Wrestling: Concord’s Norwalt wins D-I 126 title, Tide sends nine wrestlers to Meet of Champions

Concord’s Griffin Norwalt (left) wrestles Timberlane’s Cam Pettengill during the 126 quarterfinal in Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship at Londonderry High School.

Concord’s Griffin Norwalt (left) wrestles Timberlane’s Cam Pettengill during the 126 quarterfinal in Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship at Londonderry High School. ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL / Monitor staff

Griffin Norwalt (top) wrestles Timberlane’s Cam Pettengill during the D-I wrestling championship on Saturday.

Griffin Norwalt (top) wrestles Timberlane’s Cam Pettengill during the D-I wrestling championship on Saturday. ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL/ Monitor staff

Concord’s Max Chung pins Pinkerton’s Connor Combs in the 150-pound round of 16 during Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship at Londonderry High School.

Concord’s Max Chung pins Pinkerton’s Connor Combs in the 150-pound round of 16 during Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship at Londonderry High School. ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL / Monitor staff

Concord’s Cullen Burke (top) tries to gain position on Nashua North’s Caleb Smith in the quarterfinals of the 120-pound weight class at Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship.

Concord’s Cullen Burke (top) tries to gain position on Nashua North’s Caleb Smith in the quarterfinals of the 120-pound weight class at Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship. ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL / Monitor staff

Concord’s Biswas Darji wrestles Windham’s Zoe Millette in the round of 16 of the 106-pound weight class during Saturday’s Division I wresting championship.

Concord’s Biswas Darji wrestles Windham’s Zoe Millette in the round of 16 of the 106-pound weight class during Saturday’s Division I wresting championship. ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL / Monitor staff

Levi Madison (left) tries to keep his balance as he wrestles against Windham’s Nick Russell during the round of 16 of the 138-pound weight class in Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship.

Levi Madison (left) tries to keep his balance as he wrestles against Windham’s Nick Russell during the round of 16 of the 138-pound weight class in Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship. ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL / Monitor staff

Concord’s Jaxon Carter tries to hold down Londonderry’s Brendan Egan during Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship.

Concord’s Jaxon Carter tries to hold down Londonderry’s Brendan Egan during Saturday’s Division I wrestling championship. ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL / Monitor staff

By ERIC RYNSTON-LOBEL

Monitor staff

Published: 02-17-2024 10:56 PM

LONDONDERRY – Concord senior Griffin Norwalt was the only Tide wrestler to take first place across the 14 weight classes during Saturday’s Division I wrestling championships at Londonderry High School, but the Tide had eight other wrestlers finish in the top six to qualify for next week’s state Meet of Champions.

Overall, Concord finished in sixth as a team out of 14 schools with 124 points. Salem placed first with 234, ahead of second-place Timberlane, which finished at 207.

Norwalt took home first place in the 126-pound bracket after he came in first during last year’s championships in the 120-pound group.

The No. 2 seed, he defeated No. 1 Spencer Buscema from Salem in a 6-4 decision to become the 15th wrestler in CHS history to win back-to-back D-I state championships.

Norwalt dominated his quarterfinal, defeating Timberlane’s Cam Pettingill with a 17-1 technical fall, and won his semifinal with a 5-4 decision over Keene’s Carter Trubiano.

Other notable performances from Concord included junior Cullen Burke and sophomore Wayne Gutierrez-Sakakeeny who finished third in the 120-pound and 285-pound brackets, respectively. Senior Hunter Richard placed fourth in 132, and senior Devon Farwell placed fifth in 215. Sophomores Jaxon Carter (144) and Max Chung (150), and freshmen Dom Hubbard (113) and Biswas Darji (106) all finished sixth in their brackets.