Mission accomplished for the St. John’s Prep wrestling team.
The No. 1 Eagles got the job done early and often to top No. 3 New Bedford, 63-9, to capture the Division 1 state wrestling title in their home gym Wednesday.
It was a day of big milestones for St. John’s. The Eagles wrapped up an unbeaten season and got their coach Manny Costa his 778th career win, running him one win ahead of current Melrose coach Larry Tremblay.
“This was our first MIAA state title,” Costa said. “We love the dual meet. We’re a dual meet team. We’ve been in the finals eight out of the last 10 years, so for us this is the state title. You could win the individual tournament with a few good guys in your lineup but to win a dual-meet title, you need a complete team.”
The day got started with five straight wins for St. John’s. Garrett Dunn (182, 2:51), Zach Richardson (220, 2:45), and Alex Schaeublin (106, 0:42) all got wins by pin while All-American Dylan Greenstein (195, 6-2) and Charlie Smith (heavy, 3-0) got wins in decision.
Another pair of All-Americans, Tyler Knox and Nick Curley got pins in their win for St. John’s. Knox’s came at 1:14 while Curley’s came at 5:10.
Also winning with pins for the Eagles were Elias Harris (132, 4:38), Rawson Iwanicki (152, 0:48) and Cam Cummings (170, 0:28). Jordan Young won in major decision with a score of 13-0 and Adam Schaeublin (138) won by technical fall (20-5).
