Five of the Best Wrestlers to NEVER Win a New England Title (Since 2019)

Andrew Reall (Ponaganset, RI) '24

Career Record: 115-17 (Unofficial) *Ponaganset High School does not keep records.

NE Placements: 2024-2nd, 2023-3rd, 2022-6th, 2021-COVID

3x RI State Champion

The most recent wrestler on this list, Andrew Reall (Ponaganset, RI) is a freshman at Brown University as he reads about himself here. The former Chieftain is a 3x State champion and 3x New England place— and may have been a 4x placer had the pandemic not hit his freshman year.

In his sophomore year, Reall went 3-3 at New Englands with tough losses to 2x champion Jack Richardson (Killingly, CT) and 2022 5th place finisher Logan Kovacs (Danbury, CT). Nevertheless, Reall bounced back, winning another state title in 2023 and taking fourth at New Englands,  where he only lost to Brent Nicolosi (Haverhill, MA) and beat another wrestler on this list, Khalil Bourjeli (New Milford, CT) along the way. 

Already committed to Brown and in his final year of high school , Reall was still after a New England gold. . After his third state title, Reall  made it to the New England finals and had his eyes on the prize. Alas, he came against a familiar face: Brent Nicolosi stood on the other side of the mat and bested Reall 10-1.

Khalil Bourjeli (New Milford, CT) '23

Career Record: 61-8

NE Placements: 2023-4th, 2022-inj, 2021-4th (Spartan), 2020-5th

2023 CT State Champion

2020 CT 5th

Khalil Bourjeli burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2020 after going 3-2 at Super 32. He had a huge run to New Englands, placing 5th in the regional championships and winning over eventual 2023 New England champion and current Columbia wrestler, Rawson Iwanicki (St. John’s Prep, MA) and 2023 Runner-Up Justin Hood (Ponaganset, RI).

After Covid came and canceled the season, Bourjelli entered the Spartan New England Championships where he placed fourth and had a win over current Sacred Heart University wrestler Aidan Zarella (North Kingstown, RI).

An injury sidelined  Bourjelli in 2022 and he couldn’t compete; if he had, he most certainly would have found the podium at New Englands. When he came back, he went undefeated during the regular season and won a Connecticut State Open title. That year in New Englands, he ran into Iwanicki again and lost, making the series 2-1 in favor of the future Columbia wrestler. Bourjelli, won his consi-semis match 6-3 against Joseph Tully (Carver, MA) fell 6-0 to Andrew Reall (Ponaganset, RI) for the bronze medal.

Nick Fine (Bishop Hendricken, RI) '21

Career Record: 164-25

NE Placements: 2021-1st (Spartan), 2020-2nd, 2019-4th, 2018-DNP

2021 NHSCA Champion

4x NHSCA All-American

Would you believe that Nicholas Fine, coming out of Bishop Hendricken in Rhode Island and now wrestling at Columbia never won an official New England title?

It’s true. In 2021, Fine suffered from the same thing many seniors did around the country: losing their final year to COVID. The wrestling community, however wasn’t going to let the cancellation of official New Englands stop them and created the Spartan New England Championships, a prep and public tournament for kids in the region. There Fine  defeated Brevin Casella (Nashoba, MA) by pin with a second left in the first period in the final. It’s worth noting that Casella beat Fine in the official New England championships in 2020 with a pin early in the second period.

Fine didn’t rest on his laurels after his Spartan championship and ran hot to Virginia Beach, where he captured an NHSCA Senior National title, making him a 4x NHSCA All-American.

Noah Strout (Oyster River, NH) '19

Career Record: 155-24

NE Placements: 2019-2nd, 2018-2nd, 2017-DNQ, 2016-DNP

2x NHIAA MOC Champion

2016 NHSCA 6th

Noah Strout’s story is the kind they make movies out of. In high school, Strout was an amazing wrestler at a school with no coach and no team, until his mom Kimberly stepped up to coach her son. And what a ride it was for mother and son  with two New England silver medals and an NHSCA podium finish.

It all began for Strout,a 3x New England qualifier, in 2016 when he placed second at the NHIAA D3 State Tournament and third at the NHIAA Meet of Champions (MOC). The latter  placement secured his first qualification for New Englands, where he went 1-2. Strout then went to Virginia Beach, where he went 7-2 and placed 6th at Freshman Nationals.

The lone wrestler’s first amazing run came in 2018 and featured a key win over Keegan Coon (Mt. Anthony, VT)—a wrestler who he had many battles with. Strout lost in the finals 6-3 to Cole McGill (Ponaganset, RI) that year. In 2019, a second amazing run propelled Strout to a great 4-0 semi-finals win over future Binghamton wrestler Brevin Casella (Nashoba, MA) only to go on to lose in the finals—again—4-3 to Hunter Adams (Suffield/Windsor/Locks, CT).

Kyle Fields (Danbury, CT) '19

Career Record: 154-34

2019-2nd, 2018-DNP, 2017-DNP, 2016-DNP

3x NHSCA AA

Danbury’s Kyle Fields, a 3x NHSCA All-American, was always a force in the Connecticut and New England Wrestling scene who never won the gold. 

In 2019, his senior year, the Hatter came oh-so-close to securing an elusive New England crown. Wrestling in the finals at 132 pounds, he faced off against familiar opponent and now Virginia Tech wrestler Connor McGonagle (Timberlane, NH) in a highly anticipated match. Despite a strong effort, an escape was the difference and McGonagle won 1-0.

Later that year, at the NHSCA National Championships, Fields had  his revenge defeating McGonagle4-2 in a hard-fought quarter-finals match. This win secured him a spot in the semi-finals and on the podium. Fields would go on to place 5th at the 2019 NHSCA Nationals, earning his third All-American honor after finishing 8th in 2017 and 7th in 2016.