The Northeastern Conference wrestling awards and all-stars were announced Tuesday morning and the Marblehead/Swampscott co-op team was well-represented. The Black and Blue took home the sportsmanship award and coach Alex Carew was named NEC Coach of the Year.
“I think this is our 15th year in a row winning the sportsmanship award,” Carew, who started coaching the team in 2000 and returned in 2015 after a hiatus, said. “It does mean a lot. It shows our boys are respectful of other coaches and athletes. That’s something we try to cultivate on our team.
“It’s very important that they show respect to the sport and respect for others in the sport,” he added.
As for being named coach of the year, Carew said he was humbled by the honor and appreciates the recognition.
“Winning that meant a lot,” Carew said. “It’s nice to be recognized in that fashion, as coach of the year. It’s great that other coaches in the conference recognized how much the team has moved forward the past few years. It’s nice to me.
“It’s a humbling honor,” he added. “I was humbled to receive it, especially because there are so many great coaches in the conference. Any coach could have easily won it.”
Marblehead/Swampscott landed three of its members on the all-star team. Carew said the team has progressed over recent seasons. This winter, Marblehead/Swampscott set the bar high with a 10-win campaign and six of its members will compete in the Division 3 state tournament Saturday at Wakefield High.
“As a team, we’ve really grown,” Carew said. “We’ve had a good group of young kids. This is our first year winning 10 matches. It’s great, especially coming off a great year last year when we won our first tournament, we had our first state champion. We brought 11 kids to sectionals, nine reached podium and six qualified for the Division 3 state tournament this weekend. I’m very pleased with that.”
The list of conference all-stars includes Connor O’Brien (106 pounds, Marblehead/Swampscott), Calvin Dalton (113, Salem), Luis Rodriguez (120, Beverly), Maximillian Leete (126, Danvers), Jack Rivers (132, Beverly), Michael Hopkins (138, Marblehead/Swampscott), Nick Sirota (145, Marblehead/Swampscott), Liam Donahue (152, Gloucester), Richard Canova (160, Danvers), Russell Canova (170, Danvers), Alexi Echevarria (170, Beverly), Tyrese Elmidor (170, Salem), Dominick Clark (182, Saugus/Peabody), Jonas Pavia (195, Beverly), Raphael Ribeiro (195, Everett), Chad Abboud (220, Danvers), Phil Makoci (220, Saugus/Peabody), Edan Piedad (285, Beverly) and Doug Clark (285, Saugus/Peabody).
Danvers’ Leete was named wrestler of the year.
