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Rutland Herald Winter Sports Guide 2019-2020
HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING PREVIEW
Local wrestling teams optimistic for season
By Adam Aucoin
Staff Writer
he start of a new wrestling
season means a clean slate.
Every wrestler is 0-0, every
team has something to prove and a
state championship is the light at the
end of the tunnel.
For the past 31 years, that light has
shined brightly on Mount Anthony,
and the question remains, will
anybody ever knock them off?
A quartet of Rutland County wres-
tling teams, along with Springfield,
are all ready to give the state’s elite
their best shot.
T
FAIR HAVEN
The Fair Haven wrestling team is
known for its pinning and two of its
wrestlers were a pin away from a state
championship last winter.
Senior Dylan Lee and junior Sam
Worthing highlight the Slaters’
group and both should be contend-
ers for a state title at their weight
class.
Lee dropped his championship
match to Essex’s Ben Stewart last
winter. Lee is coming up on a mile-
stone for his career, with 96 wins, just
four away from the 100-win plateau.
Worthing fell in the finals to
Mount Anthony’s Keegan Coon.
Coon is a senior this year, so it’s
possible Worthing could wrestle him
once again at states.
“They’re both tough. We don’t
really know where they’ll be at yet for
their weight class,” said Fair Haven
coach Scott Shaddock. “They’re
good leaders. I get on them in prac-
tice, but they don’t fool around.”
Fair Haven saw a jump in numbers
from three wrestlers to seven this
season.
Even with lower numbers, the
Slaters have been a force when
it comes to being competitive in
tournaments.
“We’re a tournament team. We
excel in tournaments,” Shaddock
said. “We score big points even if we
don’t have a lot of guys.”
Fair Haven consistently has a hand-
ful of wrestlers that make noise in
states, and even in New Englands.
Shaddock sees that pipeline
continuing with the youth that’s
coming up through the program in
the coming years. The hard-working
regimen he preaches fuels that.
“The future looking bright,”
Shaddock said. “Wrestling is tough
sport. On my teams, you don’t sit in
the bleachers. If we go to an event,
you’re wrestling. Training is tough.
We wrestle an hour and half practice,
sometimes just for a six-minute
match.”
Shaddock has his son, Gable,
coaching the middle school team
and helping out with the varsity
squad. Gable was a 100-win wrestler,
himself, and took third and fourth
place in states during his high school
career.
“It’s nice to have someone who
knows my terminology and knows
what’s happening,” Scott Shaddock
said. “We’re right there on the same
page.”
With their first real competition
ahead of them this weekend, the
Slaters are ready to get going.
“Somebody out of this group
is going to come up and surprise
people and put their name up on
the banner. Our big thing is putting
names up on our banner,” Shaddock
said.
“Teams can’t overlook us, because
if you do, you’re in trouble.”
Fair Haven opens competition
this weekend for the early bird
tournament at St. Johnsbury.
The Slaters are set to host the
Southern Vermont League Jamboree
on February 15. Mill River has a junior varsity and
middle school tournament this week-
end and open up varsity competition
on Wednesday at Burr and Burton.
MILL RIVER OTTER VALLEY
Development is on the mind for
the Mill River wrestling team.
After losing state runner-up
Gideon Bosch to graduation, along
with Levi Tarbell, a sixth-place state
finisher, the Minutemen have a
younger crop looking to achieve
similar success.
Mill River saw a doubling in the
amount of athletes who came out to
wrestle. Last winter, the Minutemen
had five wrestlers, and now, they’ll
boast 10.
A pair of freshman, in Amelia
Jones (132 pounds) and Owen
Seward (152 pounds), are expected
to be some of the top wrestlers on
the roster. The team will try to get
them as much experience as they can
to help them improve.
“They’ll go back and forth between
varsity and junior varsity,” said Mill
River coach Lee Tyminski. “The rest
of the wrestlers are first year.”
Along with Jones and Seward,
Caleb Spencer (106), Cayden Beamis
(126 or 132), Will Tyminski (138),
Christian Beamis (145) and Christo-
pher Alexander (195 or 220) will see
mat time for Mill River in varsity and
junior varsity tournaments.
With a bunch of inexperience on
the roster, the Minutemen are doing
what they can to bring each wrestler
along at their own pace.
“Three of the guys are just starting
out, but they’re picking up on it,”
Tyminski said. “We’ll see how they
do for their first competition on
Saturday. It will be good mat time for
them.” Otter Valley had the best finish
out of the Rutland County schools
at states last year, finishing in a tie
for sixth place.
The Otters hope to build off last
year’s success with another great
season in 2019-20.
Otter Valley’s biggest graduation
loss on the mat was Josh Beayon,
who took third place at states at 182
pounds.
According to Otters coach Cole
Mason, the team has around 14 guys
on their roster.
“We have a good mix of freshmen,
sophomores and juniors and one
senior,” Mason said.
Junior David Williams will be a
key piece for Otter Valley, following
a runner-up finish at 138 at last
year’s states.
Fellow junior Levi Cram dealt
with injuries last year, but he is
healthy and should be a strong
competitor as well.
Jared Denis will be another leader
of the group.
“It’s huge to have people who
have been in the program that have
had experience and know what we
expect,” Mason said. “It’s great for
our younger kids.”
Otter Valley has an impressive set
of underclassmen that should make
a difference this year on the mat.
Tucker Babcock, Caleb Whitney,
Sam Martin, Dom Davis and Parker
Swain are young guys that will have
key roles this season.
Boys Continued on page 5