LYNN — When your iPhone reads 80 degrees on a Saturday, it makes for a perfect beach day. This one, however, came with some wrestling.
Hosted by Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson and non-profit Beat the Streets New England, the eighth annual Lynn Shore Showdown Beach Wrestling Tournament was another success.
“It’s so exciting to have seen this really take route,” said Nicholson, who wrestled at Princeton University. “You get to see people have fun and enjoy the sport.”
With snacks and Gatorades being passed around, Nicholson kicked off the event with a message on the microphone.
“I told folks that the main thing is to have fun,” Nicholson said. “Definitely compete, but remember where you are. We want to be safe. There’s no postseason here.”
And from there, it was go-time. With different divisions and weight classes, athletes of all ages competed for hours.
Champions (weight class)
Braiden Grant (53-60)
Zaiden Thomas (63-71)
Maxwell Miller (69-73)
Emmanual Kruah (93 ms)
Cesar Rodriguez (100-120)
Daniel Escobar (121 ms)
Nathan Giusti (123-128)
Elijah Asberry (college 135-155)
Matthew Patterson (140-145)
Luke Etheridge (149-157)
Noah Colon (164-176)
Justin Bremberg (165-173)
Luke Waldman (169-175)
Wayne Lamont (college 170-195)
Ahmed Hernandez (185-192)
Ken-Bennett Mentee (188-192)
Yousef Lotfi (235)
Austin Cronin, runner-up in the 149-157 pound division, was grinning ear to ear after winning his first match.
“At other tournaments, more normal tournaments, I’m more nervous and stressed,” Cronin said. “But here, I’m just able to have fun.”
West Johnson of KT Kids in Connecticut knew of the tournament because of social media, and brought 20 kids from his club to compete.
“This event is definitely fun,” Johnson said. “Usually, you have to travel to Pennsylvania to get matches in, and it beats being stuck in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania somewhere.”
With money going back into local wrestling programs, Beat the Streets Director of Operations Brett Poirier said the organization “uses wrestling to engage our youth and our inner cities.” Better yet, its coaches in training ran the event.
“I’m doing some background stuff on the computer, but other than that, this whole event is being run by our CITs,” Poirier said. “These kids, now, are learning how to run events, coach wrestling, be leaders, and things like that. It’s been awesome [and] that’s what our program is all about.”
Executing the event was a team effort, according to Nicholson.
“They’ve been great. They’re a great partner. We’ve been working with them from the beginning. They bring a big crew from Boston and Providence,” Nicholson said. “Friends of Lynn Nahant Beach is another partner and they help us get everything set up. Then of course, DCR, Department of Conservation and Recreation have been terrific.”
Nicholson added how great it was to utilize one of Lynn’s top resources.
“The other goal here is to show off the resource that we have in the Lynn Shore,” Nicholson said. “To see everyone enjoying it out here – from all over New England – it’s really exciting.”
From elite college wrestlers to those just seeking some exercise, Poirier spoke of promoting the sport.
“Anybody can wrestle,” Poirier said. “It’s built in us, right? It’s what we do.”
For non-wrestlers, families played spike ball, built sandcastles, recorded matches, and enjoyed the music.
“They should do this as often as possible,” Cronin said.
Well, when asked about the event’s future, Nicholson agreed.
“Yeah, absolutely. We’d love to see it grow and continue to thrive,” Nicholson said.
