Wolfpack middle school wrestling starts season off with strong match

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham/Gray New-Gloucester/Gorham Wolfpack middle school wrestling team had their season opener against Falmouth and York at Windham Middle School on Thursday, Feb. 26. The Wolfpack came out aggressively and the room roared with cheers and excitement during each match. The Wolfpack tied Falmouth, 27-27, and beat York, 18-16.

Windham eighth grader Grady Johnson pins his opponent
to the mat during a middle school wrestling meet against
Falmouth and York at Windham Middle School on 
Thursday, Feb. 26. PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA 

“(My approach was) to try my best, win or lose, I still got the support from my team that I needed, they helped me out a lot,” said Windham eighth grader Natalie Reeves. “That was my first ever match, I’ve never wrestled before but my team ... and coaches have been really helpful. I knew going in I got this. It was really nerve-racking; I had a big adrenaline rush going in. A lot of support from other teammates (went well) and a lot of good victories on our team, even if we lost, we put up a really good fight. To keep fighting through my match (needs work). My takeaway from today was things went really good because I won and because I learned more about wrestling.”

Nolan Schmoyer, a Gorham seventh grader, wrestled first and took his Falmouth opponent to the mat several times. Schmoyer stayed with him, took him down and pinned him after two rounds.

Reeves was very aggressive in her first time on the mat. Although she did not pin her Falmouth challenger, she showed excellent effort, resulting in many points and she won the match 23-13.

Windham sixth grader Finn Turner had a nice takedown and wasn’t about to be pinned by Falmouth. Falmouth tried hard to flip him onto his back, but he would not allow that to happen. He won the match 6-0.

Eighth grader Grady Johnson of Windham pinned his York opponent and wrestled Falmouth as well during the meet. Johnson had several stellar takedowns and won the match 8-0 against his opponent.

“(Going into this match) was to know you worked harder than the opponent and stick to your plan,” said Johnson. “If you have confidence in your plan that’s confident wrestling. The team was great – even if we were getting pinned or we were ahead, we were on our feet with great team spirit. (We need to work on) going into a match (managing our) nerves. This was a great first meet, the energy was amazing, the energy was on point; we’re going to be prepared for the next one.”

Anthony Tucci, a Gray New-Gloucester sixth grader, fought hard against Falmouth but got pinned.

Sixth grader Lincoln Wiley from Gray New-Gloucester wrestled hard in his match against York. It was a tough battle and while avoiding being pinned, he lost the match, 13-6.

Coach Nick Buckley said the team had been practicing for three weeks prior to this meet. He wanted to cover the basics and be fundamentally sound and hard-working going into the meet. For a lot of the team this was the first time they’d wrestled, and Buckley wasn’t sure what he was going to see from them.

“I was pleasantly surprised with the spark they had and the effort they gave,” said Buckley. “Some eighth graders who had rough years last year... led the way. We got to keep learning new moves and building on that. Our takedowns were good, but we got to work on breaking people down to their bellies a little better. I thought the kids did well and carried themselves with pride and support. To hear them cheering for one another, I love that. The wins and losses are nice to get, but it’s learning how to be a good teammate.”

He saw a lot of good teammates during the meet. <