Wrestlers have strong showing at Peckham tourney

Sophomore wrestling phenom Chris Sullivan took home first place at the annual Peckham Tournament, hosted by Canton High School. (Mike Barucci photo)

After struggling to put points on the board against a slew of top tier teams like Franklin, the Canton High boys’ wrestling team finished fifth in the 15th annual James Peckham Wrestling tournament.

On an individual level, sophomore duo Chris Sullivan (113 lbs.) and Quinn Merrigan (120 lbs.) finished first in their respective weight classes. Other strong finishes came from senior captain David Rosenberg (126 lbs.), who placed second, and freshman Rob Dicalogero, who placed third.

“They’re all hitting their stride at the right time in the season,” coach Brian Caffelle said. “We’re looking for these guys to turn the corner and continue with this momentum into the postseason.”

Other notable performances came from seniors Andrew Vinciguerra (145 lbs.) and senior captain Chris Parsons (160 lbs.), who both finished fourth. Despite facing a difficult opponent in the semifinals, Vinciguerra showed a willingness to be aggressive and try out new moves. Parsons managed to tie up the score in his semifinal match, but ultimately fell short in overtime.

Looking at the score alone from the team’s 54-11 loss to Franklin earlier in the week does little justice to the Bulldogs’ tremendous effort in a number of matches. The usual suspects — Sullivan, Merrigan and Parsons — all came away with wins.

But Caffelle was quick to note that two of the evening’s most impressive matches came from underclassmen: freshman Anthony Ross (138 lbs.) and sophomore Derek Haas (106 lbs.).

“Every time Anthony gets out on the mat, we get the best out of him,” Caffelle said. “And Derek, a first-year wrestler, has learned skills so quickly, he already looks like someone who has years of wrestling under his belt.”

Sophomore Derek Haas

In earlier wrestling action, the Bulldogs had some individual successes, but struggled to put up points as a team in a dual meet against King Philip and a quad meet at Beverly High School.

Against KP, the team had a few last-minute injury scratches but got standout matches from Parsons and Rosenberg, both of whom went out on the mats and came away with quick wins.

“It was great to see the captains come back from tough matches the past weekend against Sharon with guns blazing,” Caffelle said. “They showed the underclassmen that you don’t have to get into a funk after a tough loss. It’s not about whether you win all the time, but what you do after a tough loss.”

The meet’s most exciting match came from Dicalogero. Down in the first period, he managed to bounce back with a 12-10 win over his KP opponent.

The Bulldogs faced three tough teams at the Beverly Quad: Pembroke, Waltham, and Beverly. In the meet against Pembroke, Sullivan and Merrigan led the team with two strong wins. Vinciguerra was also impressive as he held his own against one of Pembroke’s best wrestlers. Although he didn’t pull out a win, he managed to stay engaged in the match for the full six minutes, surprising his experienced opponent.

In the second match of the day against Waltham, Parsons and Rosenberg both came away with strong wins, but other members of the team struggled against the tough Division 1 opponent.

In the final meet of the day against Beverly, Parsons, Rosenberg, Sullivan and Merrigan all finished with wins. But just like the meet against KP, Dicalogero stole the show. Down 5-0 in the first period and close to being pinned, he managed to fight off his back in an effort that resulted in his opponent getting a bloody nose.

“When the two came back on the mat, it was like Robby just hit a switch,” Caffelle said. “It was just take down after take down until he came away with the 25-8 victory.”

This week the Bulldogs had one meet — home versus Oliver Ames on Wednesday. They will then prepare for the Hockomock championships, scheduled for Saturday, January 28.

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