FEARLESS LATIN PINS DOWN TOP POWERS
Fast-progressing Wolfpack flexing muscles on the mat
This is when you know you’ve arrived as a program: Boston Latin took Dual County League power Wayland to the wire last week before settling for a 33-33 tie. Normally, that outcome would be cause for celebrating, but the Wolfpack are no longer satisfied merely with close calls.
“To be honest, I thought we could have won the match,” Boston Latin coach Jeff Gibbons said. “I think we’re a confident enough team that we know we can hang with anyone.”
The fact that Boston Latin has been competitive in a league with entrenched programs such as Wayland, Lincoln-Sudbury and
Westford Academy is a testament to Gibbons and his staff. Many of the wrestlers in the program came in with little or no experience in the sport, though that is starting to change.
“We are starting to get some kids from Bobby Bligh’s Parkway Wrestling program as well as Jose Valenzuela (of Boston Youth Wrestling),” Gibbons said. “I’m also teaching in the school now, so I’ve tried to get the word out there about wrestling.”
Michael Francis Litto is the top wrestler on the team. A fifth-year performer, the 152-pounder is currently ranked fourth in the state and won the Big Red Tournament, while finishing second at the Framingham Holidays tournament. Aidan Kilgannon (182), described by his coach as country strong, Will Jerome (170), Nelson Wu (126) and James Le (106) have been solid performers. Frankly speaking
Franklin might have not have a roster loaded with potential Division 1 college talent, but the Panthers are proving to be a very solid high school team.
The Panthers opened with an 11-0 mark, relying on solid contributions up and down the lineup. The most recent win came at the Redhawks Duals as 120-pounder Mike Racca earned a pin in the final match to give Franklin a 35-29 win over perennialpower Natick.
“I don’t know how much championship power we have yet, but we have a really good group of kids,” longtime coach Carmine Colace said. “We’ve got a really good balance in the lineup and we’re going to be very tough to beat in dual meets because of that.”
Colace has been mentoring Franklin wrestlers with a great success since taking over the program in 1981 as a 19-year-old. His teams have won more than 500 matches and done it with a variety of lineups. One immediately gets the sense that the Hall of Fame coach is really enjoying working with this year’s group.
“This team works hard and wants to get better,” Colace said. “We’re a young team, so I think we’ll keep improving. Last year, we went 27-4 and wrestled eight or nine sophomores.”
Racca and Jordan Carlucci (106 pounds) have been solid this season. Franklin has received quality efforts from the likes of Ian Bakalars (113), T.J. Remillard (126), Dylan MacLean (145) and Eddie Cropper (152). Tremblay tops all
When Larry Tremblay was ready to leave Springfield College, he heeded one piece of advice from his college wrestling coach, Doug Parker. The gist of the message was simple, give something back to the sport.
Thirty-six years later, Tremblay has proven that he’s done that — and then some.
The longtime Winchester coach recently became the state’s all-time winningest wrestling coach when he picked up victory No. 682 against Woburn, 43-27. The 61-year-old mentor still has the passion, as anyone can attest by watching him squeeze every bit of talent out of his teams.
“I still have the passion for the sport,” said Tremblay, whose record is 68997-5. “I love doing the little things, like tweaking a lineup to get the best matchups, taking kids without much experience and teaching them the basic techniques of wrestling.”
What makes the numbers all the more impressive is the fact that Wimchester rarely wrestles in more than 25-30 dual meets a season. Tremblay prefers to give his team a challenging schedule and let the chips fall where they may.
“I think the most amount of matches we’ve wrestled in a season was 31 a few years ago and that was because of the dual-meet tournament,” Tremblay said. “We always try to wrestle the best teams every year and see where we stand.”
Despite having just one wrestler (Scott Downs at 106) ranked in the top 10 of his weight class in the latest masswrestling.com ranking and no seniors in the starting lineup, the Sachems head into the second half of the season with an 8-5 mark.