle School student finished with a 3-1 meet record and took third place in the 95-pound class of the fifth- and sixth-grade division. Kevin Melanson of the Nashua Boys & Girls Club team took fourth at 60, compling a 2-2 record with one pin, and Chance Robinson also finished fourth at 100.

Marcel Laplante of Nashua Catholic finished with a 3-2 record and one pin to take fifth at 80. Cam Bennett qualified for the meet at 70 pounds, but moved up to 75 to help Team NH fill the bracket.

Wrestling for Team NH in the seventh- and eight-grade division were Elm Street's Tyler Elwood (112) and Nashua Catholic's Patrick O'Connell (136). O'Connell's teammate, Cole Fokas (77), qualified for New Englands, but missed the tourney due to illness, as did the Boys & Girls Club's Jake Valeri (65).
 

Click here to see the brackets/results:

5th-6th grade results: 

http://www.masswrestling.com/cms/e107_files/misc/2008_novice_ne_championships.pdf

7th-8th grade results:

http://www.masswrestling.com/cms/e107_files/misc/2008_MS_NE_Championships.pdf 

NH girls wrestle at championships

A squad of a combination of elementary, middle school and high school girls participated in the Massachusetts Girls State Wrestling Championships at the Montechusett Tech High School in Fitchburg, Mass.

In the middle school division, Nashua Catholic's Angelica Levesque took first place, Kelsey Levesque of Fairgrounds placed second and Kristen Deschene of Elm Street came in third.

Chelsea Gawlik from Nashua North wrestled well in the high school division.

New Hampshire's top middle school wreslters squared off at Concord's Rundlett Middle School on Sunday in the New England Qualifier.

Wrestlers placing in the top three in two divisions – Division 1 for wrestlers born from 1993-95 and Division 2 born in 1996 and '97 – qualified to wrestle in the New England Middle School championships on March 9 in Hudson, Mass.

Four local wrestlers won their divisions, earning the top seed from New Hampshire. Pennichuck's Connor McBride took top honors in the 95-pound weight class, Nashua Catholic's Marcel Laplante won at 80 and Boys and Girls Club wrestlers Chance Robinson (100 pounds) and Kevin Melanson (60) won their respective divisions.

Placing second at Concord and earning the No. 2 seeds for New Hampshire were BGCGN's Jake Valeri at 65 and teammate Cam Bennett at 70.

Earning third seeds by placing third were Nashua Catholic's Cole Fokas and Pat O'Connell at 77 and 136, respectively.

Elm Street's Tyler Ellwood picked up a third at 112, while Pennichuck's Joe Chimelski just missed qualifying in the same weight class.

Also participating in the event were Nashua Catholic's Zack Kemos, Angelica Levesque, Preston Danielson and Gabe Gosselin.

Riding first place finishes by Connor McBride, Dan Michaud, Deepak Ravir and Joey Page, Pennichuck Middle School won the city middle school wrestling title at Sunday night's second Mark Thibault Memorial Wrestling Championships. The tournament, hosted by the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua, was held at Nashua North High School.

Eighth graders dominated the tourney, taking 31-of-52 team scoring opportunites available by placing fourth or better in 13 weight classes. Coach J.W. Williams' Raiders wrestled the Mark Thibault Cup out of the grip of their rivals from defending champion Nashua Catholic, whose 103 points fell just short of Pennichuck's tournament-winning 109. Fairgrounds Middle School placed third with 93 points, followed by Elm Street with 84.

"Placing third in the Middle School State Tournament and bringing Pennichuck's first-ever team to the Tri-County League tourney were great," Williams said, "but our focus this year, from the first day of practice, was winning the Thibault Cup. Our kids have come a long way, and I'm very proud of the way they kept their eyes on the prize and brought it home."

MARK THIBAULT MEMORIAL

BOYS BRACKET

67 pounds:

• 1. Cam Bennett, fifth grade, Elm Street;
• 2. Anthony Garuti, sixth, Pennichuck;
• 3. Keith Ramirez, sixth, Pennichuck;
• 4. Jake Valeri, fifth, Fairgrounds.

77 pounds:

• 1. Marcel Laplante, sixth, Nashua Catholic;
• 2. Liam Curran, seventh, Pennichuck;
• 3. Cole Fokas, seventh, Nashua Catholic;
• 4. Zack Seppi, seventh, Fairgrounds.

