Credit: Courtesy of Bo Finnegan

WSPN’s Edge Wheeler and Ben Jackson spotlight WHS wrestling coach Sean Chase and his 300 wrestling wins as a coach.

On Jan. 6, Wayland High School wrestling head coach Sean Chase achieved his 300th victory in his coaching career with the Wayland Warriors. The team defeated both Pentucket High School and North Middlesex High School in a four team “quad” meet. A quad meet is a meet that four teams are at, and each team faces the other at a different time. The “quad” took place in Gloucester, MA.

“I think it’s a milestone that has less to do with me, but more with the athletes that have been a part of the program,” S. Chase said. “I don’t wrestle [in] the matches, I don’t get the bloody noses, I don’t cut weight. They’re the ones that are earning all of those victories. [The achievement] reflects how blessed I am to work with some of these individuals and how it is such a privilege to be the head coach here.”

S. Chase wrestled at Wayland High School when he was a student in the Class of 1995, and was coached by his father, Gary Chase, who had also wrestled at Wayland High School as a student from 1968 until 1972. G. Chase was an assistant coach to his former high school wrestling coach, Rick Moyer, from 1988 until 1998. In 1998, Moyer stepped down and G. Chase took charge of the wrestling head coach role.

From 1998 until 2007, G. Chase led the Warriors to a 218-12-2 record. Along the way, he led the Warriors to the 2006 dual meet and state championship victories, followed by a 2007 dual meet state championship. G. Chase stepped down after the 2007 season, and was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2012.

S. Chase joined the WHS staff as an assistant wrestling coach in 1998 when his dad took over the head coaching job. S. Chase began his head coaching tenure in 2007, when his dad stepped down from the position.

S. Chase’s career has been filled with record-setting and history-making moments, such as winning state championships in 2010 and 2016. However, for him, one moment shined the brightest.

“The most memorable meet for me would be when we won the state title in 2010,” S. Chase said. “We won it in the last match of the night with our heavyweight Abe Freedberg winning and securing the victory. It was a special moment, I remember it clearly”.

S. Chase continues to match his fathers legacy even more, now coaching his own son, junior captain Cole Chase.

“It was awesome to witness,” C. Chase said. “I know how hard [S. Chase] works to prepare us for each meet.”

On his dad’s special night, C. Chase won his match. C. Chase usually wrestles in the 165-pound weight class.

“It was special to me to be able to earn my 300th career victory and have my son be on the mat and get a win that day,” S. Chase said. “It’s kind of like life coming full circle, [and having my dad on staff] was certainly something that made an impact on me throughout [my time wrestling].”