BY MATT STOUT
Andrew Yost can reel off every injury or sickness that’s plagued the Goffstown wrestling team the last month. The 130-pound senior can tell you what teams the Grizzlies will be chasing come state tournament time, and he can tell you about the goals Goffstown set for itself as it inches closer to its first Division I state championship.
But he can’t tell you anything in the way of wins and losses. That, he said, is the furthest thing from the Grizzlies’ minds.
As it has acclimated itself to the rigors of Division I competition this season, Goffstown hasn’t met all of its expectations thus far.
Illness and injury have played a part. A dislocated elbow may have ended the season for 145-pounder Casey Cottle, while a bout of impetigo, a skin infection common around wrestling mats, set several wrestlers back during the year, Yost said.
Numbers, or a lack thereof, also have. Goffstown coach Todd Lavallee initially welcomed 30 wrestlers to the team, but a month and a half later, the roster dwindled to somewhere between 23 and 25 when everyone is healthy. That’s left the Grizzlies short-handed against several of their opponents, who, unlike D-II foes, are usually deep, consistent and, as Lavallee said, relentless.
Yet, Goffstown hasn’t made any excuses, including on Saturday, Jan. 20, at the 14-team Timberlane Invitational, when with wrestlers in just nine of the 14 weight classes, it still placed third behind first-place Timberlane and Southington, Conn.
At the start of the season, the team’s motto revolved around continuing the tradition from its D-II title last year, Lavallee said. That’s changed now, though the confidence that it can make a run at the D-I crown certainly hasn’t.
“We’re not invincible, and one of the things I say to my kids is that we don’t deserve it, we earn it,” Lavallee said. “It doesn’t matter about last year. That’s kind of the quote we’re going by this year, and if I have to put it on a T-shirt, it’s going on it.
“It turned out to be a little bit different (than we thought),” he continued. “So we had to revamp what we did and put things in perspective. But we know where we’re at.”
Where Goffstown is, however, is encouraging. Despite wrestling undermanned at Timberlane, the Grizzlies boasted a second-place finish from Phil Charte at 140 pounds, third-place showings from Ryan Hardy, Mike Przekaza and Tom Foote at 125, 160 and 215 pounds, respectively, and several fourth-place finishes.
Proving it can still be a strong tournament team, Goffstown has plans of “tearing toward the state tournament,” Lavallee said, and that “when it counts, we’re going to be there.”
“Lavallee teaches us to not focus so much on wins and losses but rather on the quality of your wrestling, and that winning is a product of that quality,” said Yost, who said he wasn’t sure what his individual record was but he knew “it was winning.” Lavallee estimated the team’s dual meet record was 3-5.
“We’ve had a lot of nagging injuries,”’ he added. “But we’re coming back from it.”