90 pounds:

• 1. Connor McBride, sixth, Pennichuck;
• 2. TJ Duran, eighth, Elm St.;
• 3. Zack Kemos, seventh, Nashua Catholic;
• 4. Mike Silva, seventh, Fairgrounds.

97 pounds:

• 1. Gabe Gosselin, seventh, Nashua Catholic;
• 2. Mike Allard, eighth, Nashua Catholic;
• 3. Chance Robibson, fifth, Fairgrounds;
• 4. Dylan Fitzgerald, sixth, Elm St.

107:

• 1. Tyler Ellwood, seventh, Elm St.;
• 2. Joe Chimelski, seventh, Pennichuck;
• 3. Shanara Covan, eighth, Fairgrounds;
• 4. Ryan Gawlik, eighth, Elm St.

117:

• 1. Anthony Monaco, eighth, Fairgrounds.;
• 2. Allen McCarthy, eighth, Elm St.;
• 3. Alex Lyskawa, seventh, Nashua Catholic;
• 4. Cody Ellwood, eighth, Elm St.

123:

• 1. Moses Fernandez, eighth, Fairgrounds;
• 2. Preston Danielson, eighth, Nashua Catholic;
• 3. Dan McCormick, eighth, Nashua Catholic;
• 4. Ryan Villett, eighth, Fairgrounds.

130:

• 1. Joey Page, eighth, Pennichuck;
• 2. Scott Dunlap, eighth, Elm St.;
• 3. Dylan Johnson, eighth, Elm St.;
• 4. Oscar Ayala, seventh, Pennichuck.

140:

• 1. Dan Michaud, eighth, Pennichuck;
• 2. Patrick O'Connell, seventh, Nashua Catholic;
• 3. Rigo Gaud, eighth, Pennicuck;
• 4. Eli Claffey, eighth, Pennichuck.

149:

• 1. Chris Anderson, eighth, Elm St.;
• 2. Spenser Rancourt, eighth, Pennichuck;
• 3. Mike Lynch, seventh, Pennichuck;
• 4. Anthony Introcaso, eighth, Pennichuck.

167:

• 1. Jesse Diaz, eighth, Fairgrounds,. Ethan Plumley, eighth, Nashua Catholic and Deepak Ravir, eighth, Pennichuck;
• 4. – John Dobens, eighth, Nashua Catholic.

Heavyweight:

• 1. Brandon Pietch, eighth, Fairgrounds;
• 2. Joe Dudka, eighth, Pennichuck;
• 3. Corey Ford, eighth, Pennichuck;
• 4. Phil Pettey, eighth, Pennichuck.

GIRLS BRACKET

131:

• 1. Kelsey Levesque, eighth, Fairgrounds;
• 2. Kristin Dechene, eighth, Elm St.;
• 3. Angelica Levesque, eighth, Nashua Catholic;
• 4. Amanda Marois, eighth, Fairgrounds.

The Gate City's five middle school wrestling squads stood tall in the Middle School State Wrestling Championships at Concord High School over the weekend.

Wrestlers who finished in the Top 4 of their brackets in previously-held Regionals competed in the Granite Class, while lower finishers competed in the Slate Class.

The BGCGN team sent five wrestlers to the Granite Class, and three to the Slate Class. In the Granite Class, Kevin Melanson (2-1) and Jake Valeri (3-1) finished second and third, respectively in the 65-pound weight class of the fifth-sixth grade division. In other fifth-sixth grade Granite Class action, Brandon Levesque (2-1, 2 pins) was the runner-up at 98 pounds, despite having to wrestle two extra exhibition matches due to a clerical bracketing error. Chance Robinson (2-2, 2 pins) took the fourth-place copper medal in the same weight class. Cam Bennett (2-2, 2 pins) was the copper medalist at 75. Jake Redman, Christian McKenna and Adam Garside competed in the Slate Class, with Garside placing fourth at 90.

Pennichuck finished third overall in the fifth/sixth grade Granite Division and third overall in the seventh/eighth grade Slate Division.

Ninety-pound sixth grader Connor McBride won his weight class in th Granite Division, while 130-pounder Oscar Ayala won his weight class in the seventh/eight grade Slate Division.

Also doing well in the fifth/sixth grade Granite Division were runner-up Joe Chimelski (100 pounds), as well as fourth-place finishers Jacob Patenaude (80) and Travis Rice (85). In the seventh/eighth grade Granite Division, runners-up Joey Page (130) and Danny Michaud (135) led the way, along with Joe Dudke (180) in third and Liam Curran (80) in fourth.Slate Division seventh/eighth graders joining Ayala with solid days were a trio of third-place finishers in Gus Barrosso (103), Rigo Gaud (150) and Deepak Ravi (170), along with Jordan Ocasio (115) in fourth-place.

