All-American Chris Perry Leads Bruins at Wrestling Nationals

Chris Perry’s seventh-place finish, and All-American honors, highlighted the 2018 National Prep Wrestling Championships for the eight-member Brunswick contingent. As a team, Brunswick finished 27th overall out of 130 teams and earned the Official’s Sportsmanship Award at the two-day tournament, hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. 

Perry, the 10^th-seed at 113 pounds, is the sixth Brunswick wrestler to earn Prep All-American status, as the last Bruin wresting All-American was Jon Errico ’16 two years ago.

 

The Bruins finished with 26 team points, as national powerhouse Blair Academy (N.J.) totaled 345 points to win the team title. Wyoming Seminary (Pa.) was second with 294.5 points and Malvern Prep (Pa.) finished third with 170.5 points. The top three schools won 13 of 14 individual titles.

 

Making the trip with Perry to the national tournament were seven other Bruins including three-time Prep National veteran and tri-captain Lachlan Rosato. Joining Perry and Rosato were #13 Tim Saunders (182-lb.), tri-captains Jack Ocken (195-lb.) and John DeLucia (160-lb.), Clayton Ostrover (170-lb.), Nick Bell (132-lb.), and Will Donovan (120-lb.).

 

In the double-elimination tourney, Ocken, DeLucia, and Donovan each dropped their first two matches, as Ostrover and Bell bowed out with 1-2 marks against the nation’s finest prep wrestlers.

 

Rosato and Saunders, the other two seeded wrestlers besides Perry, went 3-2 on the opening day. Both Bruins won their opening match, dropped their quarterfinal bout, and picked up two more wins in the consolation rounds. The duo reached the Round of 12, also known as "the blood round", but fell one win short of a top-eight finish and All-American status.

This was the first time Brunswick saw three wrestlers reach the Round of 12, as Perry came through the consolation bracket after his quarterfinal loss.

 

Perry opened the tournament with a pair of wins (7-2, 7-0) to advance to the quarterfinals, where the 10^th-seed was stopped by the #2 seed from Blair Academy by pinfall. In Perry’s first consolation round bout, he picked up a 10-2 win, ensuring a top-eight podium finish and All-American status. Perry dropped his next match to the sixth-seed by pin, setting up a battle for seventh place against the #8 seed.

 

In the final match, Perry picked up a convincing 9-0 win to secure the seventh-place finish and a spot on the podium. For the tournament, Perry went 4-2 to move his season-long record to 37-4.

 

Final season records for the Bruins at Prep Nationals:

Perry (37-4)

Bell (37-8)

John DeLucia (35-8)

Tim Saunders (34-6)

Lachlan Rosato (33-4)

Clayton Ostrover (31-13)

Jack Ocken (29-10)

Will Donovan (29-12)

 

For more info about the Prep Nationals, click here.