Wrestlers gaining numbers, confidence
By Jeffrey Cattel
Senior captain David Rosenberg has picked up where he left off last season. (Mike Barucci photo)
Despite a small roster, the Canton High wrestling team went into this season with a lofty goal: win the Davenport Division for the first time in the program’s history.
But what once seemed unlikely now appears to be well within reach, thanks to some early season victories and a roster that has doubled in size since the start of the season.
Canton kicked off its 2011-2012 campaign with a second-place finish in the first annual quad meet at Bristol County Agricultural High School. The team finished the day with impressive wins over Bristol (40-30) and Barnstable (45-39) and a nail-biter of a loss against south sectional rivals Cohasset (39-21). Standouts included sophomores Chris Sullivan (113 lb.) and Quinn Merrigan (120 lb.), who both finished the day 3-0. Sullivan finished last season 29-1 and was the first wrestler in the program’s history to win an individual Hockomock League championship as a freshman.
After its promising start, the team fell in a rut with two tough losses, first in a league meet against Mansfield (42-25) and then in the Walpole quad meet on Saturday, December 17. The Bulldogs fell to Hingham and Walpole in the quad, but ended the day on a high note with a win against North Quincy. Senior captains David Rosenberg (138 lb.) and Chris Parsons (170 lb.) kept the team in the Mansfield meet with two good matches. Rosenberg wrestled up a weight class and still managed to overtake his opponent, while Parsons pinned his opponent in the first minute.
The team rebounded last Monday with a dominant win over divisional opponent Foxboro (38-24) — a performance that coach Brian Caffelle described as “single handedly the best dual meet of the young season.”
“We talked to the kids after the [Walpole] quad and told them they needed to stop worrying about what opponents do to us and generate offense to put points on the board,” said Caffelle. “When they got on the mats, they looked possessed. They were just mentally and physically stronger than Foxboro.”
The meet included many standout performances from underclassmen, including sophomore Derek Haas (106 lb.), a first-year wrestler who got his first varsity win. Caffelle said the match of the night came when freshman Rob Dicalogero (126 lb.) finished with a technical fall — wrestling’s equivalent to a slaughter rule — against an opponent who finished third in the south section last season.
Most recently, the Bulldogs hosted North Attleboro (see next week’s Citizen for results) before beginning a stretch of three consecutive meets on the road: at Sharon on New Year’s Eve, at King Philip on January 4, and a quad meet at Beverly on January 7.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=10426
Posted by Jeffrey Cattel
on Dec 28 2011. Filed under High School, Sports.
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