Sophomore wrestlers shine at Lowell tourney

Facing a slew of difficult opponents, the Canton High wrestling team struggled to come up with a win in recent meets against North Attleboro and Sharon. But on an individual level, sophomore duo Chris Sullivan (113 lbs.) and Quinn Merrigan (120 lbs.) continued their impressive seasons, placing second and eighth, respectively, at the Lowell Holiday Tournament.

Sophomore Chris Sullivan (Mike Barucci photo)

“It’s honestly the toughest meet you can compete in before the state competitions,” head coach Brian Caffelle said of the Lowell tournament.

The fact that Sullivan and Merrigan placed at the tournament — the youngest two to do so in the program’s history — was only made more impressive considering that neither was seeded before entering.

“It just proves you can be seeded whatever you want,” Caffelle said. “But you still have to get out on the mat and prove you’re a good wrestler.”

Another strong effort at the Lowell tourney came from freshman Rob Dicalogero (132 lbs.), who managed to beat his first four opponents before falling to the fifth, narrowly missing the opportunity to compete in the second day of the tournament.

Meanwhile, despite suffering a tough 63-14 loss to North Attleboro, senior captains Josh Matt (160 lbs.) and Chris Parsons (170 lbs.) both finished the day with strong performances.

“Josh may not have wrestled his best, but showed younger members of the team that you can pull out a win if you stay level-headed and push through a match,” Caffelle said. “And as for Chris, he looked like a man on a mission. He went out there and pinned his opponent right away.”

The Bulldogs fared much better against Sharon, but ultimately fell short in a number of close matches. Notable performances were turned in by freshman Pat Vartanian (182 lbs.), who earned his first varsity win, and senior Andrew Vinciguerra (152 lbs.), who dominated his opponent in a quick takedown.

This week, the Bulldogs were due to travel to King Philip on Wednesday and then head to Beverly on Saturday for a quad meet beginning at 10 a.m.

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Posted by Jeffrey Cattel on Jan 4 2012. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.