Bulldog wrestlers look to turn a corner
By Jay Turner
Senior Cole Murphy has been one of the bright spots for the Bulldogs this season. (Jill Carter photo)
Bitten hard by the injury bug over the past few weeks of the season, the CHS varsity wrestling team has had to adjust on the fly and recalibrate team expectations with the goal of being ready when tournament time comes around.
Currently at 4-15-1 overall, the Bulldogs will host one final regular season quad meet this Saturday before gearing up for the Division 2 central sectionals next weekend at Marlborough High School.
By then, the team is hoping to have some of its injured wrestlers back on the mat, including defending sectional, state and All-State champion Eddie Marinilli at 145 pounds. One of the top pound for pound wrestlers in all of New England, Marinilli was off to another sensational start to the season before suffering an injury at the Lowell Holiday Tournament that has kept him out of the lineup over the past five weeks. Remarkably, Marinilli still managed to win his weight class at Lowell, although he has his sights set on an even bigger prize in the postseason, included a possible run at a New England individual championship.
Head coach Brian Caffelle said Marinilli is one of several injured wrestlers who has at least a chance to return in time for sectionals, although he has no intention of rushing anyone back too soon.
Either way, Caffelle said this is the most injury-riddled season that he has dealt with in his entire coaching career.
“It’s tough when half your varsity lineup is riding the bench [due to injury], but you make the best of it,” he said. “All you can do is control your effort. We’re still competing real hard out there, and now we kind of have the mantra of ‘all hands on deck.’”
Caffelle said the team has been bolstered by the consistency of its senior leaders, including Mark Carstairs at 120 pounds, Harry Carter at 132, Jordan Neundorf at 160, and Cole Murphy at 170. All four wrestlers, he said, have really stepped up over the past few weeks and have helped to keep the Bulldogs in contention by scoring bonus points.
“Jordan, for example, will be in a close match and then he’ll get one more turn in before the end of the match to get into bonus points,” said Caffelle. “Cole has been a pinning machine. Mark has turned a corner in the past few weeks and is really wrestling to the level of his potential, and Harry is just going out there and dominating people.”
Last weekend, the Bulldogs competed at the Hockomock quad meet in Foxboro and despite giving up 24 points against each of their three opponents due to forfeits, they still managed to be competitive in two matches, including a 52-21 win over Taunton. They also took King Philip down to the wire before falling in the end 42-37. Sophomore Jack Turano, who recently returned from an injury himself, came up short against his Warrior opponent but still drew praise from his coach for “wrestling his heart out.”
Caffelle also made a point to single out the contributions of freshman Zach Peters, who has been the starter at 106 pounds all season and is among the team leaders in wins. “He’s quietly had a fantastic season so far,” said Caffelle. “He now has 15 or 16 wins and has been a point getter for us throughout the season.”
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=50282
Posted by Jay Turner
on Feb 1 2019. Filed under High School, Sports.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
