LYNNFIELD EIGHTH-GRADER Ben Schumacher (on top) placed sixth in the 106 lb. weight class during the Cohasset Tournament on Jan. 22. (Courtesy Photo)
By DAN TOMASELLO
COHASSET — Four members of the Lynnfield-North Reading co-op wrestling team placed during the Cohasset Tournament on Jan. 22.
Sophomore Gavin Iby finished second in the 132 lb. weight class. He pinned an Excel Academy grappler, who was the second seed in the weight class, at 3:12 during the quarterfinals. He defeated a Tri-County wrestler by fall at 5:44 in the semifinals. Iby concluded the tournament by losing a 3-2 decision to Cohasset’s Ben Ford in the finals.
Black and Gold head coach Craig Stone said Ford was the number one seed in the 132 lb. weight class.
“Ben is a 2020 returning sectional and state place finisher,” said Stone. “Gavin wrestled in his first varsity tournament.”
Freshman James Fodera finished third in the 170 lb. weight class. He pinned Rockland’s Joe Earner at 4:25 during the quarterfinals. He lost his semifinals match to Cohasset’s Mike Donahue by a 5-2 decision. Fodera pinned Rockland’s Rami Assour at 2:01 in the first consolation round. He secured the third place finish after defeating Cohasset’s Andre Sweet by a 13-11 decision in the final consolation round.
“James also wrestled in his first varsity tournament,” said Stone.
Eighth-grader Ben Schumacher placed sixth in the 106 lb. weight class. David Glynn placed sixth in the 120 lb. weight class.
Stone noted that the top four finishers in each weight class were given medals. He commended the Black and Gold’s performance in the tournament.
“We placed four of the eight wrestlers that are on our team, all of whom are first-year varsity team members,” said Stone. “We train, we compete and we get feedback. That feedback is used to see how we can improve. That improvement has been quite noticeable throughout the season.”
Falls to Danvers
The Black and Gold (0-16) began last week falling 72-6 to Danvers on Jan. 20.
Schumacher (106 lbs.) earned his first varsity dual meet win after he pinned his counterpart at 5:25.
“Following the dual meet, seven out of the eight wrestlers competed again against JV opponents and six came up winners,” said Stone. “We refuse to evaluate our performance in varsity meets as the only indicator of our progress, as the majority of our wrestlers are in their first year of competition. However, when given the opportunity to measure our performance against like competition, we are doing extremely well.”
Upcoming meets
The Black and Gold will face off against Marblehead-Swampscott on Wednesday, Jan. 26, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Marblehead High School. LNR will compete in the Cape Ann League/Northeastern Conference Tournament on Sunday, Jan. 30, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Marblehead High School.
