AUSTIN SHREWSBURY
AGAWAM – One glimpse at the final score of Wednesday’s high school wrestling meet between Westfield and Agawam would be a mistake.
Go ahead and underestimate Westfield after a 54-24 road loss to Agawam left them out in the cold. Bombers’ head wrestling coach Bob Coe wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Austin’s been typical Austin,” Coe said, “but it’s not just Austin. All of our wrestlers are working really hard … Up and down the lineup we’re doing good things.”
The “Austin” that the Bombers’ coach is referring to is none other than senior heavyweight Austin Shrewsbury.
Shrewsbury continued his unbeaten run through the competition, improving to 12-0 with a 47-second pin of Agawam senior Nick Hope in a matchup of 285-pounders Wednesday.
“He’s kind of gotten to the next level wrestling with a lot of confidence,” Coe said of his most celebrated wrestler. “He doesn’t get that fired up. (Austin) doesn’t let his highs get too high, and he doesn’t let his lows get too low … He works as hard as he can work.”
Shrewsbury recently carved out a bit of history for himself and the Bombers’ wrestling team.
At the Lowell Holiday tournament (Christmas weekend), featuring some 72 teams, Shrewsbury posted his 100th career victory with a pin of Dean Tech senior Phillip Fernandez that took just 46 seconds in the finals.
It was the first time that Westfield High School produced a champion at the tournament.
Westfield’s 182-pound wrestler Thomas Flaherty placed fourth at the holiday tourney. Ryan Bucko (220 pounds), who had placed at every tournament this season, won a match and finished in the top eight.
At the Phil Tomkiel Tournament in Agawam a day later, Jordan Cree (170), who, according to his coach has “wrestled exceptionally well” this season, took third.
Others, such as freshman Joshua Larriu (an 87-pounder wrestling at 106), senior Lisa Lockhart (113), and freshman Jack Yvon (152) have also posted impressive results this season.
Yvon has quickly become one of the top wrestlers in Western Massachusetts in his weight class, and Lockhart has won nearly half of all of her matches.
“The first part of the season everyone was gung ho, learning, and ready to go,” coach Coe said. “Then we hit Christmas break, and it’s a grind. Now we’re into that part of the season where things are hurting now, we’ve got to perfect this and that, and not expect things to just be … Come tournament time, we’re going to be alright.”
On Wednesday at Agawam, Westfield was missing five starters due to various reasons. Three Bombers wrestled weight classes they typically did not wrestle in. The results were skewed, and not indicative of the talent and hard work that Westfield has exuded thus far this season.
Currently, Westfield has some two dozen healthy wrestlers.
“They are guys (and girls) that I have that I don’t think I’ll lose,” Coe said.
At the core, these are wrestlers who also don’t expect to lose.
To see these wrestlers hard at work, check out the Westfield duals Saturday at WHS, beginning at 10 a.m. Teams such as BC High, Framingham, West Springfield, Quabbin, and St. John’s Prep will attend. Four of the top 20 high school wrestling programs in the state are expected to compete.
