By Mike Whaley
Marshwood seniors, from left, Brett Gerry, Cody Hughes and Jackson Howarth, have 11 individual state wrestling titles between and have been part of four Class A team crowns. (Whaley/Democrat photo)
SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — Coach Matt Rix smiles when he talks about Marshwood High School seniors Jackson Howarth, Cody Hughes and Brett Gerry. He calls them “The Gauntlet.”
You could call them “Murderer’s Row” as well. The threesome has won 11 individual Maine Class A state wrestling championships among them. They have a combined career record of 570-51 and are a collective 126-1 this year.
The trio was at the center of the Hawks’ fourth straight Class A team title, which they won with ease last Saturday at Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham with 183 points. Noble was second with 130.5.
“It’s phenomenal,” said Rix. “Whether that will ever be done again, I don’t know.”
The three wrestle in consecutive weight classes: Howarth (160 pounds), Hughes (170) and Gerry (182).
“The gauntlet,” Rix said. “When you have a good guy on your team, the kids around him feed off it. These guys really did that. They worked around the room a lot. They spread their talent all over the place. I made sure that happened.”
Case in point: Gerry wrestled classmate Tyler Fife the last three weeks in practice. Fife placed a surprising third at the state meet at 195.
“It might have hurt him not working with Cody and Jackson the whole time,” Rix said. “But look what he did for Tyler.”
And for the team.
“At a dual meet, depending on where you start, it’s bang, bang, bang,” Rix said. “You’re guaranteed. You’ve got those three coming into it, there’s no bumping around them. You can only bump so much. Kids go, ‘Where’s Cody going this year – 170. Well, I can’t go to 160, Howarth’s there. And if I bump up, I get Gerry. Where do I go?’”
With those three in a row, there’s nowhere to hide.
“If we’re ever down by team points, you can always bank on Cody, Brett and myself for a few extra points,” Howarth said.
“I think it could be a huge momentum thing,” said Hughes, who will wrestle next year at NCAA D-I Virginia Tech on a partial scholarship. “It’s comfort. You’re not always guaranteed pins or tech falls. But you know all three of us will be pushing it to help the team out.”
Hughes and Gerry singled out a regular-season dual match with rival Noble. The Hawks trailed 12-9 early, but “The Gauntlet” sparked a resurgence that put them up 28-12 with four straight wins, including a major decision and two pins by the senior trio. The Hawks went on to win, 37-21.
Gerry said once Howarth and Hughes have won and it’s his turn, he does feel a little bit of weight on his shoulders.
“It puts a little pressure on me,” he said. “You don’t want to be the one kid who loses.”
Howarth and Hughes each won their fourth state title, joining Jon Hussey and Tyler Davidson as the only Hawks to do so. Howarth received the John Pelletier Outstanding Wrestler Award, which Hughes earned as a freshman.
Gerry has three state titles to his credit.
All told, six seniors placed last Saturday. Killian Murphy won the 132 crown, while Fife and Sam Hebert (145) were third. Marshwood will send 11 wrestlers to the New England qualifier Saturday in Sanford. Also going are Kyle Glidden (106), Matt Caverly (113), Bradley Beaulieu (126), Eric Glidden (138) and Justin Stacy (152).
Hughes also set the state record for career wins with 205. He broke the old record of 203 held by Noble’s Peter Bronder in the Class A semifinals last Saturday. Hughes is 45-0 this year, 205-8 in his career, and has never lost a match in Maine. Wrestling is in the Hughes’ blood. Cody’s father, Todd, was Marshwood’s first 100-win wrestler, and part of its first team state championship (Class B) in 1989.
Howarth is 40-0 this season and 190-18 in his career. He has a shot of passing Hussey (194 wins) into second behind Hughes on the Marshwood career wins list. Although his plans next year aren’t completely set, he did say he might attend the University of New Hampshire where his older brother, Lucas, is wrestling with the school’s club team.
Gerry is 41-1 this year. His loss came in the Sanford Spartan tournament in triple overtime to a kid from New Hampshire power Timberlane. His career mark is 175-25. Gerry will do a postgraduate year at Hyde School.
Gerry and Howarth were key members of the Marshwood football team this past fall, which went 12-0-0 and won the Class B title, the school’s first football championship in 25 years. Gerry was the recipient of the Fitzpatrick Award as the best high school football player in Maine.
Howarth and Hughes both won state titles as freshmen, the start of Marshwood’s run of four straight Class A titles. Gerry was on the team, but at the same weight as his two classmates he had to bide his time.
“Anywhere else he would have started,” Rix said.
As a sophomore, Gerry wrestled up and won his first title at 182, despite weighing only 165. He was inspired by the work ethic of Howarth and Hughes.
“Until my freshman year, I didn’t come in there wanting to work hard,” Gerry said. “I came in, ah, a three-hour practice, this is going to (stink). I went through the motions. You see (Howarth and Hughes) still pushing each other and going hard all the time. That’s why they are good. I picked up on that. They held me accountable.”
Hughes said that work ethic was something he learned immediately from the upperclassmen when he joined the team as a freshman.
“The seniors and some of the juniors, they were the leaders to us,” he said. “Where we learned leading by example. They all worked hard in practice. They went through the grind every single day. Trevor Smith was my practice partner back then and he pushed me so hard. I liked it. He set the tone for my practice thing.”
And now Hughes sets the tone, with Howarth and Gerry.
“What this group has done has just been amazing,” Rix said. “The sophomore and juniors to have been on this ride with them, it’s something they’ll carry for the rest of their lives.”