Wrestling coaches love to make use of the phrase “iron sharpens iron.”
In the Merrimack Valley Conference no night time is a straightforward night time. A yr in the past, 4 groups from the MVC completed within the prime 10 within the Div. 1 state match and nearly everybody thinks the league might be even higher this time round.
“I think the league is the best that it’s been in a long time,” mentioned Central Catholic coach Jamie Durkin. “Haverhill has two returning New England finalists, Methuen has good balance up and down their lineup, Lowell had more than 70 kids come out, Chelmsford had more than 60. Then you get teams like Andover and Tewksbury who have good lineups and you can see that just about every team in the league is good.”
New England champion Nate Blanchette (175 kilos) leads a powerful group of returnees which embrace Cole Glynn (106), Izaiah Santiago (113), Pablo Salas (144), Caden Chase (165), Jackson Meehan (190), Gianni Giuffrida (215) and Like Guifrida (285). If this wasn’t sufficient, Durkin is anticipating quite a bit from an incoming group of freshmen.
Haverhill was fourth on the All-States and fifth on the New Englands final yr and ought to be among the many premier groups once more. Brent Nicolosi is again at 165 kilos together with Matt Harrold (215), Cale Wood (120), Jayden Flanagan (175) and the Morris trio of Shea (138), Michael, (113) and Aiden (103).
Andover has some star energy with All-Scholastic Yandel Morales (126) and Jason Ballou (120) again. New England champion Thomas Brown (285) and Jose Bethel (190) are again to captain a Chelmsford staff which completed within the prime 10 eventually yr’s All-State championships.
The numbers are again at Lowell for co-coaches George Bossi and Nick Logan. Emmett Logan is among the prime 126-pounders within the state, whereas captains Hussein Alobaldi (150), John Crabtree (157), Chris Dubey (132) and Luis Gomez (175) have loads of expertise.
It can be robust for St. John’s Prep to duplicate final yr’s dominant run to the Div. 1 and All-State staff titles, however search for Manny Costa to have them motivated in his final season on the helm. Jayden D’Ambrosio (157) took a 3rd on the New Englands, whereas Jimmy Lally (138), Marc Piniero (215) and Alex Bajoras (285) all positioned on the All-States. Brandon Goes (120) and Ryan DeSouza (150) are returning state place-winners.
Another staff which figures to be within the combine is Shawsheen. The Tildsley brothers, Sidney (138) and James (144), are the cream of the crop in New England wrestling circles. Caleb Caceres (132), Austin Malendain (190), Brayton Carbone (120) give the Rams loads of high quality depth.
Monty Tech impressed on the Big Red Tournament, profitable the title over Chelmsford. Jonah Paulino (132) and Xaedyn Natal (150) are among the many finest of their weight class, whereas Cooper Wiebe (126), Gregory Lehmann (157) and Sean Lyle (113) proved their price on the match.
Others to observe in Div. 1 embrace Methuen, Natick, Taunton and Beverly.
Milford rolled to the Div. 2 state title final yr and P.J. Boccia’s squad is primed to repeat. Aidan Baum (144), Derek Marcolini (113), Dylan Wright (106) and Owen Matthews (215) are the leaders, whereas injured Michael Boulanger (138) is on observe to return to the lineup shortly.
Melrose received the Div. 3 championship final yr and transfer as much as Div. 2 within the newest MIAA realignment. Larry The Legend Tremblay has one other stable dual-meet staff led by Luke Brodeur (106), Michael Thomas (120), Johnny Morales (126) and Marco Albanese (138). Others anticipated to step up and contribute are Jack Shea (113), Luke Kelley (144), Quinn Fogarty (157), Jacob Guzman (165), Pedro Ribeiro (175), Gabe LaVerde (190) and Scott Santos (215).
Hingham opened the season with 5 straight twin meet wins and are keyed by captains Johnny Morris (120), Danny Phillips (144), Aidan Chan (157) and Jakub Wozny. The remainder of the contenders determine to come back from Bridgewater-Raynham, Plymouth South and Minnechaug.
With Melrose shifting as much as Div. 2, Wakefield and Tewksbury appear to be prime contenders for the Div. 3 crown. Manny Mengata (215) and Nick Desisto (113) have some high quality wins, whereas senior captains Hunter Johnson (150), James Cappiello (157), Sam MacMillan (165) and Cam Heichman (132) have been by means of the MVC wrestling wars over time.
