Wrestlers impress at Lowell tourney, home meet
By Jay Turner
Senior Chris Sullivan is one of the top wrestlers in the state at 152 lbs. (Mike Barucci photo)
It was a banner week for the CHS wrestling program last week, highlighted by an impressive showing at the prestigious Lowell Holiday Tournament and a strong team effort in home wins against Northbridge and Xaverian Brothers.
The Bulldogs are now 5-5 as a team and also boast some of the top individual performers in the state, led by seniors Chris Sullivan (152 lbs.) and Quinn Merrigan (138 lbs.) as well as junior standout Rob DiCalogero (145 lbs.).
Merrigan and Sullivan are both former state champions, and both excelled at Lowell against top competition, taking home second and fourth place, respectively, in some very tough weight classes.
In Merrigan’s case, four of the five wrestlers he beat ended up placing in the top eight of the tournament, which features more than 70 programs from around New England. Sullivan, meanwhile, finished 5-2 at the two-day competition and still made the semifinals despite wrestling below his weight due to a stomach bug.
“I was very impressed with the kids at Lowell,” said head coach Brian Caffelle. “We did not have a full lineup, but the kids that we brought competed hard and got a lot more wins as a team than we got last year.”
DiCalogero was another top performer for Canton, collecting four more victories to run his season record to 13-2. Wavol Prentice also picked up multiple victories at heavyweight, while senior Derek Haas earned a win and had two other close losses in the 132-pound class.
In the tri-meet held in the CHS gym on Saturday, the Bulldogs dominated Northbridge 49-15 before outlasting Xaverian 45-33. Prentice played the hero in the Xaverian match, fighting off his back in the finale to seal the victory with a pin.
“It’s good to have victories like that, and it was nice to lean on some of our other guys,” said a satisfied Caffelle after the win.
This week, the Bulldogs were due to travel to Milford on Wednesday and will then return home to host the annual Peckham Tournament this Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. in the CHS gym. The team also had a road match scheduled for January 2 against Mansfield, but it was postponed due to the weather and will be made up on January 20.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=23703
Posted by Jay Turner
on Jan 9 2014. Filed under High School, Sports.
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