Middle School Wrestlers Compete at NHWAY State Wrestling Championships

Keene, NH (February 18, 2024) - The New Hampshire Wrestling Association for Youth (NHWAY) hosted its annual State Championship Tournament on Sunday. 509 wrestlers ages 11-to-15 years old competed for individual State titles in 33 weight classes split into 3 competition divisions; age 12 years and under (12U), age 15 years and under (15U), and girls-only ages 15 and under (G15U). Competitors included school-based teams, clubs, and independent entries. The tournament also featured a team competition for each competition division.

33 State Champions were crowned. Wrestlers capturing their third individual state title included Zachary Paris (Smitty’s Barn) and Kameron Lewis (Empire Wrestling Club) in the 12U division along with Victor Lomme (Litchfield Youth), Francisco Juvera (Empire Wrestling Club), Jacob Hamm (Keene MS), and Samuel Josey (Portsmouth Youth) in the 15U division. Two-time champions included Gavin Fernald (Smitty’s Barn) and Jordan Perez (Smitty’s Barn) in the 12U division and Steven Fatout (Timberlane Middle School) and Zacharia Watters (Keene Middle School) in the 15U division. Mackinzie Lacoss (Rochester Middle School) and Madeline Sousa (Merrimack Youth) both grabbed a second state title wrestling in the G15U division.

The competition drew the best youth wrestlers from across the state filling brackets ranging from 65 to 260 pounds. The turnout represented a 13% increase in participation over last year’s tournament and the girls’ division grew dramatically moving from 27 wrestlers a year ago to 51 wrestlers in this year’s tournament. Wrestlers competed in double elimination brackets with 15 brackets containing 16 or more wrestlers. The largest bracket was the 15U, 124 lb bracket which had 41 wrestlers! Awards were presented to the top 6 placers in each weight class; the top 5 also qualify to compete at the Youth New England Championships taking place in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, March 15-17th.

Wrestlers also accumulated team points with their performance to decide team champions for each division for both school and club-based teams. Keene Middle School won both the 12U and 15U school race, Empire Wrestling Club won the 12U club banner, Smitty’s Barn won the 15U trophy, and Mountain View Middle School took home top team honors in the girls’ division. Complete team and individual placement results were as follows.

Girls Team Final Standings

1. Mountain View Middle School, 69 pts
2. Pelham Middle School, 57 pts
3. Plymouth Elementary School, 45 pts
4. Keene Middle School, 40.5 pts
5. Woodbury Middle School, 38 pts
6. Merrimack Middle School, 36 pts
7. Rochester Middle School, 35 pts
8. Londonderry Middle School, 24 pts

8. Merrimack Youth Association, 24 pts

10. Bow Brawlers, 18 pts

10. CONVAL Middle School, 18 pts

10. Lurgio Middle School, 18 pts

13. White Mountains, 16 pts
14. Milford Middle School, 9 pts
15. Prospects, 7 pts
16. Newport Tigers, 3 pts

16. Salem Bulldogs, 3 pts

18. Amherst Middle School, 2 pts

12U Club Team Final Standings

1. Empire Wrestling Club, 217 pts
2. Smitty’s Barn, 114 pts
3. Salem Bulldogs, 64 pts
4. Prospects, 49 pts
5. Bow Brawlers, 36 pts
6. Derry Rebels, 22 pts
7. Granite State Generals, 20 pts
8. Litchfield Youth, 17 pts
9. Londonderry Raptors, 82 pts
10. Merrimack Youth Association, 13 pts
11. Newport Tigers, 5 pts
12. Nashua Boys & Girls Club, 4 pts
13. Keene Gladiators, 2 pts

