Wrestlers Merrigan, Sullivan capture 2nd D3 state title

The Canton High wrestling team’s historic 2014 season just keeps getting better.

After taking fourth as a team at the Division 3 central sectional meet with five top-three finishes, the Bulldogs took it up a few notches at last weekend’s D3 state championship tournament, capturing two individual titles and finishing third overall out of 28 teams.

“I’m so proud of our wrestlers,” said head coach Brian Caffelle after a thrilling, two-day tournament. “We only brought five guys, and the fact that we took third is a testament to how well they all wrestled. A lot of teams had more wrestlers, but I just think we wrestled our tails off out there.”

Quinn Merrigan

Once again, the Bulldogs’ top performers were their two senior standouts, Chris Sullivan and Quinn Merrigan, who cemented their status as all-time greats with another title-winning performance against the best from Division 3.

For Merrigan, it was his second consecutive state championship at 138 pounds, making him just the second wrestler in CHS history to claim back-to-back state titles. Sullivan, meanwhile, claimed his first trophy in the 152-pound class after winning it all as a sophomore at 132 pounds.

“Both Chris and Quinn deserve all the credit in the world,” said Caffelle. “It’s really amazing to see what they’ve done, not only this year but in their careers.”

Both went into the tournament with a healthy chip on their respective shoulders — Merrigan after being upset in the sectional finals and Sullivan after losing at states last season — and both came up huge with dominant performances on the mat.

In Merrigan’s case, he had to battle his way to the top as a No. 5 seed, but he remained unfazed and cruised past his first three opponents before outdueling his opponent from Danvers in the finals 5-4.

“He pulled out a close one but he deserved to win the match,” said Caffelle. “He did what he needed to do to win, and in his earlier matches he really took it to everyone that he faced.”

Chris Sullivan

As for Sullivan, he opened the tournament as the top overall seed and proved he deserved it with four convincing wins, including a lopsided win in the finals.

“Chris was so driven to win states this year after losing last year,” noted Caffelle. “He went out there wanting to prove to himself that he was the best in his weight class, and he really capped off the tournament on a great note.”

The Bulldogs’ other top wrestler, junior Rob DiCalogero, also delivered an outstanding performance at states, battling all the way to the finals in the 145-pound class before falling to Dedham’s Eric Reyes for the second straight weekend.

“Robbie wrestled an awesome tournament — even better than sectionals,” said Caffelle. “He just came up a little short in the finals, but he really proved himself capable of winning a state title.”

Also competing at states for Canton were juniors Brendan Lewis (125 lbs.) and Wavol Prentice (heavyweight). The two up-and-coming wrestlers placed third at sectionals and both finished eighth in the 16-man D3 bracket with a record of 2-3.

“Both wrestled tough the entire tournament and they also stayed off their back,” said Caffelle. “I’m so happy for both of those guys, and I was really impressed with how well they wrestled.”

Sullivan, Merrigan and DiCalogero will now move on to the MIAA All-State meet, scheduled for this weekend at the Tsongas Center in Lowell. The tournament features the top wrestlers from every division in Massachusetts, and the Canton trio are aiming high as they look to become the first in school history to reach an all-state finals match.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Feb 27 2014. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.