All-New England Wrestling Results

Marshfield wrestling senior co-captains Joe Pronk (125) and Division 2 state champion Brandon Fleming (145) have advanced to the All-New England wrestling tournament this weekend. Here are the results:

Brandon Fleming (145):

ROUND ONE:  Bye

ROUND TWO:  vs. Caleb Morth (Ledyard, CT) … Fleming wins by decision (7-6)

QUARTER FINALS:  vs. Joey Eon (Massabesic, ME) … Eon wins by decision (6-1)

CONSOLATION BRACKET ROUND THREE:  vs. Kyle Senechal (North Attleboro, MA) … Fleming wins by major decision (17-3)

CONSOLATION BRACKET QUARTER FINALS:  vs. Ian Beck (Pinkerton, NH) … Fleming wins by decision (3-2)

CONSOLATION BRACKET SEMI-FINALS:  vs. Tucker Schaefer (Danbury, CT) … Fleming wins by decision (10-8 in overtime)

CONSOLATION BRACKET FINALS:  vs. Ethan Farrell (Narragansett, RI) … Fleming wins by decision (8-6 in overtime)

FINAL RESULT: Brandon Fleming places 3rd at 145 pounds in the All-New England tournament.

Joe Pronk (125):

ROUND ONE:  vs. Nestor Rivera (Newington, CT) … Pronk wins by decision (11-8)

ROUND TWO:  vs. Cam Sullivan (Timberlane, NH) … Pronk wins by decision (11-6)

QUARTER FINALS:  vs. Steve Hunt (Coventry, RI) … Pronk wins by decision (5-4)

SEMI-FINALS:  vs. Ryan Toussaint (Deering, ME) … Toussaint wins by decision (3-1)

CONSOLATION BRACKET SEMI-FINALS:  vs. Robby Ferrante (Shelton, CT) … Pronk wins by decision (3-2)

CONSOLATION BRACKET FINALS:  vs. George Wilson (Springfield Central, MA) … Wilson wins by decision (5-0)

FINAL RESULT:  Joe Pronk places 4th at 125 pounds in the All-New England tournament.

Congratulations to both wrestlers for their strong performances in such an elite tournament. Both wrestlers will move on to senior nationals in Virginia.

Marshfield Idol (Finals)

When contestants audition in front of the judges for American Idol, the judges always ask one important question before the audition officially begins: “What are you going to sing?” Fans of the show are familiar with the faint groans and recoiling body language by the judges whenever a contestant explains that the performance will be an “original” song that he or she wrote. The automatic assumption by the judges seems to be that it’s hard enough for them to find great singers, so the odds that they are going to find a great, undiscovered singer who also happens to have sophisticated skill as a songwriter is a ridiculously unlikely proposition. Of course,  at least 99% of the time they’re right. Ashley Rossi could prove them wrong.

The 2009 Marshfield Idol was crowned on Friday night, and freshman Ashley Rossi won the competition by singing an original song called “Sidetracked,” complementing her vocals with a beautiful melody on the guitar. Rossi’s voice is natural and impressive, but her stunning skills as a songwriter made an equally powerful impression on the audience.

She performed a second original song as an encore after being declared the champion of this year’s competition, and when we caught up with her after the show to ask for an interview, we found her mobbed by classmates and fans who had turned out in force to offer their enthusiastic support.

Be sure not to miss her full performances (posted below), as they just might be foreshadowing a very bright future ahead for one of the most talented students at MHS.

Other Top 5 finalists included runner-up Emily Henriksen, as well as Kelsey Bryant, Will MacFee, and Devon Bethanis.

An unfortunate development coming into the final round was the absence of fan-favorite Scott Burns, who wowed the crowd a week earlier with his original rap song “Marshfield Girls.” Scott was unable to attend the final round on Friday night, but all five finalists stepped up in a major way with top-notch performances that made for a very entertaining show.

Last year’s Marshfield Idol champion, Melissa Donovan, who has since moved to Milton, came back as a guest performer, and she quickly reminded everyone why she took last year’s title, as she sang smooth, polished versions of “Don’t Know Why” by Nora Jones and “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer.

The other performance of the evening came from a band made up of Alex Bessemer and James Merrill on guitars, Sean Mayo on bass, and MHS alum Richie Valenzola on drums.

Congratulations to Ashley Rossi for earning the title of the 2009 Marshfield Idol. We will certainly be looking forward to her future performances in the years to come.

FIELD REPORT:

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PERFORMANCE OF “SIDETRACKED”:

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ENCORE PERFORMANCE OF ANOTHER ORIGINAL SONG:

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM ALL PERFORMERS:

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