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Since 1982, the Bay State Summer Games have been held all over the state, and this year was no different. The Winchester High School wrestling resurgence was also a big part of it.
On July 11, this sport was able to attract statewide grapplers of all ages to compete for gold at Game On Fitchburg, and among them were a couple of up-and-coming Red & Black juniors, Ian Welsh (132-pounds) and Leo Gannon (138-pounds), as well as their second-year assistant coach Tomi Uyehara (148-pounds).
On this occasion, the trio was representing the Metrowest United Wrestling Club in Natick, the summer workout home for both Gannon and Welsh – and also for at least several of their teammates – while Uyehara is one of its coaches.
When Uyehara is not coaching at Winchester or Metrowest United, he works full time in Waltham for National Grid as a financial analyst.
Uyehara wrestled in the Open Division, where he was going up against two opponents half his age, beating one. The Wesleyan University graduate did have a first round bye to get ready for his quarterfinal and semifinal matches, which he won, only to lose to a Duke University recruit in the finals. But he still ended up with a silver medal.
“I probably could have beaten him in my younger days,” said the South Hadley native, who went to the Williston-Northampton Prep School.
While there, he secured the New England Prep School wrestling championship, which helped him earn All-American honors.
But his passion now is coaching wrestling, even though he still loves to compete in Over 40 tournaments.
“I just can’t talk wrestling, because I still have the desire to compete in it,” he said.
Uyehara, however, loves coaching in Winchester. Prior to joining Coach Ryan Errico’s staff, he was at Newton South.
“We had our best season in years last winter, finishing second in Division 1, before ending up in the Top 10 at the All-State Meet,” he said. “We’re going to have a lot of youth on this coming year’s team, led by Leo Gannon, who was a 132-pound wrestler as a sophomore this past winter. He has since gotten stronger, and as a result had moved up to 138-pounds at the Bay States, where he went 3-1, before losing in the scholastic division finals. But he still came away a silver medal.”
Welsh, however, is relatively new to the sport. He just completed his second year on the mat, but his progress has been steady, going from 120-pounds to competing at 132 in the Bay States, where he went 1-2, also in the scholastic division.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
