Beverly Defeats Black & Blue Wrestling Team 30-12

The little engine that could, did all that it could. But it was not enough to overcome a much larger team.

The Swampscott-Marblehead wrestling team lost to Beverly 30-12 Wednesday night in an away dual meet, with just senior co-captains Sean Taylor and Jake Powell scoring points.

"Obviously, we all know of the excellent football teams Beverly has had over the last three to four years, but the coach of their wrestling team, Mark Thomas, has done a great job with the wrestling program in terms of recruitment and training some really great wrestlers,” said Michael Stamison, the head coach of the team. “We were happy to be a part of their senior night."

Taylor (285) earned six points by pinning his opponent in the first 12 seconds of his match (his fastest ever was 7 seconds), while Powell (126) earned six points by pinning his opponent in the final second of his six-minute match.

Team sideline due to illnesses

Unfortunately, many members of the Black & Blue were sidelined due to illnesses of one sort or another and as a result the team was not able to wrestle in every weight class.

"We had dodged the flu for away, but it caught up with us." said Stamison. "It typically happens every year, especially in this sport, where you are in such close quarters with your team and opposing teams. The boys that were healthy did wrestle well though. Sean and Jake both had total control of their matches, and the two new boys, Steve Hopkins and Michael Haskell (8th and 7th graders respectively) both wrestled well, especially Haskell in what became his varsity debut at 113lbs, filling in for a sick Brett Resnick."

The wrestlers will participate in a tournament this Saturday at Weymouth High School. "I'm excited, as are the boys, for what should be a good day of wrestling against competition we don't see very often," said Stamison. Plymouth South, the number two ranked wrestling program in Massachusetts, Needham, and Whitman-Hanson will be among the teams participating  in the Weymouth tournament.

Plans for senior night

Plans are now being made for the team’s senior night which will take place on Jan. 30 in what will be the last home dual meet of this season. Organizations and individuals are encouraged to donate items for a raffle that will take place at the conclusion of the team’s match against Peabody. Contact blackbluewrestling@gmail.com for more information.