By Roger Brown
MaxPreps.com
Rhon Rupp, who was instrumental in starting the varsity wrestling program at Hollis-Brookline High School 20 years ago, will step down as the school’s wrestling coach at the end of the season.
Rupp, who is also the school’s athletic director, guided the Cavaliers to the Division II state championship in 2007.
“It’s almost like this had to happen,” Rupp told the Nashua Telegraph. “Sometimes you can do something for too long. Twenty years for anything is a long time.”
Brian Bumpus, who was an assistant coach at Hollis-Brookline last season and is serving as a co-head coach with Rupp this season, will replace Rupp as the program’s head coach. Bumpus wrestled for Hollis-Brookline from 2000 to 2003.
Rupp said he plans to work with the program in a limited capacity next season. He’ll carry the title of assistant coach, but said he won’t travel with the team to all of its away meets.
“He’ll never stop Bumpus said. “He’ll be yelling at me coaching like he was yelling at me wrestling.”
Girls Soccer: Blain Named Top Player
Merrimack High School’s Kailey Blain, a 5-foot-6-inch junior forward, was selected as Gatorade’s New Hampshire Girls Soccer Player of the Year for the 2008-09 season Thursday.
It’s the first time a Merrimack player has won the award, which recognizes athletic excellence as well as high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the field.
Blain collected 21 goals and 11 assists last season. She is a two-time All-America selection and a member of the U.S. Youth Soccer Region I Olympic Development Program. She has recorded 53 goals and 28 assists in three years of varsity soccer at Merrimack.
“Kaily Blain is skillful, strong, fast and big,” Matt Sprague, the Director of Coaching for the Seacoast United Soccer Club said. “She is the best player in the state. On a state level she becomes an attacking presence. On a national level, she’s more of a central defender.”
Blain, who has a 3.94 GPA, assists Alzheimer’s patients on behalf of the Day Away Program, and also donated her time to help the emergency crews of the Public Service of New Hampshire utility company.
By being named her state’s Player of the Year, Blain became a finalist for the Gatorade National Girls Soccer Player of the Year award. That award will be announced in May.
Basketball: Mulvey Sets Scoring Record
Portsmouth guard John Mulvey became the school’s all-time scoring leader when he scored 31 points in an 81-77 victory over Hanover on Saturday night.
Mulvey, a senior, has scored 1,168 points during his high school career. He passed James Best, a 1984 Portsmouth graduate who scored 1,161 career points.
Other milestones that were reached last week:
• Hillsboro-Deering’s Libby Dutton, a senior guard, surpassed the 1,000-point mark during a 62-46 Class M triumph over Somersworth. Dutton finished the game with 1,002 career points and helped Hillsboro-Deering raise its record to 14-0.
• Senior guard Christian Birt became the second Laconia player to score 1,000 career points this season when he tossed in 16 during a 57-51 victory over Coe-Brown on Saturday. Teammate Brady O’Neil scored his 1,000th point earlier this month.
Boys Hockey: Rollins Reaches Century Mark
Forward Ben Rollins became the sixth Oyster River player to collect at least 100 career points when he assisted on two goals during a 4-2 triumph over Bow.
Rollins, a senior, has been playing varsity hockey at Oyster River since his freshman season.
“He’s all about the team,” Oyster River coach Griff Richard said. “Ben is the most well-rounded player we have. He is always working hard every shift. In four years of playing here he hasn’t taken a shift off.”
