Controlled chaos came to ConVal Saturday morning as wrestlers from 21 schools around New England competed in the Cougars' annual Early Bird tournament. 

With three mats going simultaneously, the all-day affair saw more than 400 matches wrestled, and athletes from ConVal, Conant and Mascenic grappled the rust off in an early season tournament that was the first such event for many of the newer wrestlers. 

"For our first-years, it's a big experience day," said Mascenic head coach Ben Shippee during a break in the action. "It's a lot. First time at a tournament, there's a lot going on. It's hard to manage your energy all day. So it's really a learning day for them."

The Vikings are in just their second year as a varsity program, but they looked good in their season opener. For some, it was just picking up the little nuances -- when to report to which mat, how to fix the color indicator to one's ankle pre-match and whose hand to shake afterwards. For the more experienced, like Dylan Callahan, it was a chance to show off the hard work they'd already put in since the last season ended. At 157 pounds, Callahan picked up two pinfalls in a combined two minutes of wrestling against competitors from Franklin and Kearsarge.

"Callahan's the captain for the team here, so he does a nice job helping manage the energy, because when they hear it from the coach, that's one thing, then they hear from the captain and the experienced guys – that really helps,” Shippee said. “I think that's the sport of wrestling too. It molds leaders."

Shippee should know; he did his high school wrestling at Northfield Mount Hermon under National Wrestling Hall of Fame coach Frank Millard, and he's bringing that same approach to Mascenic. It's one that the endurance-sport-friendly Vikings should understand.

"It's kind of like cross-country or track or those other sort of individual team sports, where you're really building for that state tournament at the end of the year,” Shippee said. “You want your guys to get wins and be good throughout the year, but it's really about getting to that state tournament in shape and ready to go."

Of the local teams, no wrestlers finished higher than ConVal's Luis Torres, who lost his first match at 138 pounds before winning five straight to finish third in the weight class. Teammate Collin Mao took fourth at 132 pounds, and ConVal's Cayden Park was sixth at 285 pounds. Mascenic's William Austin, who took eighth at 126 pounds. with a pin and a technical fall, was the Vikings' top finisher, and Conant's Roland Dumont, Kayden Wozniak and Brody Greene gained some experience the hard way in their first match of the season. 

ConVal finished 12th as a team, with Division I programs Exeter and Bedford in the top two spots, respectively. Mascenic was 18th and Conant 20th. 

All three local teams are back at it Thursday evening at ConVal High School for a three-team meet.