Bulldog wrestlers impress at sectionals

The Canton High wrestling team is making its mark on the postseason under the stewardship of first-year head coach Brian Caffelle. Six members of the team qualified for the state tournament at Saturday’s sectional tournament, held at Foxboro High School.

The highest finisher for CHS was senior captain Kevin Connolly, who took second place in the 135-pound division. Tim Dann of Hanover defeated Connolly in the final, stopping him one step short of repeating as sectional champion.

“Kevin wrestled very well for the day, but he just couldn’t get his offense going in the finals,” said Caffelle.  “As much as you wanted to see him repeat as sectional champ, I told him that the bigger prize is a state championship, and that’s what he needs to focus on now.”

CHS also boasted two third-place finishers, juniors David Rosenberg (125 lbs.) and Brian Matthews (heavyweight). Rosenberg fell to an opponent from Hingham in the semifinals, while Matthews was defeated by the No. 1 seed in the division, from Lockland High School.

“David wrestled extremely well, and faced a very tough opponent in the semifinals,” said Caffelle. “He was upset after the match, but he showed a lot of mental toughness being able to focus and win his third-place match.

“Both Brian and David are juniors, so it’s very encouraging, in terms of the future, to see them wrestle so well.” added Caffelle.

The Bulldogs had three fourth-place finishers as well – freshman Quinn Merrigan (112 lbs.), junior Chris Parsons (152 lbs.), and senior Anthony LaRose (215 lbs.), who continues to impress despite having no mat experience prior to joining the team in January.

“Anthony did a great job of executing the basics,” said Caffelle. “It’s incredible for him to qualify for the states after only coming out for the team in January.”

Parsons earned his qualifying bid in what was perhaps the match of the tournament for the Bulldogs. The junior was able to escape a headlock and get a quick score on his opponent to earn the victory in overtime.

In addition to the six who qualified outright for the states, three more Bulldogs were able to qualify for the tournament as alternates. Seniors Quamine Heraldo (140 lbs.) and John McCabe (160 lbs.) took fifth, while Josh Matt took sixth (171 lbs.) to become alternates. The trio will wrestle if there are any injuries or if their counterparts are unable to make weight.

Matt again made a lasting impression on his opponents as well as his head coach, despite having to wrestle well above his actual weight.

“I can tell you right now that people will not take him lightly,” said Caffelle. “I can’t imagine what he will do next year when he’s wrestling kids his own weight.”

Caffelle will look for his team to use the lessons they learned over the course of the season in the final tournament of the year.

“The key for us is to not change the way we wrestle based on who we are facing,” he said. “Also, I do not want our kids to be passive. This will be a great opportunity for our freshmen to see what a tournament of this magnitude is like. Here you see a lot of great wrestlers, and it helps you understand what you need to do in the offseason. As for our seniors, this could be their last time on the mat, so they just need to do their best, have no regrets, and just leave it all out there.”

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Posted by Danny Joseph on Feb 16 2011. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.