Wakefield is at all times within the combine and Ross Ickes feels that ought to be the case as soon as once more as Andrew Valley (126) and Joe LaMonica (215) lead a high quality group of returnees. The remainder of the lineup ought to include Sean Callanan (157), Zach Arria (175), Aydin Lamb (138), Kip King (285) and Jaden Fullerton (165).
Leading the way in which for Triton (6-0 at the moment) are Douglas Aylward (215), Lucas Bistany (144), Sam Imlach (132), Nolan Merrill (175) and Brian Quam (138). Wayland is at all times a stable twin meet staff and ought to be as soon as once more as Paul Lang (126), Cole Chase (157), Michael Keenan (138), Nathan Tobe (215), Anthony Brown (190) and Cole Duffy (165) return.
Pete Zacchilli has performed a terrific job at Ashland and lots of really feel the Clockers might be within the combine for the state title. Anton Puhach is again at 175, whereas Adrian Guzman (157), Braden Freels (106), Kevin Ozulumba (150) and Kevin Botsis (215) are anticipated to be main contributors.
WRESTLERS TO WATCH IN 2023-2024
106 POUNDS
Luke Brodeur (Melrose)
Cole Glynn (Central Catholic)
Aiden Morris (Haverhill)
113 POUNDS
Nick DeSisto (Tewksbury)
Dominic Gangi (Methuen)
Abduli Gilmore (Athol)
Mike Morris (Haverhill)
120 POUNDS
Jason Ballou (Andover)
Brayton Carbone (Shawsheen)
Charlie Lussier (Whitman-Hanson)
Derek Marcolini (Milford)
Peter Rincan (Billerica)
Michael Thomas (Melrose)
Cale Wood (Haverhill)
126 POUNDS
Miles Darling (Masconomet/Essex Tech)
Dylan Kadish (Newton South)
Emmett Logan (Lowell)
Connor Lupiani (Mt. Everett)
Yandel Morales (Andover)
Nathan Sayers (Xaverian)
Anthony Vickers (Northbridge)
132 POUNDS
Caleb Caceres (Shawsheen)
Matthew Patterson (Middleboro)
Jonah Paulino (Monty Tech)
138 POUNDS
Marco Albanese (Melrose)
Michael Boulanger (Milford)
Braxton Ferro (North Attleboro)
Landan Gray (St. John’s)
Jimmy Lally (St. John’s Prep)
Shea Morris (Haverhill)
Sidney Tildsley (Shawsheen)
Brent von Magnus (Bridgewater-Raynham)
144 POUNDS
Sawyer Ayotte (Shepherd Hill)
Pablo Salas (144)
James Tildsley (Shawsheen)
150 POUNDS
Anthony Mann (Hanover)
Drew McGourty (Braintree)
Xaedyn Nata (Monty Tech)
Kyle Rhoton (North Andover)
157 POUNDS
Jake Ashman (Natick)
Colby Cloutier (King Philip)
Jayden D’Ambrosio (St. John’s Prep)
Vincent DeMaio (Methuen)
165 POUNDS
Joseph Baker (Beverly)
Joseph Bolduc (Methuen)
Caden Chase (Central Catholic)
Luke Connolly (Bishop Fenwick/Northeast)
Brent Nicolosi (Haverhill)
175 POUNDS
Lucas Alvan (Ludlow)
Nathan Blanchette (Central Catholic)
Jayden Flanagan (Haverhill)
Anton Puhach (Ashland)
190 POUNDS
Ethan Harris (Taunton)
Gino Sicari (Beverly)
Michael Toppan (Gloucester)
215 POUNDS
Douglas Aylward (Triton)
Matt Harrold (Haverhill)
Manny Mengata (Tewksbury)
Mason Pellegri (Milton)
Marc Pineiro (St. John’s Prep)
Elijah Prophete (Taunton)
Jayden Toppan (Gloucester)
Jerameel Vasquez (Hampden Charter East)
285 POUNDS
Alex Bajoras (St. John’s Prep)
Thomas Brown (Chelmsford)
Joao Pedro Pires (Catholic Memorial)
Gabriel Thomas (Brookline)
Source: www.bostonherald.com