12U School Team Final Standings

1. Keene Middle School, 104 pts
2. Mountain View Middle School, 94.5 pts
3. Timberlane Middle School, 83 pts
4. Woodbury Middle School, 81 pts
5. Rochester Middle School, 53 pts
6. Hudson Middle School, 47 pts
7. Pelham Middle School, 45 pts
8. Exeter Cooperative Middle School, 34 pts
9. Winnisquam Middle School, 33 pts
10. Windham Middle School, 32 pts
11. Amherst Middle School, 31 pts
12. Londonderry Middle School, 26 pts
13. CONVAL Middle School, 25 pts
14. Merrimack Middle School, 23 pts
15. Milford Middle School, 22 pts
16. Seabrook Middle School, 10 pts
17. Rundlett Middle School, 9 pts
18. Lurgio Middle School, 5 pts

15U Club Team Final Standings

1. Smitty’s Barn, 64 pts
2. Bow Brawlers, 53 pts
3. Empire Wrestling Club, 47 pts
4. Litchfield Youth, 41.5 pts
5. Newport Tigers, 39 pts
6. Doughboy Wrestling Club, 23 pts
7. Kearsarge BNSYS, 18 pts
8. White Mountains, 10 pts
9. Nashua Boys & Girls Club, 6 pts

9. Prospects, 6 pts

15U School Team Final Standings

1. Keene Middle School, 251 pts
2. Timberlane Middle School, 179 pts
3. Hudson Middle School, 176 pts
4. Exeter Cooperative Middle School, 174 pts
5. Woodbury Middle School, 164 pts
6. Lurgio Middle School, 145 pts
7. Rundlett Middle School, 144 pts
8. Hollis-Brookline Middle School, 125.5 pts
9. Rochester Middle School, 120.5 pts
10. Mountain View Middle School, 96 pts
11. Londonderry Middle School, 94.5 pts
12. Milford Middle School, 86.5 pts
13. Amherst Middle School, 74 pts
14. Merrimack Middle School, 70 pts
15. Windham Middle School, 61 pts
16. Pelham Middle School, 47 pts
17. CONVAL Middle School, 45 pts
18. Kingswood Middle School, 42 pts
19. Lebanon Middle School, 41 pts
20. Plymouth Elementary School, 36 pts
21. Winnisquam Middle School, 35 pts
22. Seabrook Middle School, 5.5 pts

Age 12 and Under Division (12U)

