BRUNSWICK — When Chris Watkinson was a freshman on the Mt. Ararat/Brunswick wrestling team, he made it his mission to bring one home match to his high school by the time he graduated.
To his understanding, Brunswick had never hosted a wrestling match before. Or even a practice. The co-op had only started a few years prior to his freshman season, so participation numbers were still low. But that didn’t dissuade Watkinson.
“He kept trying,” Erick Jensen, who is in his 25th season of coaching at Mt. Ararat, said. “He kept talking about it, and every year. … He’s tenacious. I mean, he’s my best recruiter for the kids around the school.”
Due in no small part to Watkinson’s efforts, Brunswick’s contingent has more than doubled since 2021, as nine of the 28 wrestlers on the current roster are Brunswick students.
Before their sophomore season, Watkinson convinced his friend Dakota Ayer to give the sport a try. On Wednesday, the two seniors walked off the mat with smiles from ear guard to ear guard. They were victorious. Not just in their individual and team records on the evening, but in their years-long mission to bring wrestling to Brunswick High School.
“I set a goal for myself to try to get at least one match here throughout my entire four years of wrestling, because even if it wasn’t me wrestling in that meet, per se, I wanted everyone that was at Brunswick to feel appreciated at their own home school compared to Mt. Ararat,” Watkinson, a team captain, said. “Even though it still does feel appreciatory, it’s nice to have one in your actual own gym. Seeing the growth from the program from freshman year to senior year, it’s definitely something to be proud of for every wrestler, whether they were there freshman year or not. It’s definitely a big emotional rollercoaster.”
Mt. Ararat/Brunswick came out of the tri-match on top, defeating Oceanside 48-33 and Winslow 60-24. Oceanside beat Winslow, 36-33.
Mt. Ararat/Brunswick sophomore Danika Lavasseur (113 pounds) and junior AJ Ward (144) each won their matches against Oceanside by pins in the first and second period, respectively. The Eagles accepted six forfeits from the Mariners, while forfeiting once.
Ayer won an exhibition bout against Oceanside and said he felt butterflies when heard the loud cheers from his classmates after a first-period takedown.
“When you know the people in the stands, it’s definitely a lot more of a feeling like, ‘I need to win this match, this means a lot,'” Ayer said. “At a big dual meet somewhere where you barely know anybody in the crowd, you still want to win, but you don’t have as much drive.”
“That cheering from them is a lot,” Watkinson said. “It means a lot to hear from them.”
The motivation carried over to the matches against Winslow, as both Brunswick seniors finally got a chance to wrestle for points. Watkinson (138 pounds) and Ayer (190) both secured first-period pins. Sophomore Evan Kowalsky (126), sophomore Matty Smith (132) and junior Hunter Vosmus (150) also won by pins. Smith and Vosmus also attend Brunswick.
Jensen thinks some wrestlers may have been a bit overwhelmed by the emotion of senior night and the crowd, but he was pleased with the overall turnout from both schools’ communities and is hopeful future matches can be held at Brunswick.
“I know what they sacrifice on a daily basis, so it’s just really nice to give them an opportunity to be in front of a bunch of their friends,” Jensen said. “The basketball team came to support the wrestling team, a bunch of teachers were here, and that means a lot to these kids.”
With two more regular season meets before the KVAC championship on Jan. 25, Mt. Ararat/Brunswick (10-6) is feeling confident heading into the final stretch. To make a deep postseason run, the key will be to fight off any sickness and remain healthy.
“In those tournaments, we want to start peaking, where some of the other teams will start to fall off, because it’s a long season,” Jensen said. “So you want to keep them fresh, but you want to keep improving. While the other teams fall off, we want to keep moving forward.”
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