By Chris Paul
As the high school wrestling season heads into its final two events of the year, the Londonderry High School Wrestling team hosted its final dual meet of the season and won that match in a convincing manner.
The evening also served as the team’s Senior Night, where each of the 2023 graduating team members were honored.
Londonderry welcomed Nashua North High School on Wednesday night, Feb. 8, winning 10 of the 14 weight classes for a 55-28 victory. Two of those losses were given up as forfeits by Londonderry.
The matches began in the 160-pound weight class, where Nashua led with a 14-5 major decision win over Lancer sophomore Finn Millis. Millis was stepping in that evening to cover Chase Prado’s usual spot as Prado was sidelined due to illness.
Later in the week, Millis took first-place at the Junir Varsity State Championships.
The next four matches all went Londonderry’s way. At 170-lbs., LHS junior Patrick O’Connor pinned Cole Doyle at 2:53 for the teams first win of the night.
At 182 lbs., junior Owen Rondeau had a very tough back and forth match against Ruben DeJesus, but eventual held on for a 6-5 decision win.
Lancer junior Andreas Taliadouros (195 lbs.) was able to pin Connor Smith in 39-seconds for another six-points for the team.
At 220 lbs., senior Christopher Gear added another six-point through his forfeit win.
Nashua’s Reid Lavoie (285 lbs.) overpowered junior Lancer Kyle Jasper with a fall at 27-seconds.
Lancer junior Nikki Stylianos (106 lbs.) received a forfeit win and tacked on another six team points.
The 113 and 126 pound weights were both forfeited by LHS, but sophomore Jake McClory was able to get a pin victory over Arturo Romero in between the two losses.
Londonderry finished the meet with four straight wins starting at 132 lbs., when senior Nicolas D’Alessandro made short work of his match with Hayden Durocher by pinning him in 49-seconds.
Then, sophomore Emanuel Perez (138 lbs.) captured a fall over Trevor Rivard at 3:22 in the match.
Senior Michael Palma (145 lbs.) received an 11-3 major decision win over Demetri Moreno.
The 152-pound LHS sophomore wrestler David Pento Jr. remained unbeaten in Division I with an 11-second pin over Elfried Djossou.
Pento’s one and only loss this season came in an out-of-state tournament against a Rhode Island opponent.
The team did not have a tournament over the weekend, but three JV Wrestlers placed in the States. Millis took first place, Jonah Tillman was a second-place finisher and Dakota Shaffer had a fourth-place finish.
This week, the team was preparing to host the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association’s (NHIAA) Division I Championship on Saturday, Feb 18.
The top finishers will advance to the NHIAA Meet of Champions at Bedford High School on Saturday, Feb. 25.