By Chris Paul
The Londonderry High School Wrestling team had four of their grapplers competing in the New Hampshire Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Meet of Champions (MOCs) with two making it to the state championship match.
The MOCs has the winners of each of the three New Hampshire divisions facing off for the number one spot in the state and it took place in Londonderry. The top two will then head to the New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championship at the Providence Career & Technical Academy in Rhode Island on Saturday, March 4.
There were 34 teams competing in the MOCs on Saturday and Londonderry finished in 15th. Timberlane Regional High School finished in first as a team with 262 points, while Salem High School took second with 190 and Nashua South was third with 126-points.
The Lancer squad had freshman David Pento wresting in the 132-pound championship bout and junior Nick D’Alessandro fighting for the 126-pound title.
Freshman Nikki Stylianos, wrestling at 106-pounds and Patrick O’Connor wrestling at 152-ponds also competed in the tournament, but didn’t make it to the championship bouts.
Pento had three wins and one loss at the MOCs. He started his day with a quick win by fall against a Merrimack opponent.
His second win was a close 6-5 decision over Cam Jordan of Conval High School in the quarterfinals.
In his semifinal bout, Pento had a 13-6 decision win over Caleb O’Rourke from Salem High School.
In the finals, Pento lost 8-0 to Anthony Fernandez of Nashua South.
D’Alessandro also had a strong performance leading up to a championship bout against Kiaben Kennedy of Bedford High.
D’Alessandro had fall win in his first round match followed by a 16-10 decision win in his quarterfinal match against John Fabrizio.
In his semifinal victory, D’Alessandro pulled out a tough 6-5 decision win over Cam Monahan of Salem.
D’Alessandro’s only loss that day was in the finals, suffering a 9-1 defeat to Kennedy.