The coaches from Manchester Memorial, West and Central, realizing their respective wrestling squads had little chance to pin down a Division I team title, focused on sending as many wrestlers as possible to the Meet of Champions. And from that perspective, the state meet was a success.

Manchester’s public high schools combined to bring 34 athletes to the two-day D-I event at Exeter High School.

They also sent eight athletes to the MOC, set for Saturday, Feb. 23, at Londonderry High.

Following early-round action on Friday, Feb. 15, the finest wrestlers from the Queen City’s three public schools joined the rest of the best from around the state on Saturday, Feb. 16.

Two area wrestlers, West‘s Jared Crain at 135 pounds and Memorial’s Jacob Gagnon in the 215-pound division – reached the state finals before falling.

Another local grappler, Central’s Juan Taveras at 189 pounds, reached the state semifinals before ultimately losing the third-place match, 11-4.

But those weren’t the only fine efforts from the Crusaders, Blue Knights and Little Green.

The top six finishers from the Division I state meet, along with the top four from the Division II, battle at the Meet of Champions.

Manchester Memorial Three athletes led the Crusaders to 12th place among 18 teams, the strongest team showing of any Manchester school.

Gagnon battled Concord’s Marshall Gleason into the third period before he was pinned.

Still, Gagnon earned that coveted trip to the Meet of Champions, along with sixth-place finishers Brandon Marquez at 130 pounds and Chris Violette at 189 pounds.

“I’d rather see the six kids in the Meet of Champions than worry about the team title,” said Memorial’s mentor, Jacob Doerfler.

Instead, the coach received half his wish. Among Memorial’s remaining nine athletes, Ha Hoang at 112 pounds, 140- pounder Jeff Stanzel and Brian Prindiville at 160 each earned a pair of victories, but none reached the MOC.

Bryant Vallat, 119 pounds; Denis Duquette, 125; Drake Mosman, 145; Eddie Cole, 152; Seth Grimes, 171; and Jeremy Bryant, 289, contributed to Memorial’s effort.

Manchester West
Crain’s second-place finish led the Blue Knights to 14th place overall.

“Jared is a very aggressive wrestler,” said West’s head coach, Adam Langlois. “He’s a guy who stays after practice and complements Casey (Bradford) as captain.”

Two other Blue Knights extended their seasons. Bradford, a 145-pound wrestler, also reached the MOC with his fifth-place effort and 3-2 record, as did John Miller at 189 pounds with a 4-2 mark.

Derek Kuhn at 152 pounds won two matches, and John Blouin at 130 pounds won once.

Chris McCormack, 140 pounds; Adam Young, 160 pounds; Steven Gibson, 171; Aaron Mitchell, 215 pounds; and Chris Brownlie, 289 pounds, also competed for the Blue Knights.

Manchester Central
The Little Green placed 16th, paced by Juan Taveras’ fourth-place effort at 189 pounds. In fact, each of the city schools sent their 189-pounder to the Meet of Champions.

“Juan’s focused on making the right moves, and in the proper order,” said his head coach, Josh McLaughlin.

That strategy allowed Taveras to join 152-pounder Miles Davis, who finished sixth at states, for the trip to Londonderry and the MOC.

Trevor McKenzie also put forth a strong, multi-win effort at 285 pounds.

However, McLaughlin said the team lost senior Ben Champagne at 135 pounds to injury last week, then classmate Billy Chebook, a 215-pound wrestler, following a first-round win during the state meet.

Joe Saliba of Hooksett collected a win in three 125-pound matches.

Fellow junior and Hooksett resident John Crockett dropped both matches at 140 pounds.

Brian Fontaine, 103 pounds; Marc Therrien, 112; Jesse Therrien, 119; Ben Williamson, 130; Jason Woodside, 135; and Nick Thibedeau, 160 pounds, grappled for the Little Green, too.