2015 Awards Banquet & Season Summary

Peckham Tournament Team Champions

The 10th annual Norton Lancer Wrestling Team awards banquet was once again a wonderful celebration of a championship team and a very special family of coaches, wrestlers, parents, guardians and friends.  We began the afternoon at Francis Farm with an exciting highlight film put together by Russell Hansen from videos taken throughout the season by Mike Kahn and JoRean Sicks.  This was followed by a delicious BBQ dinner cooked up by Ted Marvel and Danny Cataldo of New England's Best Pig Pickins'.

Coach Coleman acted as master of ceremonies and Coaches Francis, Dunn, Pike and Santangelo all had good things to say about the team, the season and the prospects for the future.  Captains Marcon, Johnson, Donovan and Hansen reflected on their years in the program and provided heartfelt remarks and gave out gift certificates to the coaches that were greatly appreciated.

This banquet and awards were made possible by the Friends of Norton Wrestling booster club and the hard work and support of all the parents, guardians, friends and fans is something that the coaches and wrestlers are extremely thankful for and for which they expressed their gratitude.

We often say that championships begin in the classroom, so the first athletes to be recognized were the 20+ members of the team who made honor roll.  Heading up this list were Honor Society members Aidan Kahn, Lucas Lavallee, Taylor Lucero & Deven Schuko along with High Honor Roll members
Patrick Feeney, Travis Felice & Andy Murphy.

Seniors Jake Kent, Jordan Dowdy, Russell Hansen, Elliott Johnson, Adam Marcon & Alek Donovan were praised for their outstanding success as a class.  During their 4 years at NHS the team had a record of 107 wins and only 9 losses (both are team records), won 3 league championships, 3 sectional championships and 2 state championships.  A remarkable legacy!

This year's 24-4 record, TVL championship, runner-up at sectionals and final 4 at the state dual meet championships came at a price as the team suffered significant injuries to a number of key wrestlers.  But the team learned to IMPROVISE, ADAPT & OVERCOME and, in the end, their achievements,
including extending the team's home win streak to 35 and a JV record of 16-1, were significant.  

Special awards were given to the following Lancers, each outstanding in their own way:
     Most Valuable Wrestler - Deven Schuko
     Most Improved - Andy Murphy
     JFK (student-athlete-citizenship) - Aidan Kahn
     Outstanding Wrestler - Elliott Johnson
     2nd Effort Award - Russell Hansen
     Comeback Wrestler - Adam Marcon
     Unsung Hero - Connor Merriott
     Coaches' Award - Kyle Pereira
     Most Pins - Anthony Cardone
     JV Wrestlers of the Year - Johnny Rahwan & Justin Lunn
     Rookie of the Year - Patrick Feeney

Next year's co-captains, elected by their teammates, were announced.  Deven Schuko, Aidan Kahn & Anthony Cardone will lead the charge for the 2015-16 season.  Congratulations to these fine young men and to all the members of this year's team!

The afternoon concluded with a humorous and nostalgic slide show of photos taken by Stacie Schuko and put together by Mark Marcon.  Go, Lancers!