Springfield Wrestlers Flex Muscles at Recent Meets

A recent dual meet with Burr & Burton netted the varsity "Green Machine" a 36-30 win, adding a fourth win to their undefeated status at dual meets this season. The team also racked up 6th place out of 20 teams competing at the two-day Mike Baker Classic Essex Invitational. Individual placers were Jayson Webster, Matt LaChapelle, and John Stafford Jr each in 2nd place; Lucas Saunders in 3rd; Trent Briere-Lewis in 5th place; and Peter Berlenbach in 6th place. Additional excellent effort was put forth by Skyler Congdon, Skylar Wallace, Gillian Guy, Brandon Bennett, and Bradley Bennett. Saunders' bronze medal was sweetened by his first time defeating a long-time opponent.

Essex High School also hosted a pre-season K-8 tournament, at which 15 of our younger grapplers faced down tough opponents, many from other states. First timers as well as seasoned 'veterans' hit the mats; kindergartener Sophia Perry earned her first win ever, and returning wrestler Dmitri Jasinski nailed the gold medal in his 3rd/4th grade bracket. Excellent effort was put forth by every wrestler - Seth Markwell and his brother Noah each collared third place, and first-year junior high wrestler Tim Amsden impressed his coaches as well as his competitors with strong effort; Coach Floyd Buck observed great improvement in Amdsen's technique. Bryan Stafford, also 8th grade, brought home a bronze medal.

The flu is hitting Springfield hard, and the wrestling team isn't exempt. Despite many wrestlers and a coach being out due to illness, the varsity and JH "Green Machine" hit the mats at full power in Vergennes, VT on January 27th. Leading the pack was 8th grader Bryan Stafford with a first-place trophy. Coming back strong from a shoulder injury, senior Mason Olney nailed a second place spot on the podium; senior Lucas Saunders also took home a silver medal, after a brutal nail-biter of a match against a tough NY opponent. Recovering from flu, senior John Stafford Jr collared a respectable 4th place on the podium. Also battling it out in Vergennes were Skylar Wallace and Skyler Congdon; seventh grader Cole Wright also put forth a solid showing.

Photo by Springfield, VT Wrestling: Eighth grader Bryan Stafford displays the First Place trophy he earned at a recent tournament in Vergennes, VT.