NEWPORT — Josh Sharron has memorized the number eight.
If he could’ve captured eight more victories in wrestling this season, he would’ve been Newport High’s new holder of all-time wins.
But Sharron, a senior, had his final season with the Tigers called off. The school district first opted to not permit the sport due to the coronavirus pandemic, then gave the OK if athletes and their families quarantined during the season, which ultimately led to its cancellation.
Accepting that he’ll never put the black and orange singlet on again has taken some time to come around on.
“The only thing I got frustrated about was we never gave it a shot,” Sharron said in a Monday afternoon phone interview. “Other sports got a chance. And wrestling was the only sport that didn’t get to try it, especially when other schools in the state like Timberlane, the more populated schools, did wrestle. But we’re one of the smallest schools in the state that has wrestling, and we didn’t.
“I think not knowing my high school career was over last winter has been tough. I didn’t quite finish the job. It is what it is; I’ve learned to accept it.”
He wrestled in the 138-point weight class at last year’s New England championships, finishing third.
The ultimate goal of winning the New Hampshire Meet of Champions can’t be accomplished, either, since Newport chose not to support a season. Sharron placed second his sophomore year and third as a junior at MOCs.
Wrestling will still be in his future, though, as he plans to compete in college. He is debating between Wheeling (W.Va.) University, Millersville (Pa.) University and Edinboro (Pa.) University as possible destinations. Sharron said he will probably study sports management, sports journalism or business.
Sharron will return to the mat as a high schooler for the final time on April 23 at the National High School Coaches Association nationals tournament at Virginia Beach, Va., competing with the Doughboy Wrestling Club from Lowell, Mass.
He hasn’t wrestled competitively since last year’s New Englands. He’s hoping his work this winter with Doughboys will land some more attention from college coaches.
“At this point, I’m just hungry to get out there,” he said. “I’ve been working my butt off, and hopefully I’m ready for the challenge.”
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Tourney Time: The NHIAA postseason has begun. Still, no final sites for championships have been announced. As of Monday, the association is “still in the process of solidifying sites that will allow two fans per rostered player,” executive director Jeff Collins said.
A hot topic from the fall has reemerged this winter, too. All sports have held an open tournament, broken into regions, but some are choosing to do final rankings differently.
For instance, the ice hockey committee chose to mirror what was done in the fall with football by ranking teams inside their regions.
Meanwhile, the basketball committed followed the path chosen by soccer and field hockey. With so many teams playing hoop, the regional draws this winter were conducted randomly for tournament placement.
The decision has resulted in some interesting situations. Kearsarge (10-4) boys basketball was forced to play a first-round game on Monday night, while Fall Mountain (1-10) is the No. 1 seed with a bye to the preliminaries. This is all in the same region.
The VPA still has a ways to go until it kicks off its postseason. The boys and girls hockey championships will be held on March 23 and 24 at a site yet to be determined.
Boys and girls basketball, however, will be able to look forward to their title games at Barre Auditorium on March 27 and 28.
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College check-in: The University of New Hampshire men’s basketball team fell to UMass Lowell in an America East quarterfinal game last Sunday, ending the season for two Upper Valley athletes.
Jon Willeman, a 2020 Lebanon graduate, finished his freshman campaign with action in four games, scoring four points at Binghamton on Jan. 30. Kearsarge’s Tayler Mattos averaged 4.8 points per game in 13 appearances.
The University of Maine women’s basketball team is 16-2 overall and scheduled to host Albany in an America East semifinal on Sunday. Windsor native and freshman Olivia Rockwood has seen action in 12 games.
Taylor Soule, a Lebanon native who played at Kimball Union, is now a junior on the Boston College women’s basketball team. The forward is averaging 16.6 points and 7.1 rebounds a game and was named an All-Atlantic Coast Conference first-team selection by the league’s coaches Tuesday.
The Eagles have a date with Pitt on Wednesday in the opening round of the ACC tourney.
Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com.