The NHIAA Division I State Championship took place at Londonderry High School over the weekend and two young Lancers battled their way to the top of their weight classes.
Sophomore Cam Rousell and freshman Gabriel Perez both needed just three victories to take their respective titles, and in doing so, helped their team to a fifth-place finish against 15 DI teams.
The perennial powerhouse from Timberlane Regional High School took first with 281-points, Concord was second at 221 and Keene had 181.5-points for third in the Sunday, Feb. 22 event, that was postponed from one-day earlier due to a snowstorm.
Rousell, who had a fourth place finish last year, appeared to have easy time getting to the 120-pound title.
Starting in the quarter-finals, Rousell needed just one period for his 10-1 Fall win over sophomore Aarush Dutta of Nashua South, winning at 2:22.
In the semi-finals, he won with a 17-2 Technical fall in the third period against freshman Eli Jones of Exeter.
In the Championship bout, Rousell gave up just two escape points to junior Ethan Bilobram of Timberlane for a 12-2 major decision victory and the division medal.
At 132-pounds, Perez had a similar climb to podium, winning three bouts in convincing fashion.
In the quarter-finals Perez won in the second period, pinning Salem junior, Jacob Haibowicz, with a 5-0 lead.
In the semis, he racked up 13 unanswered points in three-periods for the Major Decision win over Exeter senior Hudson Berry.
Perez finished his championship bout with an 8-3 decision over Timberlane junior Peter Morrissey. The freshman had two takedowns and a reversal for the win, giving up three-points on a reversal and a technical violation.
Other LHS wrestlers to place were: Sophomore Anthony Cipolletta, taking fifth at 106-pounds, winning 15-12 in his final bout; junior Caleb Holden, third place with a 3-1 fall win in his final match; freshman Colin Egan took third at 144-pounds with a 9-4 decision; freshman Jayden Mahlatini had a third-place win at 285-pounds, winning 11-5 in his final bout; freshman Sawyer Chaffee took fifth-place with 17-0 Tech fall victory.
The team will now head to Pinkerton Academy on Saturday, Feb. 28 for the Meet of Champions, where all three state divisions will meet to decide the best wrestlers in the granite state.