Rockets Review: Winter Athletes Compete in All-Star Games

Needham High School boys hockey players and wrestlers played in big events last week.

By Micah Hauben, NHS Director of Athletics On Sunday, April 1, two Needham High School seniors, Timmy Parlato (defense) and Connor Murray (goalie), played on the South Team in the third annual MSCHA High School Boys Ice Hockey All-Star Game All-Star Game at the DCU Center in Worcester. Although the South lost 4-2, the seniors played well, with Murray tallying nine saves in his one period of work. Also last week, Needham wrestlers participated in the NHSCA National Wrestling Championships on March 28 through April 1 in Virginia Beach, VA. Head coach Paul Ahern provided the following write-up about the event: Needham High School juniors Mark Carroll and Mikhail Khibkin proved themselves worthy competitors at the NHSCA National Wrestling …

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Rockets Review: Boys Hockey, Basketball Scheduled For Post-Season Matchups This Week

A weekly roundup of Needham High School sports action, Feb. 17-26

By Micah Hauben, NHS Director of Athletics The Needham High School boys hockey team will face St. John's High School (Shrewsbury) tonight in the Super 8 Tournament at Merrmack College. The game will start at 5:45 p.m., and the student fan bus will leave at 4:15 p.m. (Check with the high school office for details about attending.) Needham is seeded eighth, while St. John's is seeded ninth. Also in post-season action this week, the varsity boys basketball team will play Taunton High School in the Division 1 South Tournament on Thursday, March 1 at 7 p.m. The student fan bus will leave at 5:30 p.m. Needham is seeded 10th, while Taunton is seeded seventh. For full bracket information and tournament updates, visit the MIAA Tournament website …

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Needham Wrestlers Qualify for All-States

Senior Captain Cam Chisholm and juniors Mark Carroll and Mikhail Khibkin each brought home a medal from the Division 2 State Tournament.

Submitted by Coach Paul Ahern Three Needham High School wrestlers overcame minor injuries and very competitive brackets at the Division 2 State Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 11 to qualify for the All-States, to be held Feb. 24-25 in Salem. Senior Captain Cam Chisholm and juniors Mark Carroll and Mikhail Khibkin each brought home a medal. Chisholm opened with a dominating performance over a South Sectional Champion from Duxbury. In the Quarterfinals, Chisholm got caught early by a Dracut rival and fell by pin. Bouncing back in the consolation rounds, he pinned a Somerset opponent and pulled off a last second victory over Metro Sectional Champ, Quincy Wilson of Norwood, before dropping a tight decision in the consolation semi-finals. In the …

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Rockets Review: Teams Look Ahead to Postseason

Highlights in local sports action from the week of Jan. 30 to Feb. 5.

By Micah Hauben, NHS Director of Athletics On Wednesday, Feb. 1 and Thursday, Feb. 2, the Needham High School boys swimming and diving team took part in the Bay State Conference Championship Meet at Brookline High School. After winning the regular season league title by going undefeated against BSC opponents, the boys wrapped up the league season by winning the meet championship. Finishing with the program's largest margin of victory in the league meet, the team will head into sectionals on Sunday, Feb. 12 at MIT with high hopes. Wrestling NHS wrestling team coach Paul Ahern provided the following write-up on the team’s performance at the Division 2 sectionals on Saturday, Feb. 4: Needham wrestling overcame an early slump at the Division 2…

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Photo Gallery: Wrestling Finishes 3-0 in BSC Quad

The Needham High School team beat Newton North, Milton and Walpole at the Jan. 28 match.

Despite a handful of starters out of the line-up, Needham High School wrestling finished 3-0 in the Bay State Conference quad at Newton North this past weekend, on Jan. 28. The Rockets held off the Newton North Tigers, 46-30, while beating Milton, 55-30, and Walpole, 55-21. The Rockets move to 14-5-1, and 8-2 in the Bay State League, going into their final match against rival Wellesley on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. at Wellesley.

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Patch Snap: NHS Wrestling Captures Team Championship

Twelve Needham wrestlers placed in the top six in the Weymouth Tournament on Jan. 21.

Needham High School wrestling captured the team championship on Saturday, Jan. 21 at the Weymouth Tournament. Needham was one of 11 teams/schools at this tournament, which featured 16-man brackets. Fourteen NHS wrestlers attended the event, and 12 placed in the top six. The combined effort on the part of this team allowed Needham to distance itself by more than 50 points over second-place Weymouth and third-place Marshfield. See a list of wrestlers' achievements from the tournament in this week's Rockets Review. Want to see your son or daughter's athletics accomplishments here on Needham Patch? Send photos, game notes, tips and other news to Becca.Manning@Patch.com or ask me how you can start a team blog on Patch. 

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Photo Gallery: Wrestlers Earn Third at Weekend Meet

Needham freshmen also wrestled in the Freshman State Invitational Tournament in Brookline.

By Kathy Chisholm Last weekend, the Needham High School wrestling team competed in the eight-team Quabbin Midland Duals where the Rockets finished third. In NHS's four-team were 15th-ranked Dracut and returning Division 3 State Finalists Holliston. Needham opened with Dracut and nearly pulled off the upset, tying the Middies, 39-39. The next match, Needham pulled off the win over Holliston, 36-30, and then finished strong against Franklin Tech, 61-15. Using a cumulative pool points criterium, Dracut edged Needham to advance to the finals against the host team. Needham had to settle for the third place match with Athol, which they dominated, 57-12. Needham finished 3-0-1 on the day. A few of the highlights: The competition brought Needham …

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Rockets Review: Gymnasts, Skiiers Open Seasons

Needham High School gymnastics team kicks off with victories against Framingham and Brookline; ski teams bring home second, third places.

By Micah Hauben, NHS Director of Athletics Gymnastics On Tuesday, Jan. 3, the Needham High School gymnastics team, the defending Bay State Conference Carey Division champions, opened their season at Framingham. Building off of their strong season from last year, the girls came away with an important BSC victory.   On Friday, Jan. 6, the team defeated Brookline on the road to earn their second straight league win behind several strong routines from Maggie Nieto. The girls will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 13 when they travel to Braintree for a 7:00 p.m. meet. Busy Wednesday Wednesday, Jan. 5 was a busy day for the Rockets, with both basketball teams, along with the girls ice hockey and wrestling teams, in action. Boys basketball earned…

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Rockets Review: Big Wins Close 2011

Boys hockey stuns Catholic Memorial, girls basketball wins holiday tourney and dance team to perform at NCAA Orange Bowl halftime.

By Micah Hauben, NHS Director of Athletics Boys Hockey On Wednesday, Dec. 21, the eighth-ranked Needham High School boys ice hockey team, in their home-opener at Babson College, beat Wellesley 6-2 in front of a large and vocal crowd. The win moved the Rockets to 2-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Bay State Conference and set them up for their match-up with top-5 Catholic Memorial on Dec. 28. Needham out-skated the visitors for much of the first two periods and saw one of Catholic Memorial’s top players ejected for a hit against the boards, but the team was not able to find the back of the net. The Knights broke the 0-0 tie in the third period and looked to be in great position to take the win, when Needham pulled their goalie with just over …

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