6th ANNUAL
BRENDAN GRANT MEMORIAL WRESTLING TOURNAMENT

Held Saturday, 6 January 2007 in Belmont, MA

The Sixth Annual Brendan Grant Memorial Wrestling Tournament was held at Belmont High School all day on Saturday 6 January 2007. As has been the case in previous years, once again the efforts of numerous hard-working volunteers along with a field of strong competitors resulted in a successful tournament.

Just like with the day’s weather, it was a day to break records at the tournament. This year their was no challenge of a snow event causing problems as it was an unusual weather day in the region with 68 F temperatures recorded in Boston, which broke the previous high temperature by 5 full degrees on this supposedly winter New England day. 

This tournament was first held in January 1981, and was renamed in 2002 as a tribute to Brendan Grant who was a member of the wrestling team for four years and a senior captain in the 1999-2000 season. Thus, while this is the 6th Annual tournament named after Brendan, overall it is the 26th Annual Belmont Wrestling Tournament. 

 The format for the 2006 event was similar to the sixteen seed bracket used in previous year's, and included the following fourteen New England area high school teams: Algonquin Regional (Northborough, MA), Arlington MA, Belmont MA (host team), Catholic Memorial (West Roxbury, MA), Concord/Carlisle MA, East Providence RI, Hingham MA, Keefe Tech (Framingham MA), Lexington MA, Malden MA, Masconomet (Topsfield, MA), Needham MA, Newton North MA, and Tri-County Vocational (Franklin, MA).

At the end of the day, the first place team winner was tournament veteran Catholic Memorial, who tallied an impressive 217.0 team points, including 3 first place finishers and 3 more taking second place among their point leaders. East Providence finished second  with 196.5 points despite having 4 first-place winners, and placing third was Lexington at 169.0 points. The remaining teams finishing 4th through 14th were: #4 Arlington (164.0), #5 Newton North (144.0), #6 Hingham (141.0), #7 Masconomet (124.0), #8 Concord/Carlisle (119.0), #9 Tri-County (104.0), #10 Belmont (69.0), #11 Needham (68.0), #12 Keefe Tech, #13 Malden (51.5), and #14 Algonquin Regional (44.0).

This year’s “outstanding wrestler” award went to Senior Josh Harrison-Lombardi of East Providence High School in Rhode Island, based on the vote of all the team coaches in attendance. With two pins and one major decision in his 189 lb. weight class, Harrison-Lombardi becomes the first wrestler in the Brendan Grant Memorial Tournament to win his weight class four times over the course of his high school career. This means that as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior he has gone undefeated at the event, and is a truly noteworthy achievement.

The Belmont host squad had several grapplers perform well, placing in the winners circle for their respective weight class. In the 140 lb. slot, senior Tri-Captain Charlie McKenna led the Marauders by placing third, and losing only one of his four matches throughout the day. Tri-Captains seniors Garen Koutoujian (152 lbs.) and Ryan McLaughlin (189 lbs.) placed 4th and 6th respectively. Also providing a strong showing was junior Joe LoRusso who wrestled in the 160 lb weight class and finished 6th. 

 This year additional recognition was provided to the forefathers of this well-established event. After more than a quarter of a century, we are able to look back and see four individuals that had a key role in the creation of the tournament in December1981. They are Keith Durham (Belmont Coach from 1978 – 1984, and current Hingham Coach), Warren Farrell (parent of two Belmont wrestlers in 1981), Ted Neil (Assistant Winchester Coach in 1981), and Sam Robinson (parent of two Belmont wrestlers in 1981). Also having an important role was 1981 Belmont Athletic Director Bill Miller who displayed sincere patience and understanding toward this pioneer undertaking. The legacy of this tournament was established through their vision, dedication and devotion, and we salute the tradition they established, and that we carry on today.

In January 2002 the tournament was renamed in honor of Brendan Grant, BHS class of 2000, and who passed away tragically in June of 2001. Brendan was a devoted member of the Tournament's host wrestling squad during all four of his high school years, and during the 1999-2000 season he was one of the team captains that led the squad to one of their more successful seasons in years. Click here for the story about the Brendan Grant Wrestling Tournament held in January 2006.

Overall, this year's 2007 invitational wrestling tournament was once again a great success.