Stella earns All-American honors

Sweet Home junior Nic Stella showed why he's one of the best wrestlers in New York State after placing seventh out of 79 entrants to earn All-American honors at the 2007 National High School Coaches Association Junior National High School Wrestling Championships.

The event was held from March 28 to 30 at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, Va.

Stella, who wrestled at 135, a weight class down from high school, finished 7-2. Stella beat Maryland's Matt Dugan, 6-3, in the first round then fell by the same score to Utah's Matt Brown, 6-3, in the second round.

Stella won five straight matches in wrestlebacks - Maryland's Lester Andrews (9-7, trailed 5-0 at one point), Wisconsin's Adam Theisen (4-2), Massachusetts' Evan Connors (1-0), North Carolina's Justin Koren (2-0), and New York's Christopher Collura (3-1 in OT, win earned him All-American status) - before falling to Brown again, this time by a 3-1 decision.

Stella, 2-2 at the New York State Championships, then beat New Jersey's Taylor Ulm, 4-3, for seventh. Ulm is ranked 20th in the nation and one of three state champions (Andrews, Koren) Stella defeated. Brown was also a state champion.

"I thought he wrestled well and gave everything he had," said Stella's high school coach Chris Nadeau. "It was like the same situation as states in that he had to win to place so I hope he got the monkey off his back."

Stella took seventh at sophomore nationals last year. He will be competing in the sixth Gene Mills Varsity Eastern National Wrestling Tournament April 28 in Baldwinsville, N.Y. This summer, he wants to compete in a qualifier in Binghamton, N.Y. for the Junior and Cadet Freestyle and Greco Nationals.

In another matter, Stella's high school wrestling coach, Chris Nadeau, won Section VI Rookie Coach of the Year. Nadeau's son, Trent, won first place in the 55-pound division of the Niagara Falls Power Cats Tournament at Niagara Falls on Saturday.