The Elm Street Eagles had 15 wrestlers compete in the States.

In the Granite Division, Tyler Ellwood earned a State title with all three wins as major decisions. Dan Bresee took home a second place win after a close first match and second match pin. TJ Duran won silver by shutting out his first opponent and pinning his second. Rounding out the Granite with a fourth-place finish was Cody Ellwood with two pins. In the Slate Division, Kyle Bergeron was the champion in his first year of wrestling, winning his class with a major decision, a pin and a shutout.

Chris Anderson brought home silver with a stunning eight-second pin in his first match and another pin in his second match. Also wrestling for the Eagles during the event were Kristin Dechene, Dean Kennedy, Allen McCarthy, Spenser Petz, Ryan Gawlik, Dylan Johnson, Connor Rogowsky, Adam Long and Ethan Shepherd. Present for the Eagles as well was injured teammate Anthony Wiggin, who stayed the whole day to cheer his team on.

Nashua Catholic, which was awarded the 2008 Middle School Wrestling Sportsmanship Award by team coaches, had two champions at States. Marcel Laplante won at the fifth/sixth grade Granite level and Patrick O'Connell took home top honors in the seventh/eighth grade Granite brackets.

In other fifth/sixth grade Granite action, Evan Manns finished third, while up at the seventh/eighth grade level, Zak Kemos was second and Cole Fokas was third. In the seventh/eighth grade Slate Division, Eric Dupont wrestled to a fourth-place finish for Nashua Catholic.

Last weekend, the city's five middle school wrestling squads competed in the Regional Rounds of the Middle School State Wrestling Championships.

The Boys and Girls Club team and the Faigrounds team competed in the Timberlane Regional, while the Pennichuck, Elm Street and Nashua Catholic teams competed in the Londonderry Regional. From the Regional tourneys, wreslters advance to next weekend's State Finals at Concord High School. Wrestlers who finished in the top four of their Regional brackets will compete in the Granite Class of next weekends finals, while lower finishers will compete in the Slate Class.

BGCGN, with a roster of only six grapplers, finished third at the Timberlane Regional behind much larger squads from Derry and Runlett (Concord) Middle Schools. Chance Robinson (3-0, 1 pin) and Brandon Levesque (2-1, 1 pin) were the champion and runner-up in the 98-pound weight class. Cam Bennet was the silver medalist at 73. Kevin Melanson and Jake Valeri were first and second in the 65 pound weight class. Christian McKenna (2-2, 1 pin) qualified for next weekend's Granite Class at the State Finals, earning the fourth-place copper medal. Adam Garside also competed for the BGCGN team.

For Fairgrounds Middle School, Brandon Pietsch and Jesse Diaz were champions in their respective divisions, while Moses Fernandez took second. Fairgrounds also had four fourth place finishes from Kennedy Kiriga, Alex Rivera, Brendan Enberg and Zack Seppi. Also competing were Jesse Kliss, Anthony Monaco, Ryan Villett, Amnada Marois, Jenn Lowry, Andrew Keefe and Jon Zalman.

At the Londonerry Regional, Nashua Catholic's Marcel LaPlante won his weight class in the fifth/sixth grade division, while Evan Manns was third. In the seventh/eighth grade division, Gabriel Gosselin won his class, while Cole Fokas, Mike Allard, Alex Lyskawa and Preston Danielson all finished second. Taking home thirds for Nashua Catholic were Zack Kemos, Dan McCormick and Patrick O'Connell. Angelica Levesque pulled out a fourth place finish.

The Nashua Elm Street fifth/sixth grade squad finished third at the Londonderry Regional, tying with Pennichuck for the honor. Dan Bresee was a champion with three straight pins. Wilson Pellot (2-1, 1 pin) was second in his weight class. Dylan Fitzgerald (3-1, 2 pins) placed third for the day. Rounding out the top four for the Eagles were Dean Kennedy (2-2, 2 pins) and Nick L'Heureux (2-2, 2 pins). Also wrestling in the fifth/sixth division for Elm Street were Spenser Petz and Ethan Shepherd. In the seventh/eighth grade division, Tyler Ellwood was the champion pinning all three opponents. Winning silver for their team were TJ Duran (2-1, 2 pins) and Ryan Gawlik (2-1). Bronze went Dylan Johnson (3-1, 3 pins), Cody Ellwood (3-1, 2 pins), Adam Long (3-1, 2 pins) and Connor Rogowski (3-1, 1 pin, 1 technical). Also going to the Granite Class next week for the Eagles are Kristin Dechene (2-2, 1 pin, 1 technical) and Allen McCarthy (2-2). Moving on to the Slate Class for Elm Street are Chris Anderson, Scott Dunlap, Kyle Bergeron, Anthony Wiggin, Jeremy Sayers and Jared Cummings.