First Name | Last Name | Team | Age Div | Weight Class | Finish

Colton | Najem | Granite State Generals | 12U | 65 | 1
Elliot | Kaplan | Amherst MS | 12U | 65 | 2
Ethan | Braley | Londonderry Raptors | 12U | 65 | 3
Ashton | Cappuchi | Independent | 12U | 65 | 4
Kelson | Cox | Hudson MS | 12U | 65 | 5
Zevin | Sanford | Smitty's Barn | 12U | 65 | 6
Zachary | Paris | Smitty's Barn | 12U | 73 | 1
Gabriel | Silva | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 73 | 2
Michael | Comtois | Pelham MS | 12U | 73 | 3
Nicky | Morrow | Exeter CMS | 12U | 73 | 4
Jackson | Pushee | Mountain View MS | 12U | 73 | 5
Travis | Glynn | Smitty's Barn | 12U | 73 | 6
Gavin | Fernald | Smitty's Barn | 12U | 79 | 1
Wesley | Blanchard | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 79 | 2
Justin | Waitt | Salem Bulldogs | 12U | 79 | 3
Toby | Bong | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 79 | 4
Eli | Black | Keene MS | 12U | 79 | 5
Mason | Roberts | Mountain View MS | 12U | 79 | 6
Jordan | Perez | Smitty's Barn | 12U | 86 | 1
Caleb | Juvera | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 86 | 2
Owen | Chapman | Winnisquam MS | 12U | 86 | 3
Caiden | Simpson | Prospects | 12U | 86 | 4
Milan | Arbutina | Winnisquam MS | 12U | 86 | 5
Lucas | Donnelly | Litchfield Youth | 12U | 86 | 6
Joey | Cappuchi | Salem Bulldogs | 12U | 91 | 1
Colton | Miller | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 91 | 2
Bryant | McKinney | Londonderry MS | 12U | 91 | 3
Ashley | Ely | Mountain View MS | 12U | 91 | 4
Bennett | Meehan | Merrimack Youth | 12U | 91 | 5
Ryker | Luba | Milford MS | 12U | 91 | 6
Kameron | Lewis | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 97 | 1
Jamison | Dohaney | Hudson MS | 12U | 97 | 2
Seth | Allen | Rochester MS | 12U | 97 | 3
Eli | Jones | Exeter CMS | 12U | 97 | 4
Giacomo | Sullivan | Bow Brawlers | 12U | 97 | 5
Owen | Peterson | Prospects | 12U | 97 | 6
Eddy | Mendez | Woodbury MS | 12U | 103 | 1
Stephen | Swiggett | Woodbury MS | 12U | 103 | 2
Kash | Mooneyhan | Derry Rebels | 12U | 103 | 3
Noah | Jones | Keene MS | 12U | 103 | 4
Landon | Walker | Timberlane MS | 12U | 103 | 5
Nathan | Hamel | Newport Tigers | 12U | 103 | 6
Cody | Grenier | Windham MS | 12U | 111 | 1
Wyatt | Hull | Independent | 12U | 111 | 2
Lukas | Brown | Mountain View MS | 12U | 111 | 3
Caleb | Grandmaison | Merrimack MS | 12U | 111 | 4
Adam | Collier II | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 111 | 5
Charlie | Burkhard | Amherst MS | 12U | 111 | 6
CJ | Fatout | Timberlane MS | 12U | 123 | 1
Haydn | Thompson | Keene MS | 12U | 123 | 2
Jack | Osorio | Mountain View MS | 12U | 123 | 3
Colton | Richard | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 123 | 4
Nayhvian | Polanco | Salem Bulldogs | 12U | 123 | 5
Dillan | Hatt | Keene MS | 12U | 123 | 6
Mason | Wattles | Rochester MS | 12U | 138 | 1
Xavier | Maldonado | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 138 | 2
Greyson | St. Jean | Pelham MS | 12U | 138 | 3
Sawyer | Jones | Empire Wrestling Club | 12U | 138 | 4
Luke | Moccia | Hudson MS | 12U | 138 | 5
Jacob | Delmore | Woodbury MS | 12U | 138 | 6
Locke | Olesky | CONVAL MS | 12U | 154 | 1
Brayden | Miller | Woodbury MS | 12U | 154 | 2
Marc | Motta | Keene MS | 12U | 154 | 3
Seamus | Mcgranaghan | Prospects | 12U | 154 | 4
Nolan | Garnett | Keene MS | 12U | 176 | 1
John | Mckinnon V | Bow Brawlers | 12U | 176 | 2
Logan | Courtemanch | Milford MS | 12U | 176 | 3
Tanner | Cleasby | Prospects | 12U | 176 | 4
Liam | Jameson | Hudson MS | 12U | 176 | 5

Age 15 and Under Division (15U)

