LYNN — Sometimes, you have to look beyond a team’s win-loss record to see success.
In the case of Lynn’s co-op wrestling team, which didn’t win a single meet this year, Head Coach Dan Koziski said there was a significant silver lining, nonetheless, that defined the season in a positive way.
“This year was a huge success,” he said. “A lot of the kids had many individual victories in their meets. Unfortunately, as a team, we lost meets due to missing weight classes. But if we had those weight classes filled, there would have been more team wins.”
Assistant Coach Frank Vieira said he and Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson started the wrestling program at Marshall Middle School in 2018. The program was so successful that a high school team, based at Lynn Tech and including Classical and English, was formed a couple of years later.
“The idea was for my wrestlers at Marshall to progress to the high school team,” Vieira said. “Unfortunately, before the high school program could really get off the ground, COVID struck and both programs came to a halt until we started it up again in 2022, so it was like starting the program all over, but start it we did. We were determined to bring the sport to Lynn and make it successful.”
Things began to pick up again in 2023 with the arrival of Koziski, who replaced Tim King after King stepped down. Numbers were still very low with only three wrestlers on the team. Ironically, Koziski had no wrestling experience.
“I never wrestled in school, but Frank did,” Koziski said. “My two boys wanted me to do karate and jiu-jitsu with them. I reluctantly did and found I am able to add some other martial arts with wrestling.”
Vieira joined Kozinski as assistant coach in 2024. The duo hit paydirt almost immediately with the roster jumping from three to 25 athletes. Omar DeJesus and Kayden Brazzo were appointed as captains. Even with the addition of more than 20 new wrestlers, there were significant gaps in the lower weight classes.
“We were top heavy,” Vieira said. “We were only filling the 157 (pound) weight classes and above, leaving seven holes to fill at the lower weights. At six points a match, we started every match down 42-0, which means we could never win.”
While winning was mathematically impossible, the kids who did wrestle were seeing success.
“At our first meet, we competed in a quad at Triton. Of the 24 matches we wrestled, we won 19,” Vieira said. “The kids were hungry to learn and they blossomed into some amazing athletes.”
Interest in the program continued as the season progressed. Eighth grade girls Irene Delva and Irena Hildago, who participate in the Discovery Program at Lynn Tech, joined the team.
“They did great,” Vieira said. “They really learned and I expect to see both of them really shine in the years to come.”
For the first time in program history, Lynn competed in the MIAA Division 1 Sectional Tournament.
“Last year, we did not attend as we had only three kids and the ones there did not have a good experience in the conference tournament, so we decided to skip it,” Koziski said.
Pablo Maldonado (138), DeJesus (157), Danny Matos (165), Eric Ayala (175), and Alexandro Jean Louis (190) competed. Brazzo (285), who finished the season undefeated in dual-meets, was injured and Mezziah Pena (215) was away and couldn’t compete.
“Every one of our matches was intense and right to the wire. No match was a sure thing and people began to notice us. The Lawrence coach was impressed and asked Dan, ‘Where’d you guys come from?’” Vieira said. “After the match, I reminded our wrestlers that this was Division 1 and they just held their own against the best of the best and nobody will ever take them lightly. This is the team that put Lynn on the map.”
Koziski said much of the credit for the program’s growth goes to Brazzo. He also gave a shoutout to the Marblehead-Swampscott team.
“Marblehead-Swampscott has helped us a lot. We participated in joint-practices with them last year and this year,” Koziski said. “I give a lot of thanks to English senior, Kayden. He recruited a lot of kids, so we will have a good core of young kids to build around next year. The kids are committed to adding friends next year and they know the impact they’ll make filling the holes we have. I really think the team is a year or two from being huge with great success.”
Vieira said the team’s commitment to the program was on display at sectionals. Ayala’s 6-5 loss to Saugus’ Evan Johnson said it all.
“Ayala had the match of his life,” Vieira said. “After the match, he said, ‘That kid was really good. I gave it my all.’ I assured him that he did great and let him know how proud I was of him. He gave me a big hug, smiled, and said, ‘But I’m going to get him next year.'”
