Lancer Wrestlers 8th of 37 at Marshfield Tournament

The prestigious Marshfield Holiday Wrestling Tournament took place this past weekend and was won by St. John’s Prep of Danvers.  No. Attleboro was a close 2nd, followed by Cumberland, RI, Plymouth South, New Bedford, Barnstable, Walpole, Norton and the rest of the 37 team field.  The Lancers fought hard for their 8^th place finish which was well-ahead of any other D-3 schools in the tournament.  With two starters out of the lineup and a third forced to drop out due to injury, Norton showed real potential for another strong season ahead.  The Lancers are currently 5-1.

Senior co-captains JT Taylor (145) and Myles McAlpine (160) were the Lancers’

top performers, each reaching the semi-finals before losing close decisions.  Both finished 4^th in their weight divisions.  Juniors Elliott Johnson (182) and Adam Marcon (195) were 7^th and 8^th respectively while sophomore Deven Schuko (126) was 8^th. 

Norton will compete at Sharon on Saturday in a quad with Hingham and Somerset-Berkley.  The action starts at 10:00 AM.   

Senior co-captain JT Taylor

Lancer Wrestlers Go 2-1 at Plymouth No. Quad

Senior Ahrayah Saintius

Though the Lancer wrestlers came away from Saturday's quad meet at Plymouth No. disappointed to lose 41-24 to perennial local power No. Attleboro, they were proud of beating Plymouth No. 48-33 and Newton No. 54-27.  For a small D-3 school, Norton stood tall all day against these D-1 and D-2 programs.   

Several Norton boys went undefeated against this tough competition.  Ahrayah Saintius went 3-0 with 2 pins, while JT Taylor and Alek Donovan each went 3-0 with 3 pins.  Aidan Kahn, Deven Schuko, Myles McAlpine, Elliott Johnson and Mike Travers each went 2-1 on the day.  McAlpine's only loss was an 8-7 decision.

The JV team lost 26-17 in their competition and now hold a record of 1-1.  Anthony Cardone, Kyle Pereira, George Reese and Kaelan O'Neill remain undefeated at the JV level.

The team will work hard this week to prepare for the 32-team Marshfield Holiday Tournament which will take place on Friday-Saturday, 12/27-28 (varsity) and Sunday, 12/29 (JV).

2013-14 HOME OPENER & BANNER DEDICATION

The wrestling team got off to a strong start at home Saturday with a clean sweep of its first quad meet, defeating Norwell 54-24, Nauset 70-9 and Taunton 57-9.  Triple winners for the Lancers included sophomores Aidan Kahn and Deven Schuko, juniors Elliott Johnson, Adam Marcon and Alek Donovan as well as senior captains JT Taylor, Myles McAlpine and Mike Travers.  Freshmen Andy Murphy and Ben Combs showed real promise, too.  The team takes on Hopkinton at 7:00 Wednesday evening

at home in its first Tri-Valley League contest.

A BANNER YEAR

Prior to the start of Saturday’s meet time was taken to honor the 2012-13 wrestling team which went 27-3 and set a new NHS record for most wins in a season.  In the process the team captured its second D-3 Central Sectional championship and finished as runners-up in the D-3 State championships.  Captains Jack Cuneo (106) and Stephen Hudson (132 with 104 pins) both went over 100+ career wins to become the 5th & 6th members of the elite NHS "Century Club".  In addition, Stephen along with JT Taylor, became the 10th & 11th individual sectional champions in NHS history.   Mike Travers set team records for most wins (45) and most pins (35) in a season.  Two new team banners were raised and additions were made to two individual banners.

 

Senior co-captain Myles McAlpine 

2013-14 Norton High Wrestling Schedule

NORTON HIGH WRESTLING

2013-14

Sat, 12/14                  Norwell*, Nauset*, Taunton                                                     10:00 AM

Wed, 12/18                Hopkinton                                                                               7:00 PM

Sat, 12/21                  @ Plymouth No w/ Newton No & No Attleboro                        10:00 AM

Fri-Sat 12/27-28        @ Marshfield Holiday Tournament (V only)                               11:00 AM

Sun, 12/29                 @ Marshfield JV Tournament                                                   10:00 AM

Sat, 1/4                      @ Sharon w/ Somerset-Berkley* & Hingham                            10:00 AM

Wed, 1/8                    @ AMSA-Assabet Valley                                                         7:00 PM

Sat, 1/11                     @ Canton Peckham Tournament (V only)                                 10:00 AM

