There’s no better place for local wrestling fans to be than Belmont High School’s Wenner Field House next weekend at the annual Brendan Grant Memorial Wrestling Tournament.
This year, a record 24 varsity teams are expected to compete, with nearly as many junior varsity squads. The schedule calls for two full days of top-tier high school wrestling on Jan. 10 and 11.
“To me, it kicks off the sprint of competitions that will follow,” said Belmont High School wrestling coach Craig Janjigian. “As we’ve grown, the competition itself at the tournament has gotten much better. We’re going to have some pretty intense matches with returning state champions.”
Organized by the Belmont wrestling program and tournament director Leon Dyer, a Belmont Middle School teacher, Belmont’s winter wrestling tournament began in 1982 but was renamed in Grant’s honor in 2002. A 2000 Belmont High School graduate and wrestling team captain, Grant died in the summer of 2001 from injuries suffered in a collision during a summer league baseball game at age 18 after his freshman year at American International College. Grant also played football and captained the Belmont High School baseball team.
The wrestling tournament is one of many events affiliated with the Brendan Grant Foundation, which awards scholarships to graduating student-athletes who played baseball, softball, wrestled, or golfed. The $12 spectator entry fee helps cover the cost of operation, a donation to the foundation and support for the Marauders wrestling program.
“The community shows up, even people who weren’t involved in setting up or anything like that,” Janjigian said. “People just want to see what’s going on.”
The work begins Friday night when the Belmont High School wrestling program and an army of community volunteers set up eight mats across Wenner Field House. On Saturday, there is an MIAA individual tournament with both varsity and junior varsity matches running simultaneously. Sunday is an official open-registration individual girls tournament.
This year, tournament organizers increased the number of varsity teams invited to 24, up from 18 in prior years. Another half-dozen or so interested teams could not compete because of space and logistics constraints. All 24 boys varsity teams will bring their junior varsity wrestlers if applicable, totaling approximately 500 boys on Saturday and 150 girls on Sunday.
In alphabetical order, the list of competing teams from near and far: Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge Rindge & Latin, Catholic Memorial, Concord-Carlisle, Duxbury, East Providence (Rhode Island), Essex Tech/Masconomet, Framingham, Haverhill, Josiah Quincy, King Philip, Lexington, Mansfield, Needham, North Andover, Northbridge, Oliver Ames, Sharon, Waltham, Watertown, Winchester, and Woburn.
“It’s a very exciting, chaotic in a good way, type of event,” Janjigian said. “I look forward to it because it’s fun having something like this on our home turf, and I think the kids really get a kick out of competing under their own roof.”
