By Sapna Pathak
Staff Writer

Goffstown High’s Phil Charte, a member of the Grizzlies’ first-ever Division II state wrestling team, placed second at the Meet of Champions and earned a trip to the New England Regional Tournament.

At this point in the campaign, only the best are still competing for their schools. Called the “Meet of Champions,” only the top wrestling talents attempt to earn ultimate bragging rights.

This year, the best wrestlers from Division I and II convened at Concord High on Saturday, Feb. 25, to determine who was good enough to advance to the upcoming New England Regional Tournament.

“This is it. This is bigger than states,” said Goffstown head coach Todd Lavallee. “It’s great to win states because it looks good on paper, but this is where the true wrestlers get to take each other on.”

Mark Williams, assistant coach for Salem, agreed with Lavallee’s assessment. He said wrestlers had to earn the right to see their names in the M of C brackets.

The M of C included the top six wrestlers in each weight class from Division I schools, plus the top four wrestlers in each weight class from D-II schools. Grapplers placing in the event’s top three spots moved on to New Englands.

Concord head coach Hamilton Munnell said his athletes don’t think D-I has an advantage over D-II. He said his wrestlers know talent exists in both divisions; he won’t let his athletes focus on the opposition’s wrestling division.

“This is really the state championship,” said Chris Mitchell, head coach of the Bow Falcons. “It brings both divisions together and the guys get to wrestle each other, proving there’s no difference between D-I and D-II – except the size of the school.”

Proving Mitchell’s point, one of his own D-II talents, DJ Meagher, was named the meet’s Outstanding Wrestler.

“DJ will wipe the floor with anyone in the finals,” said Williams. “He comes from a D-II school, but that means nothing when it comes to how good he is. Things are changing; it’s not like before when there was a clear difference between D-I and D-II guys.”

After a full day of wrestling, the teams rounding out the top three weren’t strangers to the standings.

Timberlane placed first with 183 points; Concord came in second with 127.5 points; and Salem placed third with 93.5 points.

Goffstown, coming off its first ever D-II championship one week earlier, placed fourth with 76 points. Bow finished eighth with 47 points.

Memorial placed 10th with 36 points; Pelham and West tied for 19th place with 21 points; Central came in 24th with 12 points; and John Stark came in 30th with one point.

Perhaps the most anticipated match of the day was the 215-pound bout between West’s Lance Mailloux and Londonderry’s Cody Rideout. Mailloux improved to 40-0 with a last-second pinfall, earning him a ticket to New Englands, along with Central’s Billy Chebook, who placed third.

Memorial’s 103-pound wrestler, Jeff Stanzel, pulled out of the final round due to an earlier injury. Emmanuel Lopez placed fifth for the Crusaders in the 112-pound weight class, while teammate Nick Berube did the same in the 171-pound bracket.

Meagher pinned D-I champ Corey Black of Keene in 2-minutes, 16 seconds, for the 140- pound title. Teammate Doug Rosenberg lost his 125-pound match, 11-10, finishing in fifth place.

The 103-pound contest was a rematch between D-I champ Joe O’Connor of Timberlane and Concord’s Dan Breen. The outcome was the same, as O’Connor won, earning Breen a secondplace finish.

Crimson Tide wrestler Bobby Vinson lost a tough match in the 125-pound class, giving him the second-place standing. Both Alex Buessing and Tyler Saltsman took home top honors for Concord in the 130- and 135- pound classes, respectively.

Meanwhile, Concord’s Travis Boucher placed fifth in the 140-pound class, and Harry Paul placed third at 152.

For the Goffstown Grizzlies, D-II state champ Phil Charte came in second in the 135-pound final after a 22-6 loss. Kevin Rose placed third at 160, while twin brother Kyle, who finished second at the D-II state meet, placed third in the 171-pound class.

For Kyle Rose, the result was especially sweet. He defeated Hollis-Brookline’s John Kowolski, avenging a loss the prior week in the Division II championships. Rose not only reached New Englands, he prevented Kowolski from doing the same.

“It was a big relief,” said Kyle a few days later.

Freshman Tom Foote came in fourth in the 215-pound match; D-II champ Chris Pastrana placed third in the heavyweight match; and Tyler Clites placed sixth in the 112-pound class.

Adam Langtiegne was the only wrestler representing John Stark. Langtiegne won his quarterfinal match.