PELHAM, N.H. — Every team wants to win, but winning does not always define success.
Lebanon High School’s nascent club program enjoyed a day of firsts at the NHIAA Division III state wrestling meet at Pelham High on Saturday. Two Raiders earned top-three placements to cap the program’s inaugural season on a day that saw Newport High also come home with two state championships.
Lebanon senior Caiden Skakalski finished second in the 126-pound division, and teammate Shane Balise finished third in the 285-pound division — both impressive achievements, but just a start for the Lebanon wrestling program.
“I was proud of everybody; everybody tried their hardest today and this season,” Balise said after the tournament. “We started with small goals, and they grew as the season went on. I think all four of our guys did great today.”
Skakalski, who is also the Raiders’ captain, admitted pride for he and his teammates managed to put together in their first year together on the mats.
“The bond we formed was incredible; there’s no way to describe it,” Skakalski said. “They were always there to pick you up, and you’re always there for them, too. There was nothing but support and encouragement.”
As to be expected, the Raiders were night and day in terms of their knowledge and skill level in the sport. Balise recalled his first wrestling match where he got “wrecked,” he said, and the work required to find success at states.
“You can cry, you can lose, but you cannot quit,” Balise said. “I didn’t know what I was doing when I started, but now I’m here.”
Lebanon senior Mac Gregor, competing at 160 pounds, overcame a dislocated shoulder to make states. Throughout the season, the Raiders grew as a team and a family, and Gregor wants the program to have nothing but success for those to come in the future.
“I hope the future holds wrestlers who love the sport,” Gregor said. “I hope the program skyrockets and continues to grow.”
Skakalski had a simple message he would deliver to those that will come after.
“With hard work anything is possible,” Skakalski said.
“You get out of (wrestling) what you put in. Trust your coaches, trust yourself and nothing can go wrong.
Skakalski won three matches before falling to Bow’s Zachary Anderson by majority decision, 10-2, in the 126-pound finals. The senior pinned White Mountains’ Charles Coy and Winnisquam’s Hunter Finemore, then decisioned Con-Val’s Matthew Kimball, 4-1, to advance.
Newport returned with a pair of champions in Josh Sharron and Gavin Lovely. Sharron repeated his D-III title from last season, winning the 132-pound championship with pins of Merrimack Valley’s Bryan Lowell, Pelham’s Jacob Donovan and Plymouth’s J.C. Gaumer, claiming the latter at the 5:39 mark.
Lovely, who recenlty claimed his 100th career victory at a Tiger, won the 182-pound crown.
The senior needed to win just two matches for his title, gaining a 14-4 majority decision over Campbell’s Garret Walker and topping Pelham’s Nick Carroll by fall after just 97 seconds.
Mascoma also was represented at D-III states by Dylan Pelton, Alex Jenness, Cam Stebbins and Bryan Lowell.
Team scores: Bow 165, Campbell 152, Pelham 114.5, White Mountains 104, Plymouth 103, Kearsarge 83, Newport 75, Con-Val 60, Lebanon 36, Mascoma 24, John Stark 20, Winnisquam 16, Coe-Brown 13.5.