Cousino, Beauchamp stand atop podiums at state wrestling championships
NORTH CLARENDON — Two local wrestlers won titles on Saturday at the state championship meet at Mill River: Vergennes Union High School junior Brandon Cousino at 182 pounds and Middlebury senior Nick Beauchamp at 195.
Cousino pinned Mount Anthony’s A.J. Wright in his final, while Beauchamp edged MAU’s Sebastian Rocher, 3-0, in the championship match.
Cousino’s victory allowed him to complete a 46-0 season that included several victories in tough out-of-state tournaments. At Mill River he racked up four straight pins. Earlier this year, Cousino earned his 100th high school career win.
Beauchamp completed a 43-6 season with a 4-0 state tournament that included three pins and the 3-0 decision and gave Coach Ethan Raymond his first state champion. Earlier this year Beauchamp reached the 100-win mark.
Adding to the local success were MUHS senior Nate Gebo, who set the school record for career wins while finishing second at 120 pounds, and VUHS senior Jeb Hodsden, who earned his landmark 100th victory while taking second place at 152 pounds.
Gebo finished the season 42-7 after losing a 7-0 decision to Patriot Keenan Taylor in the 120 final. His 15-2 semifinal victory over Eagle freshman Roman Mayer avenged a recent loss to Mayer. It was Gebo’s 145th high school victory, breaking Kody Murray’s school record. Murray broke the record in 2011; it was previously held by Raymond.
Hodsden lost by pin to John Stawiski of Essex in the 152 final, but not before recording his 100th and 101st wins to finish the season with a 40-15 mark.
Earning third-place finishes were Mayer at 120, MUHS senior James Whitley at 145 and VUHS senior Ryan Paquin at 170.
Those wrestlers all qualified to compete at the New England championship meet by virtue of their top-three podium placements at Vermont’s state championship meet. The regional meet will be held this Friday and Saturday in Providence, R.I.
Junior Tyson Cram at 138 and senior Nate Doty at 285 paced Otter Valley with fourth-place finishes.
Area wrestlers also walking onto podiums at the end of Saturday’s competition at Mill River were two 132-pounders, VUHS senior Ethan Reardon, who was fifth, and MUHS sophomore Dustin Davio, who was sixth; Eagle junior 160-pounder Dylan Little, who took fifth; and OV junior Greg Whitney at 225, who finished fifth.
Mount Anthony, as expected, breezed to the team title with 311 points; Patriot wrestlers won seven of the 13 weight classes. Champlain Valley (164) was second, and Mount Mansfield (139.5) finished third.
MUHS took sixth with 92 points, edging seventh-place VUHS, which scored 87.5 points with just six wrestlers. OV (52) finished ninth, and Mount Abe (37), which earlier had defeated MUHS and VUHS in dual meets, was 13th out of 24 scoring teams.
By weight class, the rest of the local details were:
• At 113, both OV’s Daniel Whitney and Mount Abe’s Dawson Lamore went 0-2.
• At 120, Mayer completed a 44-13 freshman season by taking third with a 3-1 record and three pins.
• At 126, Mount Abe’s Ben Murray, OV’s Jacob White and Commodore Troy Provencher each won once, Murray and Provencher by pin. Tiger Justin Jackson went 0-2.
• At 132, Reardon and Davio dueled twice, each winning one-point decisions. Reardon’s came in the rematch for fifth-place, and he finished with a 3-2 record; earlier this year he won his 100th match. Davio won the first time around and went 2-2 to finish sixth. Mount Abe’s Christian Little went 0-2.
• At 138, Cram compiled a 3-2 record with three pins in finishing fourth. Cram recently picked up his 100th victory. Tiger Joe Whitley went 2-2 with two pins, Commodore Kyle Kingsley picked up a win by pin, and Eagle Gary Conant went 0-2.
• At 145, James Whitley went 4-1, losing only to the meet’s outstanding wrestler, Zach Allen of MRU. He pinned three foes and defeated Patriot Chris Mayer, 3-2, for third place; earlier this year he won his 100th match. Eagle Josh Hardy also picked up a win by pin.
• At 152, Tiger Kyle Desabrais went 2-2 with a pin.
• At 160, Eagle Dylan Little went 3-2 with a pair of pins on the way to his fifth-place finish. Tiger Alex Sheldrick won once by pin, and OV’s Matt Fox won his first match, but then had to retire due to injury.
• At 170, Paquin went 3-1 with three pins on the way to his third-place finish; earlier this year he won his 100th match. OV’s Josh Beayon won a match, but Eagle Kevin Pearsall came up short; he still finished his freshman year with 39 wins.
• At 195, OV’s Jared Felkl went 1-2.
• At 225, OV’s Greg Whitney compiled a 3-2 mark with two wins by pin in taking fifth.
• At 285, OV’s Doty went 2-2 in finishing fourth.