Led by four
champions and five additional place winners, the NMH wrestlers won the school's
first New England Wrestling Championship. NMH's margin of victory was the
largest in tournament history and was a fitting capstone to a season that saw
the the team win the Class A League Tournament, three other tournaments, place
11th in the National Championships, and post a 21-1 season dual meet record.
Fourty-four of the 50 New England wrestling schools were represented at the
event. The team title helped to partially erase the frustrating second-place
finishes in '98, '01, and '02 for retiring Coach Frank Millard.
Omar Bey '10 (112) was the first champ as he overwhelmed his
opponent in the finals. His opponent was a two-time New England Champ, a
two-time All American, and had pinned Omar in last year's NE finals and in the
finals of an early season tournament this year. Naval-Academy-bound John
Coutoumas '08 (125) was never challenged in the tournament and in the
finals, beat the defending champion. Todd Patterson '08 (130)
was the next champ, and his relentless attacking mode allowed him to wear down
all of his opponents. TJ Strunk '08 capped off the champs with
another dominating performance as he completely controlled his opponents when
they were on their feet wrestling for a takedown. The Hoggers' four champions
ties a the school record for number of champions set in 1997.
NMH's other finalist, All-American Ryan Ponte '11, lost to
another All American who had dropped down from 112 to wrestle 103 at the
Nationals and New Englands. Senior Ryan Roddy's semi final
match was the rubber match this season between him and his opponent, and his
opponent beat him in the closing seconds as he countered a great effort from
Ryan with a little better one of his own. NMH's other third-place finisher was
Marty Tarantino '08, who ran into a buzz saw in his semifinal
match with the defending ISL league champion. Max Wright '09
continued his outstanding success story with a very strong fourth-place finish
and Mike O'Brien '08 concluded his wrestling career with a very
good performance placing a solid fifth after being seeded ninth.
This article appeared on the Northfield Mount Herman School website.