Fo Fo Fo: Chelmsford's Thomas Brown, Shawsheen's Sid Tildsley make history with fourth All-State wrestling titles

Boston Globe

02-03-2025

It's always a must-see battle when the Chelmsford senior heavyweight faces St. John's Prep senior Alex Bajoras, and this was no exception. The crowd roared for Bajoras as he scored the first point on an escape and led 1-0. A Brown reversal and Bajoras escape tied it up before Brown's takedown won it 5-2.
'I knew I had to stay cool,' Brown said. 'Couldn't let anything get to me. I knew it was going to be a tough match coming into it, so I had to fight every second, every minute that match to come out with the win.'
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Methuen MA 3/01/25 02SCHWRESTLE Thomas Brown (Chelmsford) defeats Alex Bajoras (St. John's Prep) in the 285 lb weight class during the All-State boys' and girls' wrestling championships at Methuen High School. Photo by Matthew J Lee/Globe Staff
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
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Brown is the fifth ever to go 4 for 4 at All-States, following
'To seal my career, not only being a four-time All-State champ but a four-time state champ and four-time sectional [champ]?' Tildsley said 'It's something a senior always wants to do with his team and his final hurrah.'
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Sid and his brother, junior James Tildsley, needed extra points in their finals bouts, and both came away with pins to give Shawsheen (132.5 points) the edge over Central Catholic (130.5) in their second fantastic finish in as many weeks.
'I'm grateful that the 2025 class is able to take a D1 state championship, and to be able to win all divisions is something we never thought we could do, and
Said Shawsheen coach Doug Pratt: 'It's unbelievable what these guys have done . . . You just have to train harder and be tougher and show up when it matters. These guys showed up when it matters the past two weeks.'
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Fresh off a Division 1 title, the Shawsheen wrestling team won the All-State team title as well.
AJ Traub
Central Catholic had quite the day as well, needing to win both finals to keep up with the Rams. Senior Cole Glynn (113) earned a 6-1 decision over top-seeded Melrose junior Johnny Moraes — who'd beaten him at the George Bossi Lowell Holiday Tournament — and junior Caden Chase (190) won, 5-1, over Bridgewater-Raynham's Fletcher Rinke.
'At George Bossi, he kind of caught me, because he's a great wrestler,' said Glynn, who won his second All-State title. 'But I felt confident coming in and I thought if I stick to my game plan, I've been wrestling well and I can come out on top.'
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At the time, the Raiders held the lead, giving extra purpose to Glynn's triumph.
'I'm even more proud of that,' Glynn said of the team points he earned.
For the second week in a row, St. John's Prep senior Braedon Goes went down to the wire with Xaverian's 2023 Division 1 winner Nathan Sayers. For the second week in a row, Goes had the winning move.
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A takedown with eight seconds left in overtime for a sudden victory gave Goes his first All-State title.
'I never thought I'd be here in this position,' he said. 'Coming in as a freshman, I was new to wrestling. A lot of hard summers and training.
'Good journey. Happy to cap it off.'
St. John's Prep's Brandon Goes celebrates after defeating Xaverian's Nathan Sayers in the 126-pound final.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Milford's Aidan Baum, top, defeats St. John's Prep's James Lally in the 144-pound division.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
Central Catholic's Cole Glynn defeats Melrose's Johnny Moraes in the 113-pound final to keep the Raiders in the hunt.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
AJ Traub can be reached at