NASHUA – Call him Mr. Overtime. It’s simply the best way to describe Nick Berube when he steps onto the wrestling mats. After winning all four of his matches that went into extra periods during the regular season, the Memorial senior showed off his OT skills at this year’s Division I wrestling championships on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The 171-pounder finished second after losing by major decision, 14-1, to Timberlane’s Derek Sickel, but to get to the finals, he had to expend some extra energy. Earlier in the day, facing personal rival Pat Boyle of Concord, Berube took down his opponent after four overtimes.

“My match against West, not that long ago, I went into five overtimes,” said Berube with a smile. “I don’t know, maybe I just like lighting up the scoreboard or something.”

Despite the runner-up position on the podium, Berube said the win over Boyle was almost as fulfilling as winning the state title. Since meeting for the first time as high school wrestlers, when Berube pinned Boyle, the wins had gone strictly to the Crimson Tide grappler. The No. 2 spot did earn Berube a ticket to the Meet of Champions, on Saturday, Feb. 24.

In the 189-pound semifinal consolation match, Memorial’s Jake Gagnon was defeated, 4-3, by Timerblane’s Ed Kawa. The fourth-place finish advanced Gagnon to the M of C.

Joining the Crusaders were Central’s grapplers. The Little Green entered the meet without junior standout Billy Chebook, who was seeded fourth in the 215- pound weight class but suffered a knee injury before the tournament. Junior Ben Champagne pinned Exeter’s Jeff Plue, in 1-minute, 52 seconds, in his 130- pound match.

Champagne finished third, good for a spot at the M of C, where the top six wrestlers in each weight class of Division I and top four in Division II compete. Hooksett trio Joe Saliba, at 119 pounds, Brian Frechette, at 189 pounds and Jon Crockett, at 135 pounds, competed in their first D-I championships. The sophomores lost their first two matches of the day, but each attributed the early exit to inexperience.

“The tournament was a lot harder than I expected,” said Saliba. “I had a good season, but today was just tough because I matched up with hard kids. It’s OK though, we’ve all got two more years.”

Saliba went down first by pin and then by points, while Frechette lost both his matches by pin. Crockett was pinned in his latter match after losing his first on points.

While the Crusaders relied on veterans like Berube, Central’s young grapplers take solace in the fact this was their inaugural season on the mats. There is one piece of advice Berube was willing to share, though.

“The key to winning is to make your opponent laugh before the match,” confessed Berube. “Like I went over to Sickel and talked with him, made him laugh. It didn’t work out because I lost, but I still tried.”