First Name | Last Name | Team | Age Div | Weight Class | Finish

Brooklyn | Murray | Woodbury MS | 15U | 72 | 1
Dawson | Dohaney | Hudson MS | 15U | 72 | 2
Kyle | Leclair | Hollis-Brookline MS | 15U | 72 | 3
Gabe | Kenna | Lurgio MS | 15U | 72 | 4
Tino | Tokola | Keene MS | 15U | 72 | 5
Kaeden | Reister | Mountain View MS | 15U | 72 | 6
Teegan | Owens | Timberlane MS | 15U | 79 | 1
Derrick | Davidson | Rochester MS | 15U | 79 | 2
Graham | Fernald | Bow Brawlers | 15U | 79 | 3
Wesley | Steinruck | Amherst MS | 15U | 79 | 4
Travis | Schaufenbil | Woodbury MS | 15U | 79 | 5
Anthony | Cipolletta | Londonderry MS | 15U | 79 | 6
Victor | Lomme | Litchfield Youth | 15U | 87 | 1
Cole | Nault | Mountain View MS | 15U | 87 | 2
Mason | Verrocchio | Hudson MS | 15U | 87 | 3
Brody | Fudge | Timberlane MS | 15U | 87 | 4
Thomas | Lee | Keene MS | 15U | 87 | 5
Alex | Weick | Windham MS | 15U | 87 | 6
Kylar | Cox | Hudson MS | 15U | 94 | 1
Lane | Williams | CONVAL MS | 15U | 94 | 2
Jackson | Evans | Woodbury MS | 15U | 94 | 3
Jameson | Cande | Woodbury MS | 15U | 94 | 4
Jaiden | Watts | Amherst MS | 15U | 94 | 5
Dario | Cellamare | Woodbury MS | 15U | 94 | 6
Reid | Grandmason | Exeter CMS | 15U | 101 | 1
Logan | Stowell | Timberlane MS | 15U | 101 | 2
Gabriel | Perez | Londonderry MS | 15U | 101 | 3
Jason | Ciano | Windham MS | 15U | 101 | 4
Connor | Jacques | Rochester MS | 15U | 101 | 5
Mykel | Walters | Woodbury MS | 15U | 101 | 6
Billy | Murray | Woodbury MS | 15U | 108 | 1
Nick | Mitchell | Hudson MS | 15U | 108 | 2
Camryn | Roussell | Londonderry MS | 15U | 108 | 3
Timmy | Malley | Hudson MS | 15U | 108 | 4
Bryce | Selby | Kearsarge BNSYS | 15U | 108 | 5
Ben | York | Hollis-Brookline MS | 15U | 108 | 6
Francisco | Juvera | Empire Wrestling Club | 15U | 115 | 1
Max | Hammerstrom | Milford MS | 15U | 115 | 2
Zach | Freni | Windham MS | 15U | 115 | 3
Caleb | Callaway | Exeter CMS | 15U | 115 | 4
Will | Crawford | Hollis-Brookline MS | 15U | 115 | 5
Nate | Fauteux | Hollis-Brookline MS | 15U | 115 | 6
Zachariah | Waters | Keene MS | 15U | 124 | 1
Ramon | Reynolds | Rundlett MS | 15U | 124 | 2
Hunter | Sheldon | Mountain View MS | 15U | 124 | 3
Owen | Sayball | Merrimack MS | 15U | 124 | 4
Ryan | Grandmason | Exeter CMS | 15U | 124 | 5
Charlie | Evans | Exeter CMS | 15U | 124 | 6
Tristan | Lane | Independent | 15U | 130 | 1
Brandon | Gray | Newport Tigers | 15U | 130 | 2
Stephen | Whisler | Smitty's Barn | 15U | 130 | 3
Colton | Hammer | Keene MS | 15U | 130 | 4
Cash | Torres | Merrimack MS | 15U | 130 | 5
Landon | Hammer | Keene MS | 15U | 130 | 6
Leo | Chung | Rundlett MS | 15U | 136 | 1
Alexander | Ethridge | Lurgio MS | 15U | 136 | 2
Ryland | Robinson | Timberlane MS | 15U | 136 | 3
Canaan | Locke | Mountain View MS | 15U | 136 | 4
Ayden | Douglass | Hudson MS | 15U | 136 | 5
Jackson | Lucas | Litchfield Youth | 15U | 136 | 6
Jacob | Hamm | Keene MS | 15U | 143 | 1
Lazar | Arbutina | Winnisquam MS | 15U | 143 | 2
Jace | Willhelmi | Milford MS | 15U | 143 | 3
Tyler | Niemi | Exeter CMS | 15U | 143 | 4
Kayden | Vallerand-Kenneally | Empire Wrestling Club | 15U | 143 | 5
Josiah | Garcia | Timberlane MS | 15U | 143 | 6
Samuel | Josey | Portsmouth Youth | 15U | 154 | 1
Xavier | Montanez | Lebanon MS | 15U | 154 | 2
Thomas | Dehney | Doughboy WC | 15U | 154 | 3
Connor | Jackson | Rochester MS | 15U | 154 | 4
Silas | Heiser | Lurgio MS | 15U | 154 | 5
Owen | Shaw | Exeter CMS | 15U | 154 | 6
Steven | Fatout | Timberlane MS | 15U | 169 | 1
Alexander | Koeppel | Mountain View MS | 15U | 169 | 2
Noah | Gendreau | Hudson MS | 15U | 169 | 3
Mason | Smith | Keene MS | 15U | 169 | 4
Caleb | Matson | Rundlett MS | 15U | 169 | 5
Alexzander | Averine | Lebanon MS | 15U | 169 | 6
Noah | St Onge | Exeter CMS | 15U | 188 | 1
Brennen | Burkholder | Keene MS | 15U | 188 | 2
Jordan | Clemons | Rundlett MS | 15U | 188 | 3
Joel | Labrie | Keene MS | 15U | 188 | 4
Leland | Eaton | Merrimack MS | 15U | 188 | 5
Jason | Osgood | Kingswood MS | 15U | 188 | 6
Anthony | Correnti | Lurgio MS | 15U | 215 | 1
John | Ross | Hollis-Brookline MS | 15U | 215 | 2
Kevin | Mullen | Bow Brawlers | 15U | 215 | 3
Will | Boncore | Hudson MS | 15U | 215 | 4
Alistair | Armstrong | CONVAL MS | 15U | 215 | 5
Joey | Schnitzler | Milford MS | 15U | 215 | 6
Noah | Steadman | Keene MS | 15U | 260 | 1
George | Guerrero | Pelham MS | 15U | 260 | 2
Harrison | Towne | Amherst MS | 15U | 260 | 3
Jason | Gagnon | Rochester MS | 15U | 260 | 4
Emerson | Beauregard | Rundlett MS | 15U | 260 | 5
Robert | Couture | Rundlett MS | 15U | 260 | 6

