Laconia Middle School launches wrestling club

LACONIA — Inside the Laconia Middle School gym, a group of six students grouped into pairs learn the basics of wrestling. Their coach, Assistant Principal and Athletic Director Chrigus Boezeman, stands on the center of the mat, still wearing a tie and button-down shirt, demonstrating, ironically, a collar tie drill.

The city does not have an official wrestling team in either the middle or high schools, but this club experiment could be the foundation for one.

“A lot of middle schools have a formal team. We haven’t had one here so we need to see if there’s some interest and some excitement for it,” Boezeman explained. “Winnisquam [Middle Schoo] actually donated this mat to us. This was a really generous donation to see if we could get a club going. It’s generated a little bit of a buzz and some excitement.”

As the six students moved on from the collar tie drill to double-leg takedowns, Boezeman shared that there are six additional students who have signed up, including 10 boys and two girls.

“We’ve had about 12 show up, which is actually an average size for a middle school team,” Boezeman said. “There’s some schools with 20 or 30, and there’s some with five.”

As Boezeman gave his interview, another coach, Heather MacPherson, took over instruction.

“She’s really kind of holding this club down for us, which is great,” Boezeman said. “Her son Brock over there on the mat took second place at a tournament we went to a few weeks ago.”

MacPherson works locally as a wound recovery nurse and volunteers her time and extensive wrestling experience with the club.

“I started in middle school and ended up getting a scholarship and wrestled through most of my college years,” MacPherson said. “I’m from out in Ohio around the Cleveland area. I did middle and high school there and then went to college in southern Kentucky.”

This year is the first time her son Brock has wrestled, thanks to the club.

“It started first with my son coming home from school wicked excited, saying he heard about a wrestling team and we found out more about it after Thanksgiving,” MacPherson said. “They came back and gave me the good news that it was going to start in January, and I was like, ‘What’s the coach’s email so I can ask if he needs any help?'”

Boezeman reluctantly admitted that the club was ultimately his idea. “I’ll take all the blame,” he joked. After MacPherson contacted him, he brought her on board.

“In Ohio, wrestling is very prevalent,” MacPherson said, “so it’s a lot harder for me to find any wrestling clubs and that kind of thing, so for it to be in my backyard right under my nose, it would be silly not to jump on it.”

MacPherson chalked up a lack of wrestling teams in the Lakes Region to geography and winter recreation.

“Wrestling is definitely a winter sport, and here you’ve got skiing and so many more outdoor-type sports to do, just like in Florida, in the warmer states, people would rather be outside doing things when it’s nice.”

By contrast, places like Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania have fostered a strong wrestling culture. But with any luck, Boezeman hopes that club at LMS can blossom into a competitive team.

“We’re hoping to increase the club next year,” Boezeman said. “We’re meeting a couple days a week right now. If we got some interest we could expand it to more days a week, get some more kids from the high school or regionally to be able to get out and experience it.”