NORTH SHORE (Podcast) The Moynihan Lumber North Shore Student-Athlete award is a monthly honor given to one male and one female for their excellence in the classroom and athletic competition. The December recipients are Peabody girls basketball star Logan Lomasney, and Saugus/Peabody wrestling standout Sam LoRusso.
Sam LoRusso – Saugus High – Peabody/Saugus Wrestling with Bill Newell
Story by Kyle Gaudet – Newburyport Daily News
Now a senior, LoRusso has one goal in mind to try and finish up his high school wrestling career.“I’m trying to make it to New England’s,” said the standout 157-pounder.Which, knowing his history, is shaping up to be an achievable goal.
LoRusso entered this winter with a career record of 51-14, and just last year was the NEC/CAL
champion at 152 pounds and was named a Salem News All-Star. That dominance on the mat has only continued in 2023-24, as he’s still undefeated in dual meets up to this point, and has picked up the 157-pound title at both the Sons of Italy tournament and the Bruce Rich Invitational. “I got into wrestling at a pretty young age when my dad asked me if I wanted to try,” said LoRusso. “I pretty much fell in love with it from there and haven’t stopped.”
Not surprisingly, LoRusso attacks his work in the classroom with the same force as one of his takedowns.
He was the Abigail Adam’s Scholarship receipent for Saugus, and carries a GPA of 3.61. The schedule isn’t as daunting as a senior as it was in past years, but above all else, he enjoys going to his Advanced AutoCAD class with Mr. Bontempo. He has been accepted to multiple colleges,but will instead go into a trade union after graduating high school.
“Doing well in school is important to me as I’ve always got pretty good grades,” said LoRusso. “I don’t really have a secret trick or anything like that to get the work done, I just do whatever I have to do and make sure that I train hard.”
