Butterbrodt, Eagles bring best to sectionals

CHELMSFORD – A lot has been asked from Ian Butterbrodt. He has delivered even more.The St. John’s Prep sophomore has bumped up all season and not only stepped up to the challenge, he has beaten all comers. And with a commanding 8-1 victory over Haverhill’s Samie Al-Ziad Saturday, he added a Division 1 North sectional championship to his list of accomplishments.”I’m pretty much 20 pounds under my weight class,” said Butterbrodt, who raised his record to 46-0 with two first-period pins and the finals decision in the sectionals. “I wrestle at 220 and I weighed in at 203 (Saturday). At the beginning of the year, I was 195 so I’ve been eating a lot to get my weight up.”He’s also been training a lot, looking to outwork his larger opponents.”My coaches tell me to go really hard because I win a lot of my matches in the third period when I can out-condition people,” Butterbrodt – the younger brother of Eagles’ hoop standout Max – said. “I started the season unsure because everybody at base was stronger than me, but wrestling (top-ranked heavyweight) Corey Jean-Jacques at practice every day ? that kind of helped me with it.”The improved performance has also elevated Butterbrodt’s expectations.”The goal I had coming into the year was to make it to New Englands, but after a few weeks I changed it to wanting to win New Englands. We had a quad meet and (Shawsheen’s Zach Zahari) was one of the last kids I faced. After I won that match, I felt pretty confident.”uPlacing a sectional-best seven wrestlers into the finals, St. John’s Prep easily won the team title with 249.5 points, running away from runners-up Lawrence (186.5 points) and host Chelmsford (175.5).It was the first time the Eagles won sectionals since 2003.Joining Butterbrodt at the top of the podium were 138-pound junior Jared Costa – head coach Manny Costa’s son – and senior Peter Locke at 160.Others who advanced to the Division 1 state tourney starting tomorrow at Newton South are sectional finalists Jean-Jacques, Lou Bornstein (113), Fred Colberg (132) and Jon Polansky (195) along with Joe Flynn (third at 120), D.J. Lemieux (third at 126) and Jim Messeder (third at 182).Another of Costa’s sons, 106-pounder Hunter, is an alternate due to his fifth-place finish, joining James Smith (145) and Ben Dinatale (152).”All season, we wrestled a tough schedule to get ready for the tournaments,” said Manny Costa. “From top to bottom, all 14 of our guys come out to wrestle and do the right things, and all of them give us a chance to win. I was hoping for 10 guys to qualify and we got 10, so I’m happy.”uThe area’s other Division 1 entry, Peabody, sent six wrestlers to the sectional but managed just one individual victory. Tom Towey won a disqualification against Andover’s Ben Levine at 152 in the consolation bracket.