The ConVal wrestling team placed third in Division III at the state championship meet at Pelham Saturday and can send four wrestlers to the Meet of Champions next weekend.
At 126 lbs., Cameron Jordan beat Joe Peters of Plymouth, in the semis and wrestled through his entire bracket to the championship round, where he pinned No. 1 seed Cam Stebbins of Mascoma Valley for the title. Jordan’s win clinched the third-place finish for ConVal.
“When team points are on the line, Cam is who you want,” said ConVal head coach Abe Ewing. “He definitely gets hyped for matches.”
Chris Robbins worked his way to a championship at 145 lbs., winning by mutual decision and decision in the early rounds and then beating No. 1 seed JC Gaumer of Plymouth by decision, 7-3, for the title. Robbins had lost to Gaumer twice in the regular season, but made it count on Saturday. Robbins survived a takedown with an escape and then, wrestling from on top, used his bootriding technique to control Gaumer’s hips and earn enough points for the win.
Kenny Conway took second at 138 lbs., winning one match by decision and another by pin before falling in the finals to Newport’s top wrestler Josh Sharron, one of the division’s toughest opponents.
“[Conway’s] had some off days this year and worked really hard to improve,” Ewing said. “To see him in the finals was really good.”
Trace Borozinski was third at 285 lbs., pinning Paul Laraway of Winnisquam twice in the process.
Ewing said Borozinski got hot after missing six weeks due to injury.
“He showed up, put it all together and he actually surprised us,” Ewing said. “He stayed in really good position and he was positioned to win his matches.”
Max Vassar was fourth at 113 lbs. and Tyler Lessard was fourth at 120 lbs, both earning points towards ConVal’s third-place finish.
“It’s huge for guys to be successful on the backside of the bracket when it comes to team points,” Ewing said.
Evan Shippee had a full day of wrestling at 152 lbs., placing sixth after wrestling four matches. Shippee pinned his training partner, Evan Bailey of Conant, as well as Julian Henry of John Stark.
Theo Cross placed sixth at 170 lbs. thanks to a fall over Philip Melish of Lebanon.
Ethan Earle was sixth at 182 lbs., pinning Ethan Krueger of Bow along the way.
Jordan Drummond was sixth at 195 lbs., winning by mutual decision over Gifford Colburn of John Stark.
Tyler Sullivan placed fifth at 1o6 lbs.
Harrison Bernier wrestled at 132 lbs.
Andrew Nielsen wrestled at 160 lbs.
Jordan, Robbins, Conway and Borozinski can wrestle at the Meet of Champions on Saturday at Nashua North starting at 9:30 a.m.
“Every match is tough for the rest of the season,” Ewing said. “There’s no slouches at the Meet of Champions.”