On the medal stand
Nick Gosselin, Jacob Felix and Mason Lynch all earned medals at Saturday’s state meet
PROVIDENCE — When the second day of the RIIL wrestling state tournament started Saturday morning at the PCTA, three Blackstone Valley wrestlers who had dreams of wrestling at New Englands next weekend knew how long the road was to the medal stand.
Burrillville junior Nick Gosselin and a pair of the state’s top 106-pound wrestlers – Tolman junior Jacob Felix and Lincoln sophomore Mason Lynch – failed to reach the semifinals, which meant they needed to win four matches on Saturday to finish in third place.
Only one of the three – Lynch – survived the consolation semifinals with their dream of New Englands still intact. The Lion started his third-place match with Ponaganset’s Tim Cook on the right foot when he hit a shin whizzer to put the Chieftain to his back in the opening period. Cook responded in the second and pinned the Lion 51 seconds into the middle period with an overhead cradle to consign Lynch to fourth place.
“The original goal at the beginning of the season was to get on the medal stand and he did that, he achieved his goal,” Lincoln coach Michael Tuorto said. “We got greedy and we wanted him to get to New Englands as a sophomore, which would’ve been invaluable experience. It didn’t happen, but it was a true testament to the kid with how he wrestled today after losing [Friday night].”
Lincoln ended up finishing 19th with 36.5 points, which was disappointing for Tuorto, who was hoping to see at least three kids reach the medal stand. Senior Jeremy Batista simply ran into a brutal draw at 145 pounds, as the returning state finalist suffered a first-round defeat to three-time state finalist Noah Young of Coventry. Batista won a match in the consolation bracket, but was bounced much earlier than he had hoped.
Lincoln’s second-best scorer was 285-pounder Thomas Wright, who posted a pair of pins before bowing out Saturday morning. Wright wrestled even though his mother died Tuesday night after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Some of Lincoln’s younger wrestlers like freshman Christian Balon, 138-pounder Allen Setaro and Jordan Vieira picked up valuable experience heading into next season. Balon and Setaro each won a pair of matches.
“It was a disappointing tournament for us as a team because we had very high aspirations to do well here,” Tuorto said. “Obviously it didn’t happen, but that’s what happens in February at the PCTA in the state tournament. Some things go well and some don’t.”
Cook was only in the 106-pound thirdplace match because he overcame a three-point first-period deficit to Felix, who wrestled for Central Falls/Tolman/Shea co-op in the consolation semifinals. Felix, thanks to his superb neutral skills, secured a pair of takedowns in the opening period to take the lead.
Even though he struggled on the bottom in the second period, Felix was still in the match going into the third period, but that’s when Cook took control and earned a pin with 12 seconds left in the contest.
“He’s a second-year wrestler, so to place fifth is a good accomplishment for him,” said CF coach Pierre Ridore after Felix won his fifthplace match 8-5. “We wanted him to finish third so he could go to New Englands, but he’s got one more year left and he’s going to get better.”
“From now on, I’m practicing every day,” Felix said after avenging a quarterfinal overtime defeat to Mt. Hope’s Nick Gomes. “I’m just going to keep repeating and working hard. I’m going to be a state champ next year.”
Gosselin, who reached the semifinals last season before finishing third, was bounced into the 152-pound consolation bracket by returning state finalist Richard Andrews of Ponaganset. Gosselin posted a pair of bonus-point victories in the consolation bracket before he met Chariho’s James Dougherty for the third time this season.
In the pair’s rubber match, Dougherty produced a pin 1:14 into the second period to end Gosselin’s New Englands dream. The junior earned a 9-0 victory in the fifth-place match.
“We weren’t dealt the best cards because I came in with bronchitis on top of my asthma,” Gosselin said. “That definitely hurt me in the quarters, but I came out fighting no matter what. This is motivation for next year because I’m not leaving high school without a state championship.”
Burrillville coach Vinny Micucci was proud of the way some of his younger wrestlers like Jack Sullivan, Bobby Thatcher, John Libby and Colby Stockwell wrestled as the Broncos scored 27.5 points
“A lot of the young wrestled deep into this tournament,” Micucci said. “Jack Sullivan came up a match short of where he would’ve medaled. I got the confirmation that [Josh Kanakry] will be back next season after his concussion. The young guys stepped up and did a great job.”