To all of you who like to support NLHS wrestling every year and New London kids in general,

As you know, my brother has been the head coach of New London High School’s wrestling team for 11 year now and they have been kicking butt this year. It’s no surprise, though, because this year’s seniors were made up of the original “Summer Survivors”, who inspired the summer program after losing their freshmen season to Covid. It’s bittersweet seeing these guys go, because my brother spent so much time with them and they are so close… but they have two weeks left so let’s send them off on a good note!

The postseason is here and we have every reason to expect a big finish. The Whalers finished 13-3, with wins over the returning state champions, Avon, and the returning ECC Tournament Champs, Windham. They beat perennial powerhouses Ledyard, NFA, Montville, and Waterford all by over 25 points and they were one of 10 teams in the state selected to participate in the first ever Connecticut Championship Duals. They also finished top 3 at all of their regular season tournaments and took first place at the Suffield/Windsor-Locks Duals.

Injuries had a rough impact on the boys at the ends of the season, but they didn’t let that stop them. Even with 2 of their top wrestlers out due to injuries and 4 varsity wrestlers our total, the team finished 6th place out of 29 teams at the CIAC Class M Championship, just 3 points outside of the top 5 and only 11 behind 3rd place.

They were able to do this because the boys who did wrestle stepped up. Five wrestlers took home medals and we had two wrestlers in the finals representing New London: Andy Martinez-Soliz at 126 and Kaiden Smith at 215. Kaiden pinned his opponent in the second period to complete his perfect tournament, with all pins, and be crowned state champ!

So, there are high hopes for the upcoming weekends. We are looking forward to seeing the Fierce 5 compete with the best of the best at the CT State Open Tournament and then New England's.

My goal with this fundraiser is simple: Let's take the unnecessary stress of financial worries off the table for this team so the coaches can focus on coaching and the kids can focus on wrestling.

These tournaments are both two days, over an hour away by bus, start early in the morning, and run until around 9 pm. So, like every year, we are looking for support to cover the cost of snacks, hotel rooms, all the random things that come up over the course of the 30+ hours they will be on the road together, and the end-of-season banquet. Every year, the community comes together and pitches in a few bucks, and it goes a long way. Let's do it again!