PETERBOROUGH – The word was that the Bow High wrestling team was supposed to be in a rebuilding year. Consider the Falcons rebuilt.

Bow qualified wrestlers for the Meet of Champions in 11 of 14 weight classes, and senior Jackson Hall (215 pounds), junior Jake Todisco Coulon (138) and sophomore Jaron Todisco Coulon (106) all won state titles to lead the Falcons to their second consecutive Division III state wrestling championship on Saturday at ConVal Regional High School.

Bow won with 204.5 points, while Winnisquam – led by titles from seniors Aemon Gauthier (132) and Louis Soyk (285) and three runner-up finishes – took second with 176 points.

Plymouth (162.5), Pelham (134), White Mountains (106) and Kearsarge (88.5) rounded out the top six. John Stark (87.5) finished seventh behind individual championships from junior Sean Crean (113) and sophomore Lyncoln Jablonski (126).

While Bow rode a wave of senior leadership and experience to last year’s victory, youth and grit characterized this group this season.

More than half of the Falcons’ wrestlers were in the consolation bracket by the end of the semifinal round, while Winnisquam already had secured five finalists and opened up a sizable lead over the rest of the division. But Bow went 7-2 in the consolation semis and gutted out tough matches in the consolation rounds to score big points.

Juniors Chase Flagg (190) and Herbie Madden (144) and sophomore Jacob Hammond (165) finished third for Bow.

Brayden Brown (157), Ryan Dolder (150), Josh Roos (126) and Sean Flaherty (120) finished fourth for the Falcons, and all of them also advanced to the Meet of Champions.

“We had a little bit of a slow start to the season, but the last couple weeks we really picked it up and found our identity,” said Hall, the only senior who competed for Bow on Saturday and just one of two on the entire roster. “We’re not the most experienced team, but we’re tough, that’s for sure. No doubt about it. We came out and wrestled our brand of wrestling, and we proved that we’re not in a rebuilding year and are just as good as we were last year, even without all our seniors (from last year).”

Madden, the fourth seed, upset No. 2 Nolan Linstad of Hopkinton in a 4-2 decision to take third. Dolder upset top-seeded Collin Parenteau of Winnisquam to take fourth. Flaherty entered Saturday’s championship unranked but upset No. 5 Matthew Raymond of Pelham to finish fourth.

Hammond upset three seeded competitors, Nos. 4 and 3 before finally getting No. 5 Cameron Brand of Kearsarge with a second-period pin to take third.

“Top to bottom, every single kid contributed to this win; everybody had their hand in it,” Bow head coach Bill Chavanelle said. “This was a true team championship. Last year, we had our obvious studs help carry us through. This year, it was a full-team effort.”

“It’s because we’re tough; we’re scrappy,” Hall said. “We’ll take them all three rounds and stick it to them if we can. That’s what I love about this team. We don’t give up. We fight until the last whistle is blown.”

It took some time for this team to develop. Bow went 10-2 in dual meets against D-III teams, including a loss to Pelham in its first match of the season, and then competed against mostly D-I teams in quad meets and tournaments.

“You’re not defined in December; you’re defined in February. We threw the book at them as far as competitions, the way we handled practices. We did everything hard,” Chavanelle said. “They believed in what we were doing. It was tough at times and there was some self-doubt along the way, but it was all leading up to today. And I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”

Jaron Todisco Coulon defended his 106 title by pinning Lebanon’s Will Healy, a rematch of last year’s title bout. Older brother Jake upset No. 1 Dylan Griffin of Winnisquam in a 7-1 decision. Hall gave Bow its third title of the day, defeating John Stark’s Alex Descoteau in a 16-8 major decision.

“We’re not done yet. We have the Meet of Champions next week and most guys returning, more fired up than ever,” Chavanelle said.

Plus, the Falcons will have the addition of new wrestlers coming up through the Bow Brawlers, which Chavanelle referred to as “the best youth program around.”

Winnisquam is another program that has had to develop and win the hard way. Despite being one of the oldest wrestling programs in the state, the Bears had no team banners until they were the D-III runners-up in 2022.

Gauthier was a freshman then, and now – as a senior – defeated Newport’s Blake Ploss in a 5-2 decision to win the 132-pound title, helping the Bears earn another banner.

Soyk, a German exchange student who had never wrestled before this season, beat Bow’s Kevin Mullen in a 12-2 major decision in the heavyweight final.

Seniors David Jean (175) and Ryan Cormier (126) finished second in their classes in addition to Griffin, a junior.

“It’s a tough sport. The system that we teach takes time,” said Winnisquam coach Tom Osmer, who was voted the Division III Coach of the Year by his peers. “There are shortcuts to get kids to win matches and be competitive, but we really invest in a series of moves and tactics that you’ve got to develop over time. I’m willing to wait for it, but a kid has to keep coming back and getting thumped and believe in the system.

Now that we’ve had some individual champions over the last couple of years, (the kids) are seeing that they’re winning with moves they’re learning.”

Winnisquam’s Aiden Sufert (third 120) and Lucas Durphy (fourth 106) also advanced to the MOC.

“We had wrestlers in every single weight class score points and win at least one match,” Osmer said. “It’s a very talented senior class, but there’s gritty, tough kids below them in the underclasses. It’s that composition of their grittiness and toughness with the skill of the seniors that was a good recipe (for a team achievement).”

John Stark’s Crean pinned Raymond’s Brody Phillips in the first period of the 113 final, and Jablonski pinned Cormier in the first period of the 126 final, with Descoteau also joining them at MOC.

Kearsarge’s Gage Richard (second 144), Ethan Brand (fourth 190), Jacob Mullen (fourth 132) and Cameron Brand (fourth 165) also advanced.

Linstad, Hopkinton’s only wrestler, finished fourth at 144, singlehandedly lifting Hopkinton to 17th in the team scores. Franklin, competing in its first state championship in eight years, finished 18th.

Cameron Labrecque won his opening-round match at 215 for Franklin.

Hillsboro-Deering finished 20th with two wrestlers competing.

The Meet of Champions will be held Saturday at Pinkerton Academy starting at 9 a.m.