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NORTH ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Heading into the finals, North Attleboro was sitting in first and had six wrestlers left but with Stoughton less than 30 points behind and five of their own wrestlers going to the finals, it was key the Rocketeers took care of business.
And that’s just what they did.
North picked up five wins in the final rounds to finish in first with 250 points, Stoughton came in second at 196.5 and Milford used three wins in the final matches to finish in third at 171.
In the finals, the Rocketeers got wins from Devin Spratt at 113, Mike Gould at 132, Zack Litton at 160, Nick Morrison at 182 and Thomas Girouard at 195. All five wins were decisions.
“Everyone talks about winning and talks about how important it is but we just want our kids to work hard and wrestle well,” North Attleboro head coach Wayne Griffin said. “If they do those things, good things will happen. The really exciting thing about today is that eight of our kids were JV wrestlers last year. We graduated quite a few kids. We had five guys win in the finals too. I’m proud of their work ethic and the fact that they’re coachable.”
Spratt took care of business with a 10-0 decision to get things started for the Rockteers, three matches later Gould narrowly took down Franklin’s Pat Glynn with a 1-0 decision and Fitton made it three wins when he had a 4-2 win over Franklin’s Bilal Khan. Two matches after Litton, Morrison had a 2-1 win over Stoughton’s Joe Girolamo and in the following match, Girouard beat Taunton’s Santiago Lopez 10-1.
The Rocketeers also had four wrestlers finish in third place - Collin Fiske at 152, Alec Morton at 170, and Thomas Kummer at 220. North had 13 wrestlers finish at fifth or better.
“I’m happy for Devin Spratt, he’s been wrestling really well and has worked on improving a lot,” Griffin said. “I’m happy for Michael [Gould], he’s worked really hard to be at 132, he’s had to sacrifice a lot and be disciplined. Today was just another step in the right direction for year. Zack Fitton, this is first year wrestling varsity, his first tournament championship and he’s a team captain - what more could you ask for? Nick Morrison and Tommy Girouard typically workout together in practice so champions can come in pairs. And it’s Tommy’s first year on varsity and he’s over 20 wins.”
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As for Stoughton, who finished in third last year, they picked up three champions after sending five wrestlers to the finals.
“I’m really impressed with the Stoughton kids,” Griffin said. “Coach Carroll has really brought that team a long way. I was really impressed with those kids, they did a heck of a job.”
Twin brothers Brett (126) and Brandon (152) picked up decision wins and senior Brandon Cohen notched a win at 152. Brett Layton was selected by the coaches as the Most Outstanding Wrestler for the day.
“I think the kids wrestled great,” Stoughton head coach Mike Carroll said. “We started off a little slow and we didn’t have our 170 today so that was points gone right off the bat. You’re thinking about team scores here so we were trying to get the pins when we could. I thought the kids did great. Brett winning the MVP is huge. And some of the seniors, like Brandon Cohen, who really deserved it.”
It was Brett Layton that picked up Stoughton’s first wins in the finals. Going against Franklin’s Dan Pisani for the fourth time this season, Layton fell behind early. Pisani had beaten Layton the previous two meetings but Layton was able to tie the match before getting a take down to take a two point lead for the win.
“I’ve had three real close matches with him this year and lost to him twice,” Brett Layton said. “The first time I faced him I beat him 1-0 and escaped with three seconds left so I knew it would be a tight match and every point would count. He got one early but I wasn’t too worried because I knew I could come back. He went neutral and I got one point and then I took him down. It was really tough, I have a lot of respect for him, he’s a good kid and a really good wrestler. Now the series is tied 2-2.”
“He’s just tough as nails,” Carroll said of Brett. “You don’t even get worried when he’s down because he’s always grinding and he knows what he’s doing out there. And it’s awesome he’s just a junior.”
With one match in between, it was then Brandon’s turn. Going against one of the top wrestlers in the Hock in Foxboro’s Brian Kelley, it lived up to its billing. After a back and forth match - each taking a lead - Brandon Layton was able to come out with an 8-5 decision and win his second straight time at the league championship meet.
“I think they’ve been feeding off each other all season,” Carroll said. “Once you see one of them win, you see the other roll and even the younger kids get more confidence from it.”
When asked if he feeds off of his brother winning, Brandon said, “Yes, but I know he’s going to win because I have so much confidence in him. It was good for both of us to win today.”
“It means a lot to us,” Brandon continued. “We’re hoping to set the bar high for future years and we’re glad to contribute to it.”
Brett Layton also noted that he dedicated this win - as well as his season - to Tri-Country wrestler Ritchie Elgar, who was paralyzed over the summer.
Milford was sitting in fourth before the finals, but three wins elevated them to third place at 171. There were only three pins in the 14 final matches and all three were by Scarlet Hawks.
At 170, Alex Mitchell was able to come away with a pin of Taunton’s Wasif Siddiqui. Three matches later, Eric Brogioli pinned down Mansfield’s Sam Caskey and in the following match, Andrew Salazar picked up a pin against Stoughton’s Bryan Nguyen.
Franklin finished fourth overall with 166 and had five second place finishes (Nick Narducci, Mike Copolla, Dan Pisani, Pat Glynn and Bilal Khan) one third place (Mike Racca) and two fourth place finishes (Sean Foley and John Miller).
In fifth place was Oliver Ames with 122 points, led by third place finishes from Matt Weisman and Jameson Dixon and a fourth place finish from John Quilla.
King Philip (6th place, 114) had a first place finish in Josh Gomes at 106, Foxboro (7th place, 110.50) had a win from Matt Kelley at 120 and Canton (9th, 84) got a win from Rob Dicalogero at 145.
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Team Standings
Place | School | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | North Attleboro | 250 |
2 | Stoughton | 196.5 |
3 | Milford | 171 |
4 | Franklin | 166 |
5 | Oliver Ames | 122 |
6 | King Philip | 114 |
7 | Foxboro | 110.50 |
8 | Sharon | 91.50 |
9 | Canton | 84 |
10 | Taunton | 83 |
11 | Mansfield | 44 |
Finals
Weight | Matchup | Result |
---|---|---|
106 | Yousef Ellis-Rech (Sharon) vs. Josh Gomes (King Philip) | Gomes (9-6) |
113 | Devin Spratt (North Attleboro) vs. Nick Narducci (Franklin) | Spratt (10-0) |
120 | Matt Kelly (Foxboro) vs. Mike Copolla (Franklin) | Kelley (8-0) |
126 | Dan Pisani (Franklin) vs. Brett Layton (Stoughton) | Layton (3-1) |
132 | Mike Gould (North Attleboro) vs. Pat Glynn (Franklin) | Gould (1-0) |
138 | Brian Kelly (Foxboro) vs. Brandon Layton (Stoughton) | Layton (8-5) |
145 | Rob Dicalogero (Canton) vs. Nick Gould (N. Attleboro) | Digiacomo (16-2) |
152 | Brandon Cohen (Stoughton) vs. Reda Chakir (Canton) | Cohen (4-2) |
160 | Bilal Khan (Franklin) vs. Zack Fitton (North Attleboro) | Fitton (4-2) |
170 | Wasif Siddiqui (Taunton) vs. Alex Mitchell (Milford) | Mitchell (pin) |
182 | Joe Girolamo (Stoughton) vs. Nick Morrison (North Attleboro) | Morrison (2-1) |
195 | Thomas Girouard (N. Attleboro) vs. Santiago Lopez (Taunton) | Girouard (10-1) |
220 | Eric Brogioli (Milford) vs. Sam Caskey (Mansfield) | Brogioli (pin) |
285 | Bryan Nguyen (Stoughton) vs. Andrew Salazar (Milford) | Salazar (pin) |
106 1. Josh Gomes, King Philip 2. Yousef Ellis-Rech, Sharon 3. Mike Racca, Franklin 4. Reilly Powell, Taunton 5. Omar Orozoco, Milford 6. Jaimy Jabon, Stoughton 113 1. Devin Spratt, North Attleboro 2. Nick Narducci, Franklin 3. Phil Dure, Foxboro 4. John Quilla, Oliver Ames 5. Eric Spencer, Taunton 6. Anna Terrinha, Milford 120 1. Matt Kelley, Foxboro 2. Mike Copolla, Franklin 3. Matt Weisman, Oliver Ames 4. Josh Grasso, Taunton 5. Anthony Baiungo, North Attleboro 6. Jake Swartz, Stoughton 126 1. Brett Layton, Stoughton 2. Dan Pisani, Franklin 3. Brenden Lewis, Canton 4. Tyler Jensen, Sharon 5. Alex Devitto, North Attleboro 6. Brett Kimball, Milford 132 1. Mike Gould, North Attleboro 2. Pat Glynn, Franklin 3. Jameson Dixon, Oliver Ames 4. Devlin Carroll, Stoughton 5. Diego Pinto, Milford 6. Luke Stillman, Sharon 138 1. Brandon Layton, Stoughton 2. Brian Kelley, Foxboro 3. David Ellis-Rech, Sharon 4. Jordan Tillinghast, North Attleboro 5. Shea O'Connor, Oliver Ames 6. Dylan McLean, Franklin 145 1. Rob Dicalogero, Canton 2. Nick Gould, North Attleboro 3. Anthony Fruci, King Philip 4. Tom Mone, Stoughton 5. Ryan Lehone, Oliver Ames 6. Jason Powell, Sharon | 152 1. Brandon Cohen, Stoughton 2. Reda Chakir, Canton 3. Collin Fiske, North Attleboro 4. Joe Valanzola, Milford 5. Jacob Demora, Oliver Ames 6. Shane McGrath, Sharon 160 1. Zack Fitton, North Attleboro 2. Bilal Khan, Franklin 3. Mike Carroll, Stoughton 4. Ryan Larkin, Mansfield 5. Matt Mullany, Foxboro 6. Dillon Diamond, King Philip 170 1. Alex Mitchell, Milford 2. Wasif Siddiqui, Taunton 3. Alec Morton, North Attleboro 4. Sean Foley, Franklin 5. Mike Simeon, Oliver Ames 6. Harry Butler 182 1. Nick Morrison, North Attleboro 2. Joe Girolamo, Stoughton 3. Nick DeGloria, King Philip 4. Ryan Gray, Milford 5. Luke Cullen, Oliver Ames 6. Sean Smally, Foxboro 195 1. Thomas Girouard, North Attleboro 2. Santiago Lopez, Taunton 3. Nic Johnson, Milford 4. Matt Williams, Stoughton 5. Sam Hadley, Foxboro 6. Kevin Cheney, King Philip 220 1. Erig Brogioli, Milford 2. Sam Caskey, Mansfield 3. Thomas Kummer, North Attleboro 4. Brad Oliverio, King Philip 5. Joey Tepper, Oliver Ames 6. Ian Lango-Leonard, Sharon 285 1. Andrew Salazar, Milford 2. Bryan Nguyen, Stoughton 3. Brennen Sankey, North Attleboro 4. John Miller, Franklin 5. Jared Archer, Mansfield 6. Wavol Prentice, Canton |