‘Like two Michael Jordans': Chelmsford's Thomas Brown and Shawsheen's Sid Tildsley look to complete their legacies
Each has broken 200 career wins as a senior, and leads their school in wins. Tildsley, the 138-pound dynamo at Shawsheen, could break the state record (244) at New Englands.
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Starting at age 5, the two have been friends off the mat and each other's fiercest supporters on it.
'I don't remember a point in time I wrestled that Sid wasn't there,' said Brown, the powerhouse Chelmsford heavyweight.
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'He's one of my closest friends. To see how hard he's worked all these years, see him getting better every day . . . me too, knowing I've done what I can. It's nice knowing all of it's paid off
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They started at Brickhouse Wrestling in Lowell. It closed, but Doughboy Wrestling Club opened up a program for smaller kids. Tildsley and Brown were two of the group that moved a mile-and-a-half south in the Mill City. They called themselves the Little Rascals.
The name lives on —
Nick Logan
, who coaches at Doughboy and Lowell High — started Logan's Rascals as a youth summer camp.
'We're proud to say we were the first group to be that little and wrestle in that high school room,' Tildsley said. 'How many practices I've wrestled with Thomas is uncountable. He knows me better than I know myself and vice-versa.'
Winning nationally came quicker to Tildsley than to Brown. It bothered Brown, since he knew they put in the same work. Sid always made sure the sting Brown felt turned into motivation.
'Seeing Sid be that good, I wanted to work harder to get to that level . . . sixth, seventh, eighth grade year I started getting those results,' Brown said. 'I finally won a national tournament and could see it paying off. I'm now seeing the work I put in paying off at the right time.'
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The road to their final All-State meet in Methuen has been paved not only in hard work, but the duo's ability to keep it fun.
'They're constantly reminding you that you're doing it because you want to, not because you have to,' said Belmont Hill senior
Scotty Moreau Jr
., a Chelmsford resident, and a former Rascal. 'They find the joy in it.'
Moreau won a Prep New England title two years ago, but missed a season after a stroke in his right eye. The Belmont Hill 126-pounder returned for this, his junior year, and placed third in that tournament.
He recalls a youth tournament in Maine, King of the Mat, in which he suddenly saw Brown, whom he calls his best friend, rushing at him across a mat. Never mind the active match, the bigger Brown barreled over, bowling Moreau onto his backpack and shattering the iPad he'd gotten the day before to film his matches.
Brown was emotional and apologetic, but Moreau's father laughed. The lightheartedness in that moment resonates with Moreau.
'They're big goofballs, really. Well, Thomas is the 'big' goofball,' Moreau Jr. said. 'They have fun with everything they do. They're chill guys, they don't let anything bother them. They're go-with-the-flow people. They're not cocky kids.'
Long trips for the Rascals included Xbox games in the Tildsleys' van, running around in the snow, and being kicked out of hotels for playing tag — Brown was already big enough that he couldn't dash through the hallways quietly.
These days, Brown, Moreau, and Tildsley look forward to saltwater fishing and dinners at the 99 to catch up on their weeks.
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'He's one of the funniest kids,' Tildsley said of Brown. 'He'll bust your chops, get a rise out of you. He'll eat a whole pizza by himself.'
As 8th graders, Sid Tildsley (55) and Thomas Brown (66) teamed up with the Junior Grizzlies in Goffstown, N.H. in an 8-2 season.
COURTESY PHOTO
Though they attend different schools, they had a chance to be football teammates when Massachusetts took a youth season off for COVID-19, but New Hampshire was open. Eighth graders Tildsley and Brown helped Goffstown go from 0-10 the previous year to 8-2.
Tildsley played safety in New Hampshire, but upon his arrival at Shawsheen, added 'quarterback' to his resume,
Thomas Brown (left) blocks for Sid Tildsley (right) when they played youth football in Goffstown, N.H.
Courtesy Brown family
Offseason. Football season. Wrestling season. They spend as much time together as kids at different high schools can.
'They have a million inside jokes,' said
Nick Gamble
, a Shawsheen assistant and Doughboy coach. 'It's like they're brothers when they're around each other. They always support each other. They're cheering for each other every step of the way.'
Tildsley propelled Shawsheen to
'They're winners. Very very simple. No matter what the obstacle is, they always come through,' said Shawsheen coach
Doug Pratt
. 'Brownie's match with [St. John's Prep's
Alex Bajoras
] went back and forth. He always comes out on top. Same thing with Sid. The brighter the lights, the better they wrestle. When you're a champion and a winner, it comes out in the big matches.'
Even attending different schools -- Billerica and Shawsheen for Sid Tildsley, Chelmsford for Thomas Brown -- they stayed thick as thieves.
Courtesy Brown family
The Chelmsford and Shawsheen wrestling teams are forever intertwined by the annual 'Dunny Cup' dual meet. They hold a moment of silence for longtime
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They share the euphoria and the heartbreaks together. Triumphs and defeats. Their names enshrined in history.
'You don't get Sid Tildsley and Thomas Brown often,' said Chelmsford coach
Chris Piscione
. 'That's one of the luckiest things I've seen in my life, like two Michael Jordans playing together. They're lucky kids because they're creating memories. They'll be in their 50s with kids talking about it.'
'It's going to be a while until another Sid Tildsley or Thomas Brown comes around, if ever.'
Near falls
•
Laura Williams
thought she was done with wrestling when she graduated high school on Long Island. Then, after attending Springfield College, she heard Ludlow had four girl wrestlers and was looking for a coach.
After six years as an assistant, this year she became one of three women to head wrestling programs in the state (
Kassie Bateman
at Phillips Andover and
Tianna Roy
at Chicopee). The Lions won their first trophy at states since 2005 when the girls' team, led by captain
Samantha Bertini
and girls' coach
James Soffen
, took second place in Division 2.
Bertini (107 pounds) and
Lucas Alvan
(175) repeated as state champs.
'It's awesome,' Williams said. 'My assistants [
Justin Tunis
and
John Archambeau
] were a part of that when they graduated from Ludlow. They have the stories and were a part of that history. We're doing it again and it's a lot of fun that I now get to be a part of that history.'
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• Doughboy trainee
Jude Correa
became the 13th four-time winner at prep nationals, pinning his way to the finals before earning a 5-4 decision at 215 pounds. He led a group of grapplers with Massachusetts connections at the tournament.
Dani Nugent
(138 pounds) and
Toni Elliott
(185) represented Phillips Andover atop the podium, and Hingham resident
Matthew Botello
, Correa's teammate at Wyoming Seminary, won at 132.
Natalia Accorsi
(Blair Academy via Tabor) and
Isaac Novod
(Belmont Hill) made finals at 120 and
Niayla Curley
(152) and
Jimmy Bechter
(heavyweight) represented Northfield Mt. Hermon as runners-up.
Adding third-place finishes were:
Julian Rios
(113 pounds, Phillips Andover, from Lowell),
Musa Tamaradze
(132, New York Military Academy, from West Springfield),
Elliott Humphries
(175, NMH via Minnechaug),
Sara McLaughlin
(126, Choate Rosemary Hall, from Scituate), and
Corynne McNulty
(132, Blair Academy, from Malden).
Tournament schedule
All-States (Day 2), Methuen High, March 1.
New Englands, Providence Career and Technical Academy, R.I., March 8-9.
AJ Traub can be reached at
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