Durkin goes to mat for CC
Coach’s hard work, apprenticeship pays
There was no question in recent years that four-year assistant coach Jamie Durkin was going to take over the Central Catholic wrestling program when Dennis King left.
So when King announced that the 2015-16 season would be his last, Durkin was groomed to ensure a smooth transition. It’s worked so well that the Raiders are 14-0 in Durkin’s first season as head coach.
“Things have gone well, you can’t do better than this,” Durkin said with a laugh. “I learned so much the last four years under Dennis. He’s not someone who is going to say a lot, but I picked up so much from the way he detailed everything — from his practices to the matches.”
Durkin is no stranger to Central Catholic, having wrestled for King from 1997-2000. He was a twotime Division 1 state champion and All-State finalist and eventually went on to wrestle collegiately at both Clarion and Western New England.
He jumped into coaching in 2010, taking over a fledgling Andover program for two seasons, before returning to Central Catholic as an assistant under King. During that time, he saw King’s ability to bring out the best in his wrestlers.
“Coach always believes that if you put in the time and detail to wrestling, you will be successful,” Durkin said of his mentor. “It’s been great having him around, someone to talk to about wrestling.”
Central Catholic figured to be tough to beat in a tournament format as Tyler Glynn (106 pounds) and Carlos Cabrera (285) are the state’s top-rated wrestlers in their weight class, while Joey Sanchez is second at 126. According to Durkin, it’s been a host of different guys stepping up at key junctures to help the Raiders maintain an undefeated record. “In our match against North
Andover, our 160-pounder (Connor Murphy) stepped up and beat a kid who was no slouch and that was a big win for us,” Durkin said. “David Onyemem is wrestling for the first time and he had a big win over the 195-pounder at Chelmsford. Those are the type of things we’ve been getting from kids all year long.”
The streak lives
When St. John’s Prep trudged off the mat after losing to Xaverian in 1998, longtime Eagles coach Manny Costa never would have imagined that would be his team’s last Catholic Conference loss.
Yet, this month St. John’s Prep clinched its 19th straight Catholic Conference title and extended its league winning streak to 79 with a 60-12 victory over
Catholic Memorial Wednesday night. No one is more surprised than Costa that the run has endured.
“Our first goal every year is to win the Catholic Conference title, but I really wasn’t sure where we were going to get the wins because we are so young,” Costa said. “The league is generally tough — BC High and Xaverian are tough,
Malden Catholic has gotten better and Catholic Memorial is really improved.”
Costa knew he could depend on his three most accomplished veterans — Ryan Garlitz (113), Malcolm Mitchell (126) and Zach Alexander (132). The key has been the development of a strong group of underclassmen, their progress playing a large part in the team’s 23-3 record to date.
“The young guys have worked very hard and bought into what we are doing,” said Costa, one of the few Massachusetts coaches with 600 wins. “But you can see that they are getting better and better every day and that’s nice to see.”
Call to the Hall
The Massachusetts Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame induction will be held on April 29 at 5:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
Among the locals being honored for lifetime service by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame are coaches Bob Anniballi ( Natick), Tom Bartosek ( Canton), Pat Coleman ( Norton) and Craig Stone ( Lynnfield-North Reading). In addition, the Outstanding American inductee is Dr. John Passarini ( Waltham).
Also being honored are the 1991 Randolph team and the 1992 Springfield Central squad as it will be the 25th anniversary of its Div. 1 team state title. Franklin will be recognized for its decade of dominance, winning seven Div. 2 state titles from 1990-2000.
The banquet and ceremonies will be held in one of the stadium’s function halls. For more info or to buy tickets, go to manwhof.ticketleap.com.