BOW – The Bow High School wrestling team all wore gold shirts that read ‘Handling Business.’ The Falcons can now consider it handled.

Six finalists. Four champions. Eight wrestlers headed to the Meet of Champions. Senior Adler Moura was named Outstanding Wrestler after winning his third title. And head coach Bill Chavanelle was selected Division III’s Coach of the Year by his peers. Bow has had a team championship title on its mind since the end of last season. That mission was fulfilled on Saturday on the Falcons’ home mats.

Moura (113 pounds), freshman Jaron Todisco Coulon (106), senior Joe McDowell (175) and junior Jackson Hall (215) all won individual titles, with seniors Josiah Funches (157) and Ben McDowell (165) finishing runner-up.

Bow tallied 229.5 points with Pelham (204.5), Souhegan (197.5), Plymouth (161), John Stark (137) and Winnisquam (128.5) rounding out the top six teams.

“We had one goal and one goal only. To get to this point,” Chavanelle said. “I couldn’t do it without (the support of) a lot of people. It’s a very humbling moment. Business was handled today.”

Moura took care of business quickly in his first two matches, winning with first period pins to reach the finals and capturing the 113 crown with a third period pin against Plymouth’s Anthony Torres in the final to win title No. 3.

Simply put, “Adler’s one of the best I’ve ever been around,” Chavanelle said.

“The vibes were insane in there,” Moura said. “Everyone was excited. Everyone was hyped up. We knew that we had a pretty good shot at winning it, but we knew we needed to work together as a team. Everyone stepped up, everyone gave it 100 percent and it paid off.”

While the results and awards ultimately all went Bow’s way in the end, it wasn’t an easy, smooth path to get there. Wrestling numbers have swelled in D-III programs and the total number of entries reached 180 this year, as opposed to 130 last year. That meant fuller brackets, more matches and more competition to reach the final.

The Falcons suffered some injuries and lost some key matches in the quarterfinals, but Chavanelle credited his team’s “absolute toughness and dedication to the mission” for turning things around in the later rounds.

Freshman Todisco Coulon displayed that toughness throughout the day, winning his first two matches on first period pins, but took a hit to the face early in his final bout. After a pause in the action to take care of his nosebleed, Todisco Coulon went on to win in a 6-1 decision over Lebanon’s Will Healy, winning Bow’s first title in the first final of the night to set the tone the rest of the way.

Joe McDowell trailed in his final match 6-3, but recovered to pin the top seed, Pelham’s Billy Nicolls to win the 175 bracket.

“I’m really happy with my win today,” McDowell said. “I lost to (Nicolls) at the start of the season, so I was happy to beat him at the end.”

Hall lived up to his top seed, winning two matches by pin and topping Monadnock’s Seth Adams with a 7-5 decision in the 215 finals for Bow’s fourth individual crown.

Funches won by pin in the quarterfinals and earned a big 17-1 technical fall victory in the semis before dropping a hard fought 6-2 decision to Plymouth’s Ben Valenti in the 157 finals.

Ben McDowell won three matches by pin before getting pinned by Campbell’s Logan Allaire in the 165 finals.

Bow senior Jared Dolder lost in the quarterfinals but fought his way through the consolation to finish third at 150 and sophomore Hunter Hutchinson, a first-year wrestler, won three matches by pin in the consolation rounds before upsetting No. 4 Chris Kinne of Lebanon to get third in the heavyweight class.

The top three in each weight class in D-III advanced to next Saturday’s Meet of Champions at Bedford High School, which means the Falcons are sending eight wrestlers. Just two years ago the Falcons didn’t even have eight wrestlers on their team. Now, that number is just shy of 30.

“Obviously it’s a huge change and it’s crazy to see it happen,” said Joe McDowell, who, along with brother Ben and fellow senior Moura, was on a seven-man roster two years ago. “It doesn’t even feel real yet. I’m really happy with how the team has grown. Not just in terms of achievements, but in terms of building a really good wrestling community. We have a fantastic group of parents who help organize things. 

McDowell added, “I’m really happy for coach Billy. He took this team which hadn’t won a championship (since 2019), and won the dual meet championship (Bow was also recognized for going 15-0 in duals against D-III opponents) and the state championship. I really love coach Billy, the heart and soul he puts into the team.”

“All the dedication we’ve put into growing the team and getting kids to join, to be able to do this just two years later, I couldn’t be more proud,” Moura said.

Winnisquam senior Henry Osmer was the other area champion, winning the 150-pound title with a second period pin over Souhegan’s Noah Denis. Osmer won two matches by pin to advance to the final.

Winnisquam’s Aemon Gauthier finished second at 126, losing to Pelham’s Liz Donovan, who made history last year by becoming the first girl to win an individual state wrestling title, and teammate Ryan Cormier (120) also finished runner-up.

David Jean (third 157), Dylan Griffin (third 132) and Colin Parenteau (fourth 138) also placed for the Bears.

John Stark finished fifth behind three second-place finishes from Alex Descoteau (190), Brayden Menard (138) and Isaac Coker (285). Lukas Boulanger (third 215), Lyncoln Jablonski (third 113) and Sean Crean (fourth 120) also placed for the Generals.

Kearsarge (15th) and Hopkinton (tied 18th) were the other area teams that competed.