After performing well at the Division I championships at Nashua High School South two weekends ago, the Pinkerton Academy wrestling squad put forth more excellent work at the state Meet of Champions (MOC) at Nashua High School North last Saturday, Feb. 28.
Coach Dave Rhoads’ Astro squad finished fourth as a group and had two grapplers collect individual titles at the D-I competition. And Rhoads’ roster tallied fourth place – out of 33 teams – at the Meet of Champs and had three wrestlers collect individual crowns and advance to the New England championships at North Andover (Mass.) High School this coming weekend.
Division I champions Shayne McCann and Dylan Barreiro followed up their Feb. 21 successes by snaring MOC championships in their weight classes, and after finishing as the runner-up in his 220-pound weight class at the D-I event Joey Lydick bagged the championship at the MOCs.
Additionally, Pinkerton had Derek Wilson finish fourth overall in his 106-pound class and Tyler Wilson wind up fourth in his 160-pound division.
McCann bested Tristan Stetson of Keene in the 113-pound division finals of the MOCs, edging that opponent by a tight, 4-3 tally.
“Shayne wrestles to match up with his competitor, and in this case Stetson is just a non-stop motor,” said Rhoads. “Shayne tried to slow him down and pick his scoring spots, and he did well.”
Barreiro battled his way to an intense and impressive 2-1 edging of Londonderry High’s Richard Bilodeau in the 195-pound finals, downing the tough Lancer grappler Barreiro also defeated for the Division I championships with a score of 4-1 one week earlier.
“Dylan is something special,” said Rhodes. “He’s at the top of the charts in focus, intensity, and work ethic. He puts so much effort into becoming a better wrestler, and the results speak for themselves.”
Lydick defeated Salem High School’s Mike Poulin in bagging the 220 title and advancing to the New Englands as a champion. He’d lost to Poulin in the title match at the D-I competition and gained a nice bit of revenge by altering his approach to wrestling the Blue Devils’ standout.
“Joey got out-brawled in the Division I finals by Poulin, but he wasn’t going to let it happen again this week,” said Rhoads. “So he went out and out-wrestled him today.”
