The Wrestling team traveled to Fitchburg this week for the state tournament. Senior Jasper Henly at 113 lbs, freshman Chewy Botello at 120 lbs, senior Kyle Gidman at 126 lbs, me at 132 lbs, senior Mark Botello at 145 lbs, senior Aidan Parker at 170 lbs, and junior Mike Swartz all wrestled for the Harbormen. Junior Sam O. and Sam Crowley were alternates at 220 and 285 respectively, but unfortunately, they did not end up wrestling.

The organization of the tournament could be described as nothing less than a train wreck. All three state tournaments happened in the same place at the same time, which meant 840 wrestlers alone, not to mention parents, spectators and coaches. With all these taken into consideration, with my guess there were at least 1,500 people attending a space meant for

maybe 500. The first day, the building was ridiculously over-capacity. The lines for the bathroom stretched out the halls, and the line for the single concession stand stretched across the building. The Wi-Fi and cellular service were down both days. Parking was also an absolute mess. With so many parents and spectators as well as buses taking up all of the parking, people were forced to park in surrounding residential areas. This circus of mishaps culminated when a fire alarm was set off during warmups, forcing hundreds of people to pour out into the cold. Some didn’t care, and remained inside the building during the whole thing, as there was nowhere near enough staff to escort everyone outside. Senior Bob Perry, from Carver, mused “whoever thought it was a good idea to hold all of the tournaments at the same time needs to be fired.”

Gallery • 16 Photos

Matt "Chewy" Botello looks confused as the ref has not called a pin yet

Despite massive problems off the mat, on the matt things went great. The Botello brothers both won state championships, Kyle Gidman placed third, I placed sixth, and Jasper Henly placed seventh, all of us advancing to all states. Adian Parker and Mike Swartz also had some good matches, with Adian, a senior, saying “I’m sad this was my last match for Hingham, but I’m happy it was a good one.” The remaining wrestlers will be back in Fitchburg on Saturday for All-States, and for girls’ states, where freshman Mia and senior Casey will be wrestling.