Haverhill boys make history in impressive fashion
SALEM >> Brent Nicolosi didn’t need first-place points to secure the team title in the 2024 MIAA All-State wrestling tournament.
But it meant quite a bit to the senior grappler, his squad and the city of Haverhill.
Nicolosi, the top seed at 165, put the team trophy and his first-ever All-States title to bed with an impressive 11-2 major decision over No. 2 seed Vincent DeMaio of Methuen.
Haverhill finished up on top of the standings with 115 points, followed by Shawsheen Tech with 104.5, and St. John’s Prep, last season’s winner, in third place at 102. Rounding out the top five were Methuen (76.5) and Tewksbury (76).
Nicolosi picked up the 202nd win of his career as Nicolosi can now claim his first All-State title along with the Hillies’ first team All-State title in school history.
It was an overall team victory with Matt Harrold (215) and Shea Morris (138) each with third-place finishes. Mike Morris (113) placed fourth, Cale Wood (120) sixth, and Aiden Morris (106) with a seventhplace finish.
“Brent is just an incredible kid, and he has been working hard for four years and his brother was on our team, so their family has been Haverhill through and through so to see him his All-State title and also sealing the team title at the same time is just awesome,” said head coach Tim Lawlor. “Those six kids there have all grown up together doing Haverhill youth wrestling, Haverhill public schools together, just Haverhill born and bred. We take a lot of pride in that.”
“I think this means a lot as our city has had a lot of tough times recently. Been in the newspaper, but usually for the negative things, so I think this shows people you can come to Haverhill High and succeed,” Lawlor said.
Nick Desisto (113) was seeking his first All-State title after being three-time North Sectional champion and two-time state champion for Tewksbury but came up just short. Dominic Gangi held on to a 1-0 win for the only Methuen first-place chip with an escape in the second period for the only point of the battle.
“They were one-and-one on the season, so we knew it would be a dog fight,” said Tewksbury head coach Steve Kasprzak. “Not disappointed at all and proud of Nick, but you know — he will be back.”
Brothers Sidney and James Tidsley wrestled back-to-back in the 138 and 144-pound divisions to elevate Shawsheen to second place. The top seeds didn’t disappoint.
After a scoreless fastpaced first period, Sidney Tidsley and Michael Boulanger wrestled to a 6-6 tie in regulation time as Boulanger picked up an escape point with 10 seconds remaining to send it to overtime. While No. 2 seeded Boulanger led most of the way in a see-saw battle, Tidsley finished it off in dramatic fashion with a takedown 23 seconds into the extra period for the come-from-behind 8-6 decision in the match of the day.
“This year was the toughest match. I haven’t been taken out all year … that’s the first time being taken down,” said Tidsley, who is now a three-time All-State champion. “Obviously I realized that was tough but with hard work and dedication to my coaches, it pays off.”
Brother James had it a little easier with a 5-0 shutout decision over Aiden Baum of Milford for the clean sibling sweep for the Rams.
In an anti-climactic ending, Chelmsford’s Thomas Brown continued his dominance in a rematch from this season’s state final against Alex Bajoras from St. John’s Prep. He took consecutive leg takedowns en route to a dominant 9-1 victory.
“I have film on them, but obviously they have film on me. Alex has great coaches, so I know they are going to change things, do something different,” said Brown, now a three-time All-State winner and two-time All-American. “I have a ton of respect for Alex as I’ve been wrestling him my whole life.”