Photo: Three for three as Belmont’s girl grapplers – (from left) Head Coach Craig Janjigian, Ava Svistunov, Eva Cohen, and Clarise O’Neil – each grab medals at the 44th annual Brendan Grant Memorial Wrestling Tournament.
For more than 10 hours, the six mats on the Wenner Field House floor were busy on Saturday, Jan. 4, filled with approximately 500 wrestlers from 21 high schools across eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island participating in the 44th annual Brendan Grant Memorial Wrestling Tournament.
Over the near half-century, Belmont High has had its share of wrestlers who used the early-season meet to springboard their season toward divisional and state championships. And this edition, Belmont—which came ready to compete in all but one weight class—was well represented throughout the two days.
In Saturday’s Boys’ competition, Jonathan Doban took the 144 lbs. title with relative ease via three pins and a majority decision. His championship run came after he was sidelined for a week with the flu.
Luke Coelho went to the mat six times to capture 5th place in the 138 division, losing to the eventual champion (Charles Phillips from East Providence) and the third-place medalist. In his final match of a long day, Coelho took the match the entire three rounds to ground out a 4-1 decision.
On Sunday, it was an impressive haul when the second annual Girls’ tournament was held. In the round-robin event, where each grappler wrestled four times in her weight division, a pair of Marauders dominated their classes.
Defending MIAA Division 1 state champion Ava Svistunov (114.3-118 lbs.) dropped just a single point – in her final match with Woburn’s Racia DeSousa – in her four matches, each ending with a pin in the first round. Svistunov came to the meet, winning the prestigious George Bossi Lowell Holiday Tournament at 107 lbs.
Second-year wrestler Eva Cohen (118.7-120.6 lbs.) was equally impressive without dropping a match with three falls. Rookie Clarise O’Neil (112.6-114.1 lbs.) took home two wins while losing one of her matches by a single point to pick up a third-place medal.
Senior night for Belmont High Wrestling will be Tuesday, Jan. 28, vs. Melrose.