TILTON – Brock Hoffman and Paul Hrycuna are two coaches in similar spots. Hoffman, the head wrestling coach at Bow High School, introduced a junior varsity level team a few years back in an attempt to restore what was a struggling Falcons program. Hrycuna, a former Concord High coach and wrestler, took over at the helm of the Winnisquam program five years ago with a plan to rebuild and put the Bears back on the map.

Both coaches caught glimpses of the fruits of their labor in Tilton on Saturday during the NHIAA Division III wrestling championships, hosted by Winnisquam.

The Falcons placed six wrestlers inside the top four throughout the 14 weight classes, including a first-place overall finish for Zackary Anderson at 120 pounds on the way to a fifth-place team finish for Bow with a score of 96.5. For the first time in Hrycuna’s stint with the Bears, Winnisquam sent at least one person into each weight class as a pair of seniors finished inside the top three and first-year wrestler Cameron Roberts placed fourth at 132. Plymouth finished first overall as a team.

“For me, my expectations are always high,” Hrycuna said after the Bears finished with a team score of 54 points – good for ninth overall. “Where I come from it’s different. Concord is different ... my fifth year here, I’m trying to start that brotherhood of eat, sleep and breath wrestling. ... We had three kids that wrestled in the state tournament last year wrestle today.

“Everybody else is a first-year wrestler, so for them to win a match or two and get one round away from placing or to be contending to even place is a big deal.”

Wrestling inside their own gym, Winnisquam seniors Caleb Mulleavey (126) and Tyler Moran (285) both punched a ticket to the Meet of Champions by finishing inside the top three, while Roberts nearly joined his teammates before losing to Plymouth’s Brandon Welch in the third-place match by a 2-0 decision.

“I see what their potential is and I always push for that potential and then some,” Hrycuna said. “Today, some did more than they should have, some did what they should have and a few didn’t do what they should have but that’s because they’re young.”

While Bow’s Anderson took home the only individual title for the team, the Falcons had a handful of strong finishers that had Hoffman smiling from ear to ear.

Michael York finished third at 113 and both Mark Borak and Jack Olson did the same at 138 and 170, respectively. Alex Boufford placed fourth at 152 with Chris Wheeler notching another fourth-place finish for the Falcons at 195.

“I think it’s great. We haven’t been this competitive in a long time so we put a lot of work in at the junior level and it’s starting to show,” Hoffman said. “Overall the team has really come together this year and acted like a team.”

Anderson claimed the title at 120 with a gritty victory over Campbell’s Benjamin LaBatt by decision, 6-3.

“It’s amazing. You work all year for this one match and it feels great to just win it,” Anderson said.

Hoffman added, “(Anderson) was fired up for that match since the seeds came out. ... We didn’t cross paths with (LaBatt) all year and so we didn’t know what was going to happen. After watching (LaBatt) wrestle and Zack wrestle, I knew he had a chance and Zack and I, along with the coaching staff, thought he could beat him.”

Finishing just behind Bow in the 14-team field was Kearsarge, which placed sixth overall with a score of 69.5 points to narrowly edge out Pelham, Mascoma and Winnisquam.

As a team, the Cougars collected nine wins via the pin and had Mason Benedict place second overall at 126 after losing to Plymouth’s Hunter Lessard in the championship match. Gabe Benedict (120), Bryce Brown (152) and Reilly Mosklaenko (220) all placed third.

John Stark’s Jacob Mitchell was the lone bright spot for the Generals at 220 pounds. Mitchell won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches by pin fall, but couldn’t overcome Plymouth’s Drew Hodges in the final.

The Meet of Champions is scheduled for Saturday at Nashua High School South where individual medals will be handed out to the top-six competitors in each weight class.