Bellingham/BVT Co-op Wrestling a Good Match

Christopher Tremblay. Sports Staff Writer

In 2002, Bellingham High School formed a club wrestling team and the following year was granted a varsity program under the guidance of physical education teacher Tom Forbes. However, once Forbes became an administrator, he was told that he could no longer coach. Forbes, also the football coach, would give up his coaching duties on the gridiron but begged the school system to allow him to keep coaching the new wrestling program.

“I asked them to let me continue to coach the wrestling program as I felt that if I had to give it up then the program would most likely fall apart,” he said. “I was able to stay onto until we got a new superintendent in 2007. It was still a relatively new sport to the area with no feeder program and the new coaches, at no fault of their own, saw the numbers decrease as there was not a lot of wrestling in the Tri-Valley League.”

The TVL only had wrestling programs in Bellingham, Holliston, Hopkinton and Norton before Dedham and Norwood moved into the league years many years later. Eventually, Forbes was reinstated as the wrestling coach only. Bellingham joined into a partnership with Medway for two years, but Medway’s involvement dwindled to two wrestlers on the co-op team. Bellingham needed to do something to keep their program successful, as, while the Bellingham wrestlers were doing well on an individual basis, the progra was not able to fill each and every weight class during dual meets. Athletic Director Michael Connor suggested trying Blackstone Valley Tech.

Bellingham and BVT formed a co-op three years ago while also adding a middle school wrestling program. That original co-op season saw the squad with 17 wrestlers (11 from Bellingham and 6 more from BVT). Last year, there was no season due to COVID and this year, the numbers increased significantly with 25 total athletes (16 from Bellingham and 9 from BVT). 

“The numbers increased because of the kids themselves and word of mouth,” Forbes said. 

Entering its second season, Bellingham/BVT found themselves changing divisions. The MIAA rezoned by taking into effect both schools’ populations, thus giving the program a larger number of athletes to draw from, so the program went from Division 3 Central to Division 2 Central. So, this season Bellingham/BVT will be up against some tougher competition. 

Bellingham will also be hosting the Division 2 Central Sectionals this winter. Sectionals were at Bellingham High School on Saturday, February 12th, where the team finished in seventh place. Joel Puri, Paul Grieco and Landry Fitzgerald all finished third in their respective weight classes, while Jack Davidson was fourth, Xavier Belisle was fifth and Dilon Costa was sixth. All of the top finishes except Costa will be representing Bellingham/BVT in the State Tournament.

Prior to each season beginning, Coach Forbes is out looking for opponents in addition to the team’s league meets, preferring to schedule between 21 and 24 matches each year, giving him a variety of different opponents outside of the TVL. At this stage of the program, he wants wrestlers to capture at least 10 wins as a team, a goal his squad had already captured at the time of this writing. Forbes is more interested in his wrestlers improving each time they take to the mat than he is banners on the wall.

“Thus far this season, we are wrestling very well, but still dealing with COVID issues here and there. We are continuously adjusting our lineups,” the Coach said. “Throughout the year, I am looking for everyone to do their part in the 14 weight classes. Wrestling is an individual sport, but one that is also a team sport as well.”

Bellingham/BVT will rely heavily on their captains BHS junior Ethan Silva (195-lbs) and BVT senior Logan Hampson (138) for leadership. Silva has been with the program since his freshman year while Hampson is participating in the co-op for the first time, although Hampton has wrestled for New England Elite.

Wrestling in the heavy weight class, Forbes has two individuals, first year senior Mike Pitner and BVT sophomore Landry Fitzgerald, someone who will be with the program for a few years giving them some stability. 

Other wrestlers the Coach will be looking to this season will be freshman Joel Puri (106 from BVT), eighth grader Charlie Leighton (also at 106), sophomore Zach Mantegani (126), who has wrestled all his life, and junior Tim Gaunlet (145), who has been with the program since eighth grade. 

Forbes knows that his team needs to be prepared and be able to walk off the mat with a sense of accomplishment.

“I want the kids to be able to succeed,” he said. “This is a one-on-one sport and win, lose or draw, they have to be able to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves if they prepared properly and do what they needed to do on the mat.”

While the season still has some matches to go. Bellingham/BVT looks like they are on their way to taking part in the Sectionals, and no matter what they do as a team and as individuals, it has already been a successful season. When the year does come to an end, Forbes will be only saying goodbye to six seniors, so the team on the whole shouldn’t really be impacted.