Nail-biting wrestling matches show the training is paying off

Grit. Determination. Resilience. These are all qualities that will get one through life, and they are embodied in the kids on the Springfield Wrestling Team.

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Nail-biting wrestling matches show the training is paying off February 10, 2017 wrestling Josh Sharron was one of the first place winners at the Springfield Grapple Festival. Photo by Katie Lacasse wrestling Pete Berlenbach vs Vergennes in the Springfield Grapple Festival, Peter was a first place winner. Photo by Katie Lacassee wrestling Tim Bapp-Cederholm was another first place winner at the Springfield Grapple Festival. Photo by Katie Lacasse SPRINGFIELD, Vt. – Grit. Determination. Resilience. These are all qualities that will get one through life, and they are embodied in the kids on the Springfield Wrestling Team. Boys and girls in grades K-12 have been training hard and traveling to tournaments around the tri-state area to test their mettle against the best of New England, and it’s paying off. The big home tournament last Saturday was host to over 100 Junior High and Junior Varsity wrestlers from Vt. and N.H.; lots of excellent, nail-biting matches were to be seen all day! Coming in third place were Springfield wrestlers Skyler Congdon, Skylar Wallace, Gillian Guy, and Mo Stettner. Second place winners were Mason Olney, Matt Prosser, Brandon Bennett, and Trent Lewis-Briere. Landing first place were Tim Bapp-Cederholm and Josh Sharron the newcomer to the ‘green team’ from Newport N.H. Also this past weekend, 170-pound junior Matt LaChapelle went 4-0 and brought home the title of Champion from the Jason Lowell varsity tournament at Mt Mansfield in Vt. First-year wrestler Garrett Brickey, a feisty second-grade wrestler with the team, grappled his way to the gold in the Queen City Classic tournament in Manchester N.H. Way to go, Cosmo wrestlers! The HS team heads to Bennington on Saturday and the 3 – 6 graders trek to Orleans Vt. on Sunday for the New England Qualifier tournament. Many thanks to all the team’s supporters this year, with a special shout-out to the following: IVEK Corporation, Outnumbered Grill on Wheels (formerly the Silver Bullet Food Cart), Springfield Parks & Recreation Dept., JH Dunning, Suburban Propane, and the Paige Graham Memorial Fund. wrestling Matt LaChapelle is the champion! Photo provided wrestling Garrett Brickey wins the gold. Photo provided