FRUSTRATING FINISH
A day that began with great promise ended without a state champion and a third-place finish for Cumberland grapplers
PROVIDENCE — When Cumberland sophomore Aidan Faria survived a late comeback attempt by Ponaganset’s Trevor Villanova in the 145-pound semifinals of the state wrestling tournament Saturday afternoon, it appeared everything was falling in place for the Clippers.
After Faria’s 4-3 victory, Cumberland was in a two-team race for the state title with talented Bishop Hendricken and the Clippers still had four more wrestlers competing in the semifinal round.
And then just about anything that could go wrong did go wrong for the 2017 state champions.
Only one of the remaining four semifinalists advanced to the title bout, the Clippers lost all the team points of 152-pounder Matt Maguire because of a disqualification and Brady Gillis, Colby Reilly, Faria and Reuben Hancock all suffered close defeats in the state finals. Cumberland wound up with nine medalists – 10 if you count Magu- ire – to finish in a tie for third place with Chariho with 176.5 points.
“We had a couple of tough breaks and the odds were against us in the finals because we were the underdog in each one,” Cumberland coach Colin Smith said. “I thought all four kids wrestled well and the matches were closer than when they wrestled the first time. If you put it in perspective, having 10 state placers and finishing third is something to be proud of.
“But, that’s not what we set our goal for. We look to win the state tournament every year. Hopefully these guys who are coming back next year will use what happened tonight as fuel.”
Bishop Hendricken returned to the top of the podium, winning its first state title since 2016 by scoring 221 pounds thanks to tournament victories from Andrew Fallon (120 pounds), Nate Williams (126 pounds) and Cumberland resident Nick Fine (138 pounds). Reigning state and New England champion Ponaganset was second with 190 points and three state champions.
The good news for Cumberland’s four state finalists and third-place finishers Dom Passanante (132 pounds) and Kaream Sangare (195 pounds) is the season isn’t over. All six wrestlers will return to the transitional gym this afternoon to preparations for this weekend’s New Englands, which starts Friday night at the PCTA.
“Those six guys are going to get back after [today] and they’re going to work hard to place at New Englands,” Smith said. “We preach New Englands all year, so those guys know how big this is. I’m still proud of them. Even though we didn’t get the ending we were hoping for, placing 10 guys here is impressive and all 14 guys scored points.”
The Clippers’ best chance to win a state title was at 113 pounds where Gillis was attempting to reverse a dual-meet defeat to Ponaganset’s Tim Cook. Gillis picked up a late takedown in the first period and rode out the Chieftain to take a two-point lead into the middle period. Cook escaped in the second to make it 2-1 and then Gillis made one mistake and Cook pounced.
After Cook gave up an escape point to start the third, Gillis tied up with Cook and the Chieftain took advantage with a throw. Gillis found himself on his back and pinned just 31 seconds into the final period for his second straight title defeat.
“He got caught in a bad spot. We talk about position a lot of the time; he got caught out of position,” Smith said. “Cook took advantage of it. Up until then, Brady was in control of the match.”
Reilly, who wrestled close matches through out the tournament, wrestled smartly against Williams in the opening period. Neither wrestler was willing to take a bad shot and the match was scoreless after one period. Williams, who is one of the best top wrestlers in the state, reversed the junior and rode him out in the second to grab a two-point lead. Williams earned a takedown in the third to finish off the victory.
Cumberland’s third opportunity to reverse a dual-meet decision came at 145 pounds where Faria met threetime state finalist Sean Caltagairone of Coventry. Just as he did in the dual meet, Caltagairone took advantage of Faria’s aggressiveness and hit a dump seconds into the match to take a lead he would never relinquish. The Oaker earned his third state title with a 6-2 victory.
“He’s good at it and we knew about it and we prepared for it,” Smith said. “That’s why he’s the champ, he knows he’s good at it and he knows when to use.”
Hancock and fellow reigning state champion Edison Guarcas of Hope engaged in the wildest finish in the tournament’s final bout. Hancock grabbed a one-point lead with 41 seconds left in the third period with a reversal, but the Blue Wave wrestler answered back with a reversal with seven seconds left.
Guarcas thought he was losing, so he released Hancock, but all that did was tie the score. Thinking he needed a takedown to win the 285-pound title, Hancock dove at Guarcas’ legs for a takedown with seconds remaining, which allowed the No. 1 seed to fall on top of Hancock for the 8-6 victory.
“I feel bad for Reuben in his senior year that the match ended that way,” Smith said. “He tied the match with seconds left and I don’t think either one realized the score. It is what it is and [Hancock] wrestled a great match. Edison is a great kid and I’m happy for him, but I’m proud of Reuben for reaching two state finals. He still has next week to become all-New England.
Passanante and Sangare were each finalists last season, but both came up short in the semifinals. Each wrestler battled back with two consolation wins to keep their season alive. Passananante posted a pair of pins to finish third, while Sangare produced a pin and a major decision to finish third.
Junior Phil Coppolino, who lost in the 220-pound semifinals on a stall call, finished fourth, while Corban Dias (106), Maguire and Tyler Shaw (160) all finished sixth.