Quitt, Thomas both rally for NHSCA bronze medals

In front of the wrestling world in Virginia Beach, Va., Ashland 138-pounder Nora Quitt and Chelmsford heavyweight Thomas Brown each fought back to earn third-place finishes at the NHSCA High School Nationals. Both are now three-time All-Americans.

Massachusetts had 10 wrestlers place at the event, including a champion in Northfield Mount Hermon junior Musa Tamaradze (120 pounds).

Sharon senior Meghan Wiebe placed fourth at 165 pounds in the girls’ tournament. Andover sophomore Yandel Morales finished fourth at 120 pounds.

Shawsheen 132-pounder Sid Tildsley earned fifth in the junior bracket. Gloucester’s Max Thomas defeated Andover’s Tommy Osborne in the 220-pound fifth-place match in the freshman tournament.

Hampden East senior Jerameel Vazquez placed fifth at 220 pounds and Haverhill sophomore Matt Harrold earned seventh at 220.

Though Quitt lost her semifinal match to topseeded Charlotte Gilfoil from Pennsylvania, consolation bouts come quickly at Nationals, and she won two to place third.

“You take the loss, you process, you take your time and walk around, you have to bounce back as quick as you can to where you were before the match happened,” said the Clockers senior. “I leveled my mind, got to where my mind was before the loss, and dominated the rest of the way.”

Quitt is the second All-American from Ashland. Coach Pete Zacchilli believes she achieved the highest placement in school history.

“Best ever, any sport, hands down,” he said, “and I don’t think it’s close.”

Her father Adam was in her corner coaching, and her mother Tara was among other friends and family watching.

“It was very exciting; there’s a lot of love and support around me,” Quitt said. “I had a lot of support there. I was excited to compete and win third place; that gave me a lot more confidence and strength.”

Brown was pinned in his third matchup, but only allowed 2 points in four wins after.

“It’s the best competition in the country,” Brown said. “Every match is going to be hard, so I knew every match I had to be on . . . I couldn’t let the loss get to me. I had to keep wrestling and come back to place third.”

A national champion as a sophomore, Brown felt some pressure returning with the title, but knew he’d be in a crowded room of accomplished wrestlers.

“It feels great to be an All-American,” he said. “It’s a very hard tournament with some of the best kids in the country. I’m still happy that I placed. A lot of hard work goes into it; I’m still very happy.”

For Tamaradze, it was his first time winning a national tournament, having previously placed at this tournament and at Fargo.

He was familiar with Pennsylvania’s Nico Fanella, an opponent who beat him twice before. The junior who hails from West Springfield was confident he was the harder worker, and took down Fanella in overtime for a 6-4 decision.

“I got it on an outside single and I felt confident there,” said the 120-pounder. “He couldn’t score on my attacks. If I was the one being the aggressor, he wouldn’t be able to get points off and score on me, especially in that last period.”