Age 15 and Under Division Girls Only (G15U)

First Name | Last Name | Team | Age Div | Weight Class | Finish

Madeline | Sousa | Merrimack Youth | G15U | 99 | 1
Madison | Mullen | Bow Brawlers | G15U | 99 | 2
Avery | Hodgdon | Mountain View MS | G15U | 99 | 3
Olivia | Bean | Plymouth ES | G15U | 99 | 4
Lyra | Esposito | Keene MS | G15U | 99 | 5
Lilah | Sweeney | Salem Bulldogs | G15U | 99 | 6
Sarah | Snavley | Merrimack MS | G15U | 114 | 1
Eylin | Gorman | Mountain View MS | G15U | 114 | 2
Kylie | Silveria | Pelham MS | G15U | 114 | 3
Yashi | Bajpai | Lurgio MS | G15U | 114 | 4
Maya | Juarez | Keene MS | G15U | 114 | 5
Madison | Keefe | Woodbury MS | G15U | 114 | 6
Keira | Lynch | Woodbury MS | G15U | 130 | 1
Fiona | Cote | Pelham MS | G15U | 130 | 2
Sara | Meigh | Mountain View MS | G15U | 130 | 3
Sophie | Colon | Independent | G15U | 130 | 4
Brielle | Egan | Pelham MS | G15U | 130 | 5
Sydney | Desrosiers | Milford MS | G15U | 130 | 6
Mackinzie | Lacoss | Rochester MS | G15U | 150 | 1
Claire | Tillman | Londonderry MS | G15U | 150 | 2
Annabelle | Walker | White Mountains | G15U | 150 | 3
Audra | Leone | Plymouth ES | G15U | 150 | 4
Sophia | Domitrovich | Keene MS | G15U | 150 | 5
Addie | Selleck | Mountain View MS | G15U | 150 | 6
I'Labeth | Olesky | CONVAL MS | G15U | 172 | 1
Scarlett | Shannon | Plymouth ES | G15U | 172 | 2
Emma | Smith | Merrimack MS | G15U | 172 | 3 * /*-->*/ /*-->*/ /*-->*/ /*-->*/ /*-->*/ /*-->*/ /*-->*/ /*-->*/