South wrestling ready to get back on the mats

Matt Terrin believes the Nashua High School South wrestling team could potentially be one to be reckoned with in Division I.

By the time that happens, Terrin may not be a part of it.

Terrin is the lone senior on a squad that has plenty of young talent. While coach Adam Langlois believes the Panthers are further along than expected going into Wednesday’s first home dual match of the season against Pinkerton, it will take time to get the bevy of young grapplers to reach their potential.

“The team has always been kind of young,” Terrin said. “I’m looking forward to seeing it in a couple of years. It’s going to be a strong team. I’m a little disappointed I’m not with them. There’s definitely a lot of young talent, especially with these coaches working with them the next couple of years.”

When South began practicing in mid-November, Langlois thought the season might be similar to his first as the Panthers’ coach – a rebuilding campaign.

But after watching his team on the mats for the better part of a month, both in practice and in a scrimmage tournament last Saturday, Langlois has been pleasantly surprised.

“We had what we call a rebuilding year last year, and we thought this year was going to be another rebuilding year, but it’s been very good so far,” he said. “I’m seeing more than what I expected from these guys. We’ve had a lot of guys step up. We had a scrimmage this past weekend, and a lot of our guys from last year really stepped up. Even the freshmen, they stepped up as well.”

One key to the stronger practices has been the consistency that Langlois has brought to the program.

“He’s actually the first coach I’ve had two years in a row,” Terrin said. “We’ve had a lot of coaching changes the past couple of years. I’m happy to have him back.”

So are the other wrestlers, including junior Andrew Keefe, who placed in the Division I meet a year ago and who was one of two Panthers to wrestle at the Meet of Champions.

“I like his style of wrestling,” Keefe said. “It’s good because you know what he expects. You know what to do. We kept in touch with him over the summer. I didn’t do much wrestling between freshman and sophomore years. I improved over the summer.”

The Panthers weren’t the only ones changing during the offseason.

For the first time, wrestling in New Hampshire will be divided into three divisions. With teams like Merrimack and Alvirne moving down to Division II, there are just 12 teams competing in Division I, including last year’s champion, Timberlane, which petitioned to stay up.

“It should be a good this year,” Langlois said. “We should see a lot of each other all year, which should make the big matches at the end of the year a lot better.”

Terrin and South sophomore Tyler Ellwood expect to see greater challenges when the division meets roll around in February.

“It’s going to be more competitive because there aren’t going to be as many teams,” Ellwood said. “It’s definitely a lot more competitive. There’s a lot more tough wrestlers there.”

“You’re not going to have an easy first challenge match,” Terrin added. “You don’t have that warmup match, you’ll have to go right in there and get at it.”

The Panthers will get at it Wednesday night when they host Pinkerton at 7 p.m.