Canton’s Lewis claims D3 central’s top wrestling honor

By Jay Turner

It all came together for CHS senior captain Brendan Lewis on Saturday as the Bulldogs’ top pound-for-pound wrestler cruised to the title in the 126-pound class at the Division 3 central sectional championships in Wayland.

Senior captain Brendan Lewis (Mike Barucci photo)

Competing in a weight class that was widely viewed as the toughest of the section — and one that the coaches had referred to as “death row” — Lewis proved to be the best of the best, dominating his opponents in the first two rounds before scoring a convincing upset over top-seeded Sam Goldberg of Holliston in the finals. He was so impressive on the day that he was later awarded the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award (OW) as voted on by the coaches.

CHS head coach Brian Caffelle, a former Bulldog wrestler himself, said it may be the first time in school history that a Canton wrestler has ever won a tournament OW award.

“It really is a privilege,” Caffelle said of the award. “You have 13 teams at 14 different weight classes. You’re talking over 200 kids in that gym and there’s only one winner. That’s a big honor.”

At the same time, Caffelle said Lewis had “one goal in mind since day one” of the preseason, and that was to win a sectional championship. And despite the fact that Lewis had pinned Goldberg last year at sectionals in the third place match, the general consensus on Saturday was that it was Goldberg’s tournament to lose.

Yet Lewis was supremely confident going into the rematch, and after giving up the initial takedown and falling behind 2-1, he scored a huge five-point reversal and seized control of the match. Goldberg eventually started to chip away at the lead in the third period, but Lewis calmly held his position, and when Goldberg went for the takedown in an attempt to tie the score, Lewis took a shot in on the leg and held on to secure the victory.

“You feel so good for a kid like him,” Caffelle said after the win. “He didn’t do as well as he would have liked in a lot of these other milestone tournaments (Peckham, Hockomock Championships), but none of that matters after winning sectionals. He’s such a well-rounded wrestler and I personally think he can make some big noise in the state finals.”

While Lewis was clearly the story of the tournament for Canton, he wasn’t the only Bulldog to shine on the big stage. Three of his teammates also placed in the top six in their respective weight classes, led by Mark Whalen, who took second at 220 pounds after falling in overtime to Wayland’s Josh Brito in the finals.

“This season has almost been like a revenge tour for Mark,” Caffelle said after his 2-1 showing on Saturday. “Last year as a sophomore he lost a lot of matches, but every kid that beat him last year Mark has been going out and beating them. He’s just so much stronger this year.”

The big surprise for the Bulldogs was freshman Harry Carter, who is normally the backup at 113 pounds but wrestled at 120 and ended up taking fifth in the section.

“He went out there and he took care of business,” Caffelle said of Carter, who went 2-2 on the day and earned a spot as an alternate at states. “It was a great showing for him, and it’s invaluable to us as a program to have kids like him ready and waiting.”

The other placewinner for Canton was sophomore Justin Dickie, who took sixth at 113 pounds. One of the team’s breakout wrestlers this season, Dickie was hoping for more but still had an impressive win in his second match to make it to the consolation semifinals.

Caffelle said they probably could have had a few more placewinners, but they lost several wrestlers due to injury. Still, he was proud of the team’s overall performance and has high hopes for both Lewis and Whelan at the upcoming Division 3 state meet, which is scheduled for this weekend at Taconic High School.

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