Steady hand still guides wrestlers

Friday, February 12, 2010

Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Milford's Peter Benoit grimaces as he's about to get pinned by Hollis-Brookline's Forrest Coon-Roberts in the 171lbs. wrestling match at Hollis-Brookline H.S. on Wednesday evening.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Milford's Joe Albina, top, and Hollis-Brookline's Nate Ashe have each other locked up as they grapple in the 160lbs. match Wednesday evening at Hollis-Brookline H.S. Albine won with a pin over Ashe.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Hollis-Brookline's Taylor Landry has Milford's Andrew Myers locked up in their 152lbs. match in Hollis on Wednesday evening. Landry went on to win the battle.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Hollis-Brookline's Brandon Rocha, front, tries to break free from the grasp of Milford's Tyler Keating to no avail in the 189lbs. match as Keating went on to pin Rocha during Wednesday's wrestling match in Hollis.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Ben Carmen, top, of Milford H.S. and Brian Litchfield of Hollis-Brookline battle each other in the 145lbs. match at Hollis on Wednesday evening. Litchfield won the match with a pin.

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Photo by Jodie Andruskevich^^Milford's Peter Benoit grimaces as he's about to get pinned by Hollis-Brookline's Forrest Coon-Roberts in the 171lbs. wrestling match at Hollis-Brookline H.S. on Wednesday evening.

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HOLLIS – Anyone listening carefully during an intense moment of last week’s wrestling match at Hollis/Brookline High School could hear a familiar voice barking out instructions.

It was just coming from a different spot.

Rhon Rupp may have traded in his coach’s whistle for a seat at the scorer’s table, but that wasn’t going to stop him from passing along advice to Brian Bumpus, who is in his first-year as H/B’s coach, or any of the wrestlers during a home match against Milford.

“I looked over a couple of times for something to do,” Bumpus said. “He’s my go-to guy. He was when I was wrestling. He still coaches me from sitting over there.”

During one match in the Cavaliers’ 40-21 win over the Spartans, Milford assistant coach Justin Hammerstrom walked over to the edge of the mat to speak to the official. As the two spoke, Rupp, who is the school’s athletic director, waved at Bumpus to join them.

“I couldn’t imagine doing it without having Rupp there,” Bumpus said. “We have the perfect situation.”

While the former H/B wrestler – Bumpus was an undefeated New England Champion in 2003 – was talking about what goes on off the mats, he easily could have been referring to the wrestlers he has stepping on it.

The Cavs are a young team in 2010. Of the wrestlers they sent out against Milford, only one was a senior. There are a couple of juniors, too, but the rest of the roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores.

“All the young guys have stepped up to the plate,” Bumpus said. “As long as everyone stays healthy, the future looks bright.”

But before Bumpus can think about the future, he has to think about this year. While the coaching staff has spent a lot of time working with the young kids, it hasn’t had to do a lot to motivate them.

“These guys have the same goal in mind,” Bumpus said. “They go out there and they want to win and they want to win as a team, which is great.”

The Cavs showed their toughness against the Spartans, taking all but three of the contested matches to the final period. Perhaps the highlight of the night came in the 119-pound match.

Milford sophomore Thomas Scannell was up 4-2 late into the match against H/B freshman Ryan Ahlquist. While Scannell’s lead wasn’t big, he’d been able to control the action, at least until the final 30 seconds. Ahlquist picked up a point for an escape, and then added two more on a takedown to win 5-4.

Zachary Migneault was in a similar situation in his 285 match against Andrew Bellantoni. The H/B wrestler was struggling early, but turned things around in the second period and won with a pin at the 3:29 mark.

“We need to get better every match,” Bumpus said. “Having freshmen and sophomores is nicer because we can get them going in the right direction.”

An individual rivalry may have taken shape at 160, as two freshmen squared off. H/B’s Nate Ashe held his own against Milford’s Joe Albina, who has just one loss in Division II this year, but Albina was able to record a pin at the 4:47 mark.

After the match was over and the H/B wrestlers were leaving the gym, Rupp spotted Ashe making his way toward the door.

“Hey, nice job,” the former wrestling coach said. “You’ll be seeing a lot of him in the next three years.”