Springfield Wrestlers Hit The Mats In Essex, Vermont This Past Weekend

Springfield wrestlers hit the mats in Essex, Vermont this past weekend, starting Friday night and ending Sunday evening. High schoolers battled on Friday night for the opportunity to earn a spot in the varsity tournament on Saturday; all but two made it through, with Brandon Bennett securing a respectable third place spot on the podium. Bryan Stafford and Cole Wright each chalked up a win on Friday night, and he and Tim Amsden each emerged the victor in a couple of exhibition matches. David Rigney and Logan Webster are honing their skills with every match, and Trenton Rumrill was showing great promise before a shoulder injury put him out for the tournament.

On Sunday, our K-8 wrestlers rolled into town to take the gym by storm; for many of the K-6 kids, this was their first tournament ever.

• Securing gold medals were 5th grader Dmitri Jasinski and 2nd grader Ben Moore.
• 2nd place winners were 1st grader Logan Mills, 2nd grader Jay Mouser, 3rd grader Carter Brown, and 5th graders Jayden Armstrong and Braydon Rumrill.
• 3rd place medals went to 1st grader Jace Preston, 2nd grader Emilyn Rogers, 3rd grader Irvin Barbour, and 5th grader Seth Markwell.
• 4th place went to 4th grader Tristan Perry, and 5th graders Garrett Brickey and Jonathan Lake.
• 5th place went to kindergartener Michael Blanchard and 5th grader Mitchell Shaw.

Kindergartener Sam Wright also battled hard, but had to step out after his first match due to illness. His double-leg taketown of his opponent left his coaches and the spectators wowed.

Junior high showing was strong, with 7th grader Dillan Lacasse leading the pack with a 1st place medal; 7th grader Noah Markwell earned 2nd place, while 8th grader Marshall Simpson landed a respectable 3rd place. 7th grader John Jasinski worked his way to 4th place, and classmate Hunter Ferland battled to 6th.

A very long weekend featured tons of excellent progress and strong work from every wrestler; each gave his all on the mats, leaving Head Coach Don Beebe and the rest of the coaching crew happy yet inspired to hit the practice mats that much harder.

Saturday, January 25th the JH & HS team heads to Vergennes - stay tuned to the action via FaceBook on the team's page: https://www.facebook.com/SpfldVTWrestling/.

Photo: Tim Amsden rolls his opponent. Credit: Crystal Shaw.