PIN TO WIN Newsletter

What a nice school! Built in 1999, it shows the excitement of the area to forge into the future! I took a ride into the local town of South Berwick via RT 236 and saw the picturesque village with many antique shops that will be sure to keep the Mom busy while Dad is coaching at the tournament.

Nice wrestling room in the school with mirrors on the far wall, so a wrestler can see his stance and know if it's good or bad. The cafeteria is the nicest and cleanest one I've seen, with plenty of room! There the typical tournament fare is offered at reasonable prices.
If you go to Marshwood's be prepared for a long day! With 500 youth wrestlers on Saturday it will take time! But with constant up-to-the-minute updates of the wall charts and continuous action, the tournament moved right along. One draw back is that if you have an older competitor and a younger one, you will need to spend the night. The Elementary divisions compete on Saturday and the Jr High School division competes on Sunday.

So don't come to Marshwood's if you're going to complain. This is a tough tournament that takes time. However, with their high-tech computer system the bouts are constantly flowing and the wall charts consistently updated. Matt Rix has a good support group with numerous volunteers and security all around to ensure a well-run tournament.

The competition is of the highest quality from all the New England states! Held in York county, the hotbed for Maine Wrestling, with the High School State Champs (Noble) right down the road...you are sure to meet some stiff competition!

Be sure to register early for this event. There is a cut off on the number of competitors (approx. 500/day). I sat out on a beautiful sunny Saturday with temperatures in the sixties watching the kids playing frisbee and kickball, or others, who felt they didn't get enough action in the gym, wrestling on the lawn (to the dismay of mom watching the grass stains build up and realizing just how much fun a weekend wrestling tournament can be).

All in all, I give the Marshwood's tournament a definite "thumbs-up"!!! Great Job guys!

The first ECC (Eastern Connecticut Conferences) Championship Tournament was hosted by Montville on March 26, 2000 and was a great success! Killingly edged past Groton by two points, 92 - 90.

Going into the Finals four teams were within 10 points of each other. The Team Title came down to Killingly and Groton, with Killingly clinging to a 5-point lead. With three head-to-head matches to go, Groton would have to win all three to have a chance at the title. In the first match-up, however, Killingly's veteran James Therrien prevailed in a tough battle against Fielding Pagel securing the title.

"What an exciting competition!" stated Coach Fratus from Waterford (who finished 3rd with 85 points). "This was a great race for the title! I never thought it would be so close," commented Montville Coach Arnie Creamer.

Capturing the MOW Award was Bill Lieschner from Groton. He turned in a fine performance for the day!

This year's event was a huge success! I'm sure teams will be eager to grab the title from Killingly next year, but they will be holding strong!


Ending Standings...

1st - Killingly

2nd - Groton

3rd - Waterford

4th - Montville

5th - Griswold

6th - Norwich

7th - New London

8th - East Lyme

9th - Lisbon

10th - Woodstock

Traveling to Topeka, Kansas for the Folkstyle Nationals were four of Connecticut's finest youth wrestlers. Competing at the event were Mike Powers, Greg Dussol, Pat McCaffery and Alex Cournoyer. Combined the four posted an impressive record of 15-6 against the toughest wrestlers in the United States.

Alex Cournoyer, a 70 lb Novice, turned in a superb performance with three victories! This was Alex's first trip to a National event and to wrestle as well as he did is something of which to be proud. Alex was one match away from the medal round when he lost a hard fought 1-0 bout. You can rest assure that next year Alex will be bringing home some hardware!

Greg Dussol placed third! In his second quest for a national title, Greg came up just a little short, losing to the eventual Champion, Shawn Richmond, from Pennsylvania. Greg placed in the Schoolboy division at 140 lbs. Along the way, he posted 5 victories against opponents from Texas, Missouri, California, Michigan and Ohio. This was Greg's second time achieving All American Status, placing 3rd in the Nationals last year as well. As hard as Greg works a national title should not be that far away. Congratulations Greg!

Reaching All American Status for his fourth consecutive year is seasoned veteran, Pat McCaffery. Pat wrestled in one of the toughest weight classes in the nation. From top to bottom the 75 lb Novice class (11-12 yr olds) is loaded!

Pat normally competes at the 70 lb class, but moved up for the Folkstyle Nationals and placed 4th. Pat wrestled 6 matches, winning four, and his two losses were very close. Pat's father, Charlie, said "Pat wrestled well, but we missed our opportunity to win it when we had the chance. The wrestler who won has lost to Pat three times this year, but that was then and this was 'for all the marbles' and Pat's opponent clearly wanted it more." Still a fourth place finish in the nation is certainly something to be proud of, and I'm willing to bet Pat win's the Freestyle and Greco Nationals. Any takers?

Taking home the highest finish was Mike Powers at the 85 lb Novice division. Mike finished 2nd to multi-national champion, Jonathon Reeder, from Michigan. In a battle of the nation's two elite wrestlers Mike was edged out 6-4 in a match that had fans on the edge of their seats! With fifteen seconds left, Mike put an arm-leaver on Shawn and was starting to expose Shawn's back when time ran out. "Either one of these boys could win the 80 lb or 90 lb weight class. It's too bad they always have to meet for the title," commented Greg Janick, a long time coach from California. Well, with the talent that Mike has I'm sure he will have his share of National titles. A job well done Mike!

All four of these young men did a super job and represented the State of Connecticut with pride! If you see any of these wrestlers be sure to congratulate them! Thanks guys from one proud Connecticut Wrestling fan!!!