NEWBURYPORT — Brody White was in a rough spot.
As the second period was nearing its halfway point, the Pentucket junior was trailing Triton’s Jack Mazari-Atkinson, 8-3, in their 150-pound match, and was just trying to stay off his back. A pin looked inevitable, and it eventually did come.
But not from the wrestler you’d think.
White, in a flash of lightning, somehow took advantage of the match and got a takedown, and seconds later earned the pin at the 2:53 mark. As soon as the takedown happened, the Pentucket sideline right off the mat erupted in a fit of excitement — and so too did the close to 200 packed inside of the Newburyport City Hall auditorium. When the pin eventually came, you could have heard the roar walking down nearby High Street.
This was a fantastic venue to host a wrestling match.
White’s win was one of the few victories for the Pentucket/Newburyport co-op team on Wednesday night, but that wasn’t the main story. Truly, as Triton took home its fifth straight CAL championship with a dominant performance, winning 54-29, the sport of wrestling in the Daily News area was just as big a winner. The first ever “Great Debate” match held at the City Hall was a major hit, and allowed athletes from both teams to experience competing at a unique venue, while also giving Newburyport athletes a chance to wrestle in front of their hometown.
“I think it was a good turnout and I think everyone liked it,” said Triton coach Shawn McElligott, who spearheaded the effort to make the event a possibility. “Hopefully we get positive reviews and they let us back in. So it’s what we wanted. People around here in Newburyport don’t really know what wrestling is. So that was part of the purpose was to bring wrestling to Newburyport to have more people see it.”
All around, it had the feel of a big-time event.
From former Georgetown coach and jiu jitsu champion AJ Aulson joining TritonTV on the livestream commentary, to Merrimac native and Mass. Wrestling Hall of Famer Sean Kiley serving as the match’s referee. Many Newburyport coaches, friends and family members were in attendance, watching hometown athletes like Martin DeJesus (126), Paul Suozzo (165) and Dylan Gately (175) compete.
Maybe one day soon, the Clippers will have a team of their own.
Events like Wednesday night are attempting to accelerate that growth, as the popular River Rivals youth program has also moved its home base to the Nock Middle School in town.
But, as far as the first “Great Debate” was concerned, Triton (15-1) ruled.
Right from the beginning, Nik Rigol (106), Austin Scolamiero (113) and Ben Imlach (120) started off the night with three straight pins in a combined 60 seconds flat. DeJesus is having a fantastic season at 126, so the Panthers were hoping to stop the run then, but Alex Sabino dropped down and in an epic match earned a pin in 1:57. The run did stop at 132, however, where junior and two-time Daily News All-Star Tanner Kamuda earned a second-period pin for Pentucket in 3:16.
But Brian Quam responded with a pin at 138, and the Vikings got other pins from Lucas Bistany at 144, Jordan Ortiz at 157, Nolan Merrill at 175 and Douglas Aylward at 215.
“I loved the effort, it was an exciting meet,” said McElligott. “Sabino came down today and that might have been the match of the meet, him and DeJesus. Huge win by Brian Quam. That match, if you look at it, that kid from Pentucket beat two guys that Brian has lost to, but Brian is just starting to turn it on. Lucas Bistany got a big win … just a lot great efforts tonight. I was proud of the kids.”
McElligott, himself, was just happy to be there.
He and his wife, Robin, celebrated the birth of their second child and first son, Cullen, just under three weeks ago. McElligott has been running on little sleep for a while and, as expected, wasn’t at Triton’s prior matches since the birth. But — giving massive credit to his wife — he was able to return to coach the team Wednesday night at the event he helped to set up.
And besides White and Kamuda, Pentucket received pins from Suozzo at 165 (5:06) and Aidan Burrier at heavyweight (2:33), and Mason Skinner won a 15-0 major decision at 190.
Triton 54, Pentucket 29
Local winners:
106: Nik Rigol (T) over Jess Percival (P), pin :19; 113: Austin Scolamiero (T) over Gabe Percival (P), pin :11; 120: Ben Imlach (T) over Dillon Burrier (P), pin :30; 126: Alex Sabino (T) over Martin DeJesus (P), pin 1:57; 132: Tanner Kamuda (P) over Aidan Quinn (T), pin 3:16; 138: Brian Quam (T) over Lucien Parenteau (P), pin 4:13; 144: Lucas Bistany (T) over Karsyn Otero (P), pin 4:41; 150: Brody White (P) over Jack Mazari-Atkinson (T), pin 2:53; 157: Jordan Ortiz (T) over Cooper Zaneski (P), pin 3:56; 165: Paul Suozzo (P) over Jared Coady (T), pin 5:06; 175: Nolan Merrill (T) over Dylan Gately (P), pin 4:45; 190: Mason Skinner (P) over Nick Serino (T), major dec. 15-0; 215: Douglas Aylward (T) over Josh Breen (P), pin 2:40; HVY: Aidan Burrier (P) over Ben Woodfin (T), pin 2:33
Records: Triton 15-1