5 Things to Know: Wrestling Feat by Black & Blue

1) Town and School Meeting Watch: 

Personnel Board 8:30 a.m. - 2nd floor conference room, Town Hall

School Building Committee 4:30 p.m. - conference room, Swampscott Middle School.

2) Newsbit of the Day: 

Sean Taylor of the Black & Blue combined Marblehead/Swampscott wrestling team ended a historic high school wrestling career in fairy tale fashion last weekend. Ranked sixth in Division 3 at the beginning of the season, the Marblehead heavyweight made it to 49th Annual New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships, and made it to the “Quarter-Finals top eight” before being handed a loss by the eventual fourth place finisher.

It was not enough for a medal, but it was more than enough for the Marblehead senior who began wrestling in sixth grade.

Taylor, a co-captain of the Swampscott-Marblehead wrestling team, steamrolled through his first two matches at the New England tournament. In his first match, he pinned John Ware of Manchester West, the number three seed from New Hampshire, in the first period at the 1:02-minute mark. At the time, it was the sixth fastest pin of the tournament.

And then, in his second match, those who were there to witness it said he “destroyed” Wolfgang Fiasconaro, the Connecticut state champion. The score was 7-2 with nine seconds left in the third period when Fiasconaro left the bout with an "injury."

“Both of these Friday night matches, something clicked with Sean. They were both dominant, and the match against the Connecticut State Champ was the best match of his career, bar none," said coach Michael Stamison. "The kid couldn’t execute against Sean, and got very frustrated to put it mildly. Just goes to show what a great wrestler Sean has become, and how Massachusetts wrestlers fare against the best from other New England States."

"Huge upset, but then, we were playing with house money; Sean made it in as an alternate, and certainly made some noise Friday. We were not going to be satisfied with just being in the gym," said Stamison.

In his third match, the championship quarterfinal, Taylor lost 5-1 against Donovan Lozada of Chicopee, the number two seed from Mass. and eventual fourth place finisher. The match was much closer than the score indicated as Taylor, at one point, had his opponent on his back but couldn’t control a pin. Taylor had previously wrestled against Lozada at the MIIA All-States, losing by a score of just 3-0.

3) Swampscott Scholars: 

Courtney Winters, of Swampscott, a politics major and a member of the class of 2013 was named to the Dean's List for the Fall 2012 semester at Saint Anselm College, Manchester, NH.

4) Weather Watch: 

On Thursday, Snow. Patchy fog. High near 36. Windy, with a northeast wind around 29 mph, with gusts as high as 44 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

5) School Watch: 

Here are items listed on the School District calendar:

• 05:30PM CHYTEN SAT PREP CLASSES

• QUEBEC CITY FIELD TRIP
• 03:30PM SHS MATH TEAM MEET
• 07:00PM CLASS OF 2013 - COFFEE HOUSE