Sun, 1/12                    @ Brookline Freshman Tournament                                          10:00 AM

Wed, 1/15                  @ Ashland-Keefe Tech                                                             7:00 PM

Sat, 1/18                     @ Oliver Ames w/ Weston & Sabis                                           10:00 AM

Sun, 1/19                   @ Holliston JV Tournament                                                       10:00 AM

Wed, 1/23                  @ Holliston                                                                                7:00 PM

Sat, 1/25                     Cohasset*, Bristol-Plymouth*, Dighton-Rehobeth                      10:00 AM

Sun, 1/26                    @ Sandwich JV Tournament                                                     10:00 AM    Wed, 1/29                   Bellingham-Medway                                                                7:00 PM

Sat, 2/1                       Scituate*, Carver*, Walpole                                                       10:00 AM

Sun, 2/2                      @ Southeastern JV Tournament (TBA)                                     10:00 AM    Wed, 2/5                     Northbridge                                                                               7:00 PM

Sat, 2/8                       @ Wakefield State D-3 Dual Meet Tournament (V & JV)          10:00 AM

Sat, 2/15                     @ (TBA) D-3 South* Sectionals (V only)                                   9:30 AM                 

Mon, 2/17                  @ No. Attleboro (JV States)                                                         10:00 AM            

Fri-Sat, 2/22-23          @ (TBA) D-3 States (V qualifiers = top 4 in Sectionals)                  TBA

Fri-Sat, 2/28-3/1         @ (TBA) All-States (V qualifiers = top 6 in States)                          TBA

Fri-Sat. 3/7-8              @ (TBA) New Englands (V qualifiers = top 6 in All-States)             TBA

KEY:   Bold = TVL league opponent                                                                                                       * = D-3 South sectional opponent

Coaches:  Pat Coleman, Jeff Francis, Chris McCarthy, Rob May

Captains:  Mike Travers, Myles McAlpine, JT Taylor

2013-14 NHS Wrestling Season Preview

Coming off a record-setting 27 team victories last year including a second consecutive sectional championship, the state runner-up Norton wrestlers are excited about the upcoming season ... and for good reason!  The Lancers return 13 varsity letter winners as well as 14 JVs who will be looking to break into the starting line-up.  Most notable are our senior tri-captains Mike Travers, Myles McAlpine and JT Taylor who were 2nd, 3rd and 4th at states last year along with junior Elliott Johnson who placed 6th.  Travers set school records for most wins (45) and most pins (35) in one season while Taylor was sectional champ.  McAlpine and Travers both earned all-league honors.

Other returning starters include seniors Ahrayah Saintius and Branden Pike, juniors Russell Hansen and  Alek Donovan, and sophomores Aidan Kahn, Keyshawn Harris, Taylor Lucero and Deven Schuko.  In addition, an enthusiastic group of 13 freshmen and other newcomers will fill out the roster of the biggest wrestling team yet at NHS.

Coaches Pat Coleman, Jeff Francis, Chris McCarthy and Rob May have been very pleased and impressed with the work done by the Lancers during the off-season.  More wrestlers attended summer camps and clinics, participated in open-mat practices, worked out and lifted weights than ever before.  Not only that, the NHS addition and renovation project has provided a beautiful new wrestling room,   a state-of-the-art fitness center and a first-rate locker room.

This year's team has excellent potential, outstanding leadership, a strong work ethic, a positive attitude and a fierce competitiveness.  We are committed to take full advantage of our wonderful new facilities as well as the outstanding athletic and academic opportunities that lie ahead.

NHS WRESTLING 2013 SEASON SUMMARY

When we won league, sectional and state championships in 2012 and set a school record with 26 wins, most people thought the Lancers would be rebuilding in 2013 and lucky to have a winning season.  And for good reason.  We’d graduated 7 of our 12 starters and 3 of those wrestlers had been state finalists a total of 7 times, winning 3 individual state titles for Norton. 

But along came 18 new wrestlers to the program, including an enthusiastic bunch of freshmen, a couple of promising transfer students with wrestling experience, a former Norton youth wrestler who had a great headlock, as well as an outstanding athlete we’d lost due to poor grades who turned things around and re-joined the team.  Our 5 returning starters, along with 3 of last year’s strong JVs provided the nucleus for this year’s Cinderella team, a team that I thoroughly enjoyed coaching and will never forget.

