The Marblehead/Swampscott Black and Blue wrestling team is gearing up for another season, which officially begins Saturday.
Head coach Mike Stamison is entering his ninth season in charge (15th on the coaching staff) and is excited to get going.
When asked how the first week-and-a-half of practices have been, Stamison was positive about what he’s seen.
“Honestly, great. This is a young, hungry, coachable, and athletic group. Really, it’s all we can ask for as a coaching staff,” Stamison said.
The Black and Blue are a young team. They graduated three seniors, including captain Nicolai Tarason.
“It will be hard to fill their shoes, particularly those of Nicolai. He was our emotional and vocal leader and had an excellent season at 152/160 (pounds),” Stamison said. “That said, the current seniors consisting of captain Angelo Knight and starters Ben O’Brien and Will Woodward have been terrific leaders on and off the mat so far, and with such a young team, they act as extra coaches and mentors. We also have great leaders as underclassmen in Liam O’Brien and Mason Hinshaw.”
O’Brien and Hinshaw have great potential with goals to achieve, according to their head coach.
“Liam and Mason have very high upsides. Our goal for each of them is to qualify for All-States, if not New Englands. They put in the work this offseason along with several of their teammates, and now is the time to harvest the fruits of that labor,” Stamison said.
The Black and Blue also lost sophomore Dylan Kesselman to a football injury.
“We will miss sophomore Dylan Kesselman, who sadly suffered a season-ending injury. He has been around the team a lot and will be my scorekeeper this season, learning the ins and outs mat-side,” Stamison said.
And talk about depth – this program’s got it.
“Newcomers Ilan Hod, Luis Bender, Chuck Conlon, Brady Haskell, Xavier Tejeda, Jayvery Monegro, and Brody Sullivan all look to be contributors right away. Coupled with returning letterman Clive Connolly, Devin DiBarri, Justin Gonzalez, Colin Hart, Henry Wolcott, and Andrew Delisle, we will field a full lineup (14 weight classes) at each event and have great depth,” Stamison said. “We also just added a transfer from Salem to Swampscott, freshman Eva Goodman, who has over five years of Brazilian jiu-jitsu experience, which should translate nicely to folkstyle wrestling. She should contribute at the lower weights as well.”
The goals: a winning dual-meet record, and capturing the conference title.
“We also want to punch 10 wrestlers through to Division 2 states and we want to win a tournament as a team,” Stamison said.
In addition to team goals, there are individual ones, too.
“Guys like Hinshaw, the O’Brien brothers, Knight, Woodward, [Justin] Gonzalez, and Connolly all need to take the next steps in their careers, placing in postseason tournaments this season,” Stamison said. “For the younger, more inexperienced wrestlers, winning a varsity match or two is a very attainable goal.”
Per Stamison, wrestlers need their team for support, but when they finally hit the mat, it’s just them and their opponent.
“Many wrestlers just want to make it through the season. It’s a very tough sport and a war of attrition,” Stamison said. “Last year was a good building year, and this year, with veteran starters and athletic backups, we should be successful.”
