On the surface it looked and felt like just another sports contest Wednesday afternoon at the regional high school gymnasium. Psych-up music played as the competitors warmed up. Fans arrived, some lingering on the gym floor, others staking out space on the bleachers. Coaches checked rosters, a referee conferred with a timekeeper. And the national anthem was played over the loudspeaker.

But something bigger than one match was taking place in the gym that day. At exactly 4:02 p.m., when the Vineyard’s Ian Nunes stepped on the mat to face off against Cooper Fisher of Falmouth Mashpee, the first home wrestling match in over 40 years became a reality.

Head coach Jerry Kadien was hired to teach math at the high school in 2020, during the Covid pandemic. During his Zoom interview, he also pitched the idea of bringing wrestling back to the Island, which had ceased to be a sport here in 1982. He had a long history with the sport, coaching programs around the country. When he arrived on the Vineyard he immediately went to work, first establishing it as a club team, then a varsity sport with a full off-Island schedule. 

On Wednesday, he brought the sport back home.

Odin Robinson cranks a half nelson.

Ray Ewing

Odin Robinson cranks a half nelson.

Ray Ewing

“We are extremely excited to bring wrestling back,” Coach Kadien said before the match. “Not just as a program but back to our home gym for the first time in over 40 years.”

Assistant coach Morgan Douglas was equally pumped. He wrestled competitively in high school at Tabor Academy and at Gettysburg College.

“I am so happy the kids are going to get to wrestle in front of friends and family for the first time in 40 years,” he said.

Coach Douglas noted that Tabor had just canceled their high school program this year, so to be part of a program that is still new and growing felt extra special.

The visiting team, Falmouth Mashpee, was a hybrid one, able to draw students from two towns. This is their first season, and Wednesday was their first match ever. For Coach Kadien, this was further proof that wrestling was not just back here on the Island but growing in the region.

“When I started there were just two teams in the league, now there are six. And I am working on Nantucket and Dennis-Yarmouth,” he said.

In the stands, the fans ranged from former wrestlers to many who had never seen a wrestling match in their life.

The action and energy in the gym was intense.

Ray Ewing

The action and energy in the gym was intense.

Ray Ewing

MVRHS math teacher Nicole Macy, who as the previous boys tennis coach is more familiar with a racket and ball, was there to support the team and her fellow math teacher.

“I am so excited by what Jerry has been able to do to bring this program back so professionally. It’s wonderful,” she said.

Ty Romijn, who wrestled in high school and college and now works at Vineyard Complementary Medicine, wore a huge smile.

“I’m tuning into the kids’ jitters,” he said, recalling his own days going mano-a-mano before a big crowd.

On the mat, Nunes and Fisher were engaged in some fierce hand fighting, but then Nunes hit Fisher with a headlock and scored a first period pin.

More pins piled up for the Vineyard team and the crowd went wild. Ronan Kelly scored a pin in just 33 seconds. Odin Robinson went from a single leg takedown to a brutal arm bar ride, building up a sizable lead. In the third period he used a powerful half nelson to score a pin.

In the bleachers, Steve Kelly, who grew up wrestling in Western Massachusetts and now lives on the Vineyard, couldn’t stop moving and talking, suggesting strategies and moves to the kids who were much too far away to hear him.

Another pin for the Vineyarders.

Ray Ewing

Another pin for the Vineyarders.

Ray Ewing

“I am so excited to see this happen,” he said, nearly breaking a sweat in the bleachers.

“You have to be in such good shape to wrestle,” he added as Isaac Lefebvre and his opponent delighted the crowd with a back-and-forth match that had Lefebvre leading 13-7 before he ended it with a pin.

Trip Arciaga stepped up next, showing the crowd how it was done with a powerful pin just 37 seconds into the match.

Zeb Athearn followed, scoring a quick single leg takedown, and then locking up a perfectly executed far side cradle to end the match.

After the match, Athearn echoed the same sentiment as his coaches and the fans.

“To see people in the community getting excited about wrestling feels great,” he said.

Zeb’s mother Meg was at the food table, along with Betsy Carnie (mom to Odin Robinson). They had created an impressive spread of home-baked banana bread, blueberry muffins and Korean barbecue sandwiches.

Ms. Athearn grew up watching boxing with her father, she said, and so had no problem watching her son fight on the mat.

“This is big time. I love it,” she said.

Ms. Carnie was more reticent. “It’s really hard for me to watch,” she said, noting the intensity of the matches.

Despite the lopsided score, 54-24, and numerous quick pins in the Vineyard’s favor, the match was a success for both programs. This was about more than wins and losses, both coaches said, it was about building a future for the league.

“This was a wake-up call,” said Falmouth Mashpee coach Michael Hyland. “Practice is one thing, but to wrestle in front of an audience, that’s the real thing. We have a young team, mostly freshmen and sophomores, and we will take what we learned today and build from there.”

Coach Kadien couldn’t stop smiling.

“The crowd really showed up,” he said. “The volume of noise and energy, I was blown away.”

The next home meet is Jan. 21 against Sandwich.

“They are a very good team,” Coach Kadien said. “It should be a good show.”

Mr. Kadien also noted that when the Vineyard team was still just a dream, the Sandwich coach lent him a wrestling mat so they could begin.

“It’s a testament to how much everyone wants this to succeed,” he said.

More Pictures.