Joe Baker will go down forever in Beverly High wrestling annals as the young man who delivered the Panthers their first All-State champion.
Braedon Goes, meanwhile, was the latest in a long line of St. John’s Prep matsmen to bring home an All-State crown of his own.
Baker made history for the Orange-and-Black grapplers at Saturday’s All-State championships at Methuen High, taking down Sawyer Ayotte of Shepherd Hill Regional via a 16-9 decision in the 165-pound title bout.
Goes claimed the 126-pound crown a year after taking third at All-States. The senior from Danvers bested Catholic Conference rival Nathan Sayers of Xaverian via a 4-1 decision in the final.
The Northeastern Conference’s Wrestler of the Year for Beverly, Baker was the top seed in his weight class after winning the Division 1 state title the previous weekend. He scored the first of three straight technical falls after taking down Greater Lawerence’s Kaelib Reynolds, 20-4 (following a first round bye). He easily advanced to the semifinals with a 17-2 wipeout of Josiah Quincy’s Jhayvon Napoleon in his next bout.
A semifinal battle Saturday against Bridgewater-Raynham’s Luke Driscoll proved to be another blowout victory for Baker, who earned his third TF of the tournament with a 19-3 triumph. He then finished off with the greatest win of his career over Ayotte in the championship to improve to 46-1 on the season and 142-22 in his high school career.
As Beverly’s lone representative at the event, Baker helped his squad place 28th overall with 28 1/2 points.
Goes’s victory at 126 pounds allowed St. John’s Prep to finish sixth overall with 97 1/2 points.
Following a first round bye, Goes recorded back-to-back falls over Ryan Gomes of Ludlow High and North Attelboro’s Michael Canova in 1:16 and 1:17, respectively. Alex Javier of Somerset-Berkley was his opponent in the semifinals, where Goes recorded a 12-4 major decision to advance, where he out-pointed Sayers to give the Eagles another All-State titlist.
Two of his Prep teammates also reached the final of their respective weight classes. James Lally, a junior wrestling at 144 pounds, claimed three major decisions, including a 17-4 semifinal domination of Newton South’s Nicolas Genin, before Aidan Baum of Milford captured the crown with a 10-4 decision in the final.
As expected, heavyweight Alex Bajoras reached the final … where he once again ran into his nemesis, nationally ranked Thomas Brown of Chelmsford, dropping a 5-2 decision. Prior to that, Bajoras had three consecutive falls, including one over Tri-County’s Jack Disharoon in the semifinals.
Will Lavallee added a sixth place finish at 150 pounds for St. John’s Prep, which also got a pair of falls from Octavio DeOliveira at 215 lbs.
Kevin Spoon led Salem by taking eighth place, highlighted by a 4-1 decision over Ludlow’s Ryan Gomes. Connor Buckley (132) and Miguel Arcila (150) had one win apiece for the Witches as well.
Junior captain Liam O’Brien (132 lbs.) and senior captain Mason Hinshaw (157 lbs.) both battled well for Marblehead/Swampscott. O’Brien, the program’s all-time leader in victories (142), finished his 11th grade campaign with a 41-7 record, while Hinshaw took home a 40-8 mark in his final high school season.