The Tri County Athletic Association held their Wrestling Championships last Sunday. Despite bad traveling conditions, a packed Pelham High School gym witnessed one of the areas largest youth wrestling tournaments.

Over 340 student athletes, from 13 area junior highs and middle schools, competed in 35 different weight classes.

Timberlane Regional of Plaistow took first in Division I with 132 pts, followed by Londonderry Middle School with 109. In Division II, Pelham Memorial School took first with 124 and Nashua Catholic was second with 111.

Nashua Catholic was led to its runner-up spot by the first-place finishes of Patrick O'Connell at 134, Angelica Levesque at 132, Mike Allard at 96, Gabe Gosselin at 94 and Marcel LaPlante at 76.

Pennichuck was represented by Liam Curran, Connor McBride, Joe Chimelski, Dakota Lustick, Jordan Ocasio, Joey Page, Travis Rice, Spencer Rancourt, Eli Claffey and Rigo Gaud. Out of 10 wrestlers that went to the meet, five placed in the top two.

Taking first for Pennichuck were Curran at 80 pounds and McBride, who won all three matches via the pin, at 90. Pennichuck runners-up were Chimelski (90 pounds), Page (130) and Gaud (150). Taking fourth for Pennichuck was Rice (85).

Fairgrounds also competed in the Tri County Championships. Three out of its five wrestlers that made the finals were victorious. Anthony Monaco won in the 115-pound weight class, Moses Fernandez was the 119-pound champion and Brandon Pietsch took first in the 188-pound class. Finishing second for Fairgrounds was Shanara Covan at 108 and Ryan Villett at 119.

Kelsey Levesque won her match in the consolation finals to take third place at 132. Jenn Lowry and Jon Dube each placed fourth in their weight classes. Kennedy Kiriga, Zack Seppi, Brendan Enberg and Victor Carriel also competed in the tournament but did not place.

In Elm Street's first visit to the Tri County event as a city-recognized team, the Eagles did well.

Chris Anderson took home his first gold medal of the year as the 157-pound champ with a 3-0 record. Kristin Dechene continued to impress with a silver medal and a 2-1 record. Kyle Bergeron (3-1, 3 pins) and Tyler Ellwood (3-1, 1 pin, 2 major decisions) won bronze for the day. Also wrestling for team Elm Street were Dylan Johnson (2-2), Ryan Gawlik (2-2), Dylan Fitzgerald (2-2), Scott Dunlap (1-2), Dan Bresee (1-2), Dean Kennedy (1-2), Nick L'Heureux (0-2), Allen McCarthy (0-2), Ethan Shepherd (0-2) and Michael McMakin (0-2).

For a complete list of results, go to www.tricountyathletics.com.

All the area middle schools will be participating in the New Hampshire Middle School State Regional qualifier this weekend at Londonderry High School and Timberlane Regional High School in Plaistow.

MIDDLE SCHOOL DUAL MEET
Pennichuck 33, Elm Street 24



Elm Street Middle School came up short in a 33-24 loss to visiting Pennichuck Middle School in the first dual-meet of the season.

Elm Street was first to score with a high-point match from Michael McMakin. Pennichuck then took over the lighter brackets scoring in the next four matches with a high score from Jacob Patenaude, a pin from Liam Curran, a close match from Travis Rice and a pin from Joe Chimelski.

The Eagles rallied in the middle weight divisions when Tyler Ellwood scored with a pin and both Kristin Dechene and Scott Dunlap put up big points against their opponents. The heavier class wrestling belonged to the Pennichuck Raiders, who sealed the win for their team. Joey Page, Eli Clafey, Spencer Rancourt and Mike Lynch all pinned their competition, while Dan Michaud went uncontested with a 14-0 win. Elm Street did have the last word when Chris Anderson won with a pin in the final match of the day, but Pennichuck won the day's event.

Fairgrounds Middle School topped Elm Street Middle School 60-31 in a dual meet at Fairgrounds Jan. 17.

Jared Cummings started things off for Elm Street with a 10-0 major decision over Eric Savard in the 70-pound weight class. Fairgrounds won the next four matches. Kennedy Kiriga took a 4-1 decision over Michael McMakin at 75, Mike Silva pinned Joshua Reiss in the first period at 80, Zack Seppi pinned Nick L'Heureaux with just 18 seconds left in the third period at 85, and Jesse Kliss finished off the run with a second-period pin with just one second left after trailing 5-2.

Elm Street's Dean Kennedy stopped the momentum temporarily with a second-period pin over Jeremy Bishop at 95. At 100 pounds, Joe Goveia of Fairgrounds won 9-5. Elm Street's Dylan Paquin earned a hard-fought victory over Shanara Covan by a score of 8-7. Covan scored all seven points in the first period. In the third period, trailing 7-6, Paquin got the two-point takedown and rode-out Covan for the win.

Anthony Monaco of Fairgrounds pinned Wilson Pellot in the 110-pound class. Tyler Ellwood won by forfeit for Elm Street in the 115-pound weight class. Fairgrounds got back-to-back pins from Moses Fernandez at 120 and Alex Rivera at 125.

Fernandez got the pin over Adam Long with just six seconds left in the match. Rivera pinned Kristen Dechene in the second period.

It was Elm Street's turn to get back-to-back pins, making the score 42-25 in favor of Fairgrounds.

Dylan Johnson pinned Brendan Enberg at 130 and Scott Dunlap pinned Jenn Lowry at 135. Both pins came in the first period.

The two teams traded six-point wins for the next several matches as Kelsey Levesque of FMS pinned Ryan Runge at 140, Spencer Petz of EMS won by forfeit at 145, Fairgrounds' Jon Dube pinned Grafton Bell at 150, Elm Street's Chris Anderson pinned Dylan Marquis at 155, Fairground's Jesse Diaz pinned Spencer Radford at 160, and Brandon Pietsch closed out the scoring with a forfeit for Fairgrounds.

The Nashua Elm Street Eagles wrestling team did an exceptional job against some tough competition at the Big Red Tournament in Tyngsborough, Mass., this past weekend.

Nashua's Tyler Ellwood won gold. Taking home silver and further respect for the Elm Street team was Dan Bresee, Dean Kennedy and Ryan Gawlik. Dylan Johnson won bronze in a vigorous four matches. Also awarded bronze for the Eagles were Adam Long and Wilson Pellot. Cody Ellwood was the runner-up in his division, allowing less than 10 points scored against him in his wrestling debut.

The Elm Street Eagles wrestled well at the Londonderry PJ Sora Memorial Tournament.

TJ Duran was the champion in the 72-79 pound division, Dan Bresee placed second in the 120-132 pound division and Tyler Ellwood placed third in the 106-110 pound division. Also placing third in their first appearance at a tournament were rookie wrestlers Spenser Petz and Spencer Radford. Honorable mention goes to runner-ups Kristin Dechene (2-2, 1 pin, last match into overtime) and Adam Long (2-2, 1 pin) in four hard-fought matches.

Elm Street also had a scrimmage with Fairgrounds. It was a close meet that saw Fairgrounds finish on top 25-23.

The coaches from both teams decided on a less formal Meet giving every wrestler at least one match rather than the traditional weight class wrestle-off.

Fairgrounds wrestler Mike Silva had an outstanding match winning 9-6. Other winners from Fairgrounds were: Kennedy Iriga, Kelsey Levesque, Jon Dube, Victor Carriel, Matt Dube, Jesse Kliss, Joe Goveia, Ryan Villett, Damian Pineau, Alex Smith, Alex Rivera, Zach Seppi, Jen Lowry, Brandon Pietsch, Jasmin Petrosino, Shanara Covan, Moses Fernandez and Anthony Monaco.

Elm Street wrestler Chris Anderson won three-of-four matches, each with a pin. Other winners from Elm Street were: Jared Cummings, Chris Greer, Wilson Pellot, Tyler Ellwood, Dean Kennedy, Ben Shatz, Adam Long, Scott Dunlap, Nick L'Heureaux, Dylan Johnson, Allen McCarthy, Dough Cavanaugh, Connor Rogowsky, Kyle Bergeron, Joshua Reis, TJ Duran and Dylan Paquin.

All 48 matches were officiated courtesy of Nashua Catholic coach PJ Levesque.