Avery pushes L-S ahead
One of the biggest challenges facing first-year Lincoln-Sudbury wrestling coach Nick Avery was just how far he could push a high school athlete.
The answer is far enough
NO HOLDS BARRED Dan Ventura
to be 17-1 and ranked fifth in the state.
“That was a big concern of mine when I took the job,” said Avery, an All-Scholastic wrestler at Foxboro in 2006. “I spoke to (former Herald AllScholastic) David Shunamon about it because he coached (at Westford Academy), and he said you can push them hard and not to worry about it.
“I’ve been very impressed with how hard the kids here work. We’ve pushed them hard and they’ve responded even better than I expected.”
On a team with five wrestlers ranked among the top 10 in their respective weight classes by masswrestling. the headliner is Ben Defronzo. The senior captain is rated the No. 1 wrestler in the state at 106 pounds.
“He’s a very talented kid who works his butt off every day,” Avery said. “He’s great on his feet and I think he is the quickest wrestler in the state regardless of weight class.”
The other four L-S wrestlers who currently hold spots in the top 10 include Mac Hamilton (No. 10 at 113), Jake Galligani (No. 5 at 132), Joe Rottman (No. 10 at 138) and Adrian Berg (No. 6 at 145).
As for other Warriors wrestlers, Ben Iuliano (182), Sam Forman (120) and Nico Dionisotti (170) all have quality wins under their belt.
The only blemish on the record was to top-ranked North Andover. The loss came at the tail end of a quad-meet, one in which Lincoln-Sudbury knocked off a pair of ranked teams in West Springfield and Southington (Conn.) prior to the North Andover match.
“The loss showed us how much learning we still needed to do,” Avery said. “We were down, but that was a good thing for us. The kids know they have to keep pushing to get better.”
That’s something Lincolnhas had no problem doing this year.
Rockets on rise
One of the pleasant surprises of the season has been Reading. The Rockets head into the home stretch with a solid 11-2 record, the only losses coming to top10 teams Winchester and Shawsheen.
The key to the success, according to coach Craig Murphy, is the balance up and down the lineup. There may not be a New England Champion in the lineup, but they will make you work at every weight class.
“I think what has helped us is the experience we have the lineup, we haven’t had to use any freshmen,” Murphy said. “We have a pretty solid dual meet team in that we’re consistent up and down the lineup.”
The top-rated wrestler on the team in junior Nick Makrys (126). Ranked No. 3 in his weight class, Makrys placed second in the Wakefield and Timberlane tournaments, while finishing third at the Lowell Holidays tourney.
Makrys is part of a junior class Murphy believes is the true strength of the team. Jimmy King (220) took a third at the Timberlane, while Nate Perry (152), Andre Carr (195), Alex Webb (145), Griffin Killian (106) and Brendan Byrne (182) are very solid performers.
A trio of senior captains, Brendan Ford (132), David Graham (160) and Jonathan Ross (170), have supplied terrific leadership. Another senior, Luke Beaulieu (152) has filled in nicely, while sophomore Adam Morton (138) comes from a wrestling family.
Tourney slate set
With no dual-meet tournament on the horizon, the postseason focus has returned to the individual tournament. The sectional tournaments will be held on Feb. 9, the state meets on Feb. 15-16, the All-States on Feb. 22-23 capped off by the New England championships on March 1-2.
The sectionals will be held at the following venues: Div. 1 Central (Newton South), Div. 1 North (Lawrence), Div. 1 South (Braintree), Div. 1 West (Springfield Central), Div. 2 Metro (Quincy), Div. 2 North (Tewksbury), Div. 2 South (Whitman-Hanson), Div. 2 Central (Marlboro), Div. 3 Central (Wayland), Div. 3 North (Melrose), Div. 3 South (Foxboro) and Div. 3 West (Monument Mountain).
The state meets will be contested at Newton South (Div. 1), Marshfield (Div. 2) and Wakefield (Div. 3), the All-States are