It takes a special athlete to be a wrestler.  This is a rough and tumble sport, not for the faint of heart.  But it takes more than toughness.  It takes discipline and character and perseverance beyond what is required in most other sports.  We lift weights like football players and run stairs like track athletes, then we start our practice.  We move tables and chairs, move and mop mats every day, then our practice begins.  We go home and watch what we eat because we have to make weight.  No other sport requires the sacrifices wrestlers endure.  And we do it without complaint, knowing the payoff will come when we face our opponents.  We’ve learned that hard work feels good and that the harder we work, the luckier we seem to be.

We blew away the competition at our first home quad and it was clear from the start that this would not be a rebuilding year, we were reloading!  Perhaps we weren’t yet the best wrestlers technically, after all 9 of our 14 starters had been JVs last year or hadn’t wrestled.  But we had a fierce competitiveness.  Our boys had something to prove and wanted nothing more than to match or surpass the achievements of our 2012 team, and in the end, we had a season that compares very closely, and in some categories outshines them.  In 2012 we scored, on average, 51 points per meet.  In 2013 we again averaged 51 points.  In 2012 we gave up only 17.5 points per meet.  In 2013 we gave up 18.  In 2012 we were champions in 3 of 6 tournaments.  In 2013 we were champions in 2 of 4.  We were league, sectional and state champions in 2012.  We were league runners-up, sectional champions and state runners-up
in 2013.  We won 26 meets in 2012.  We won 27 in 2013!  In addition, we set new individual records for most wins in a season (Travers, 45), most pins in a season (Travers, 35), and most pins in a career (Hudson, 104).  We also added another Century Club member (Cuneo, 106 career wins).

It's important to acknowledge the outstanding contributions that Coach McCarthy and Coach Francis  made.  Everyone knows that Chris McCarthy is a police officer, one of Norton’s finest.  But if you really know Chris, you know that he is a man of integrity who is all about commitment and dedication, about setting goals and keeping focus even in the face of adversity.  He brings to this team a Marine’s esprit de corps, and has helped us develop a special brotherhood whose collective will allows us to adapt, improvise and overcome at times when we are faced with difficulties such as injuries or illness.  He pushes us every day to run faster, lift stronger and reminds us that it is not practice that makes perfect, but perfect practice that makes perfect.  For the second year in a row, Chris has led our JV team to a strong winning record and again he gets my vote for “JV Coach of the Year”.

Jeff Francis is a god-send!  I can’t tell you how many people came up to me at the tournaments to say how lucky I am to have him dressed in purple and black.  In addition to being one of the nicest men I know, Jeff is also one of the best coaches in the state.  He knows wrestling and how to teach it and he is great with young people.  He is outwardly easy-going and has a great sense of humor.  But inwardly Jeff has the heart of a champion and he burns with the desire to succeed.  

A few special memories of the season …

1.   Our come-from-behind (29-6) win (42-29) over Newton North.
2.   Grant fainting into a plate of sweet potatoes.
3.   Our 5 quad sweeps this season, especially the last one at Wayland.
4.     Murrin’s underdoggy seat drop at the Marshfield JV tournament.
5.    Winning the Peckham Tournament.  (JT, Jack, Mike & Steve champs)
6.      Grant, Anthony & Tyler all winning JV tournaments.
7.      17 people, bags and coolers on a mini-bus.  Open the window, Elliott!
8.      Winning the sectionals and avenging our loss to Holliston. (JT & Steve champs)
9.      “The Vomit Comet” striking not 1x, but 2x as Steve avenged his loss to Murphy.
10.   Finishing 2^nd at States and avenging our loss to Hingham.
11.   Steve’s one-armed pro-wrestling toss to pin the Tyngsboro heavyweight at States.
12.   Mike breaking 2 all-time NHS records (45 wins and 35 pins).
13.   Jack’s 106 career wins (5^th place all-time, NHS)
14.   Mike’s “Elevator Ride to Oblivion” at All-States.
15.  Steve’s 104 career pins (1^st place all-time, NHS)
16.   Tired and weary, realizing on the mini-bus ride home that our sectional championship was our 27^th win of the season, a new school record! 

Finally, I’d like to thank the Norton Wrestling Family who has supported our team this season.  First always is Mrs. Coach (my wife Dinny), for her devotion, time and leadership.  Many thanks to Andrea Cardone and all the parent volunteers who made our concession stand operation profitable and allowed us to pay for this banquet and awards for our wrestlers, to Ted and Lauren Marvel and Danny Cataldo for cooking another superb BBQ feast, and to Mike Kahn for producing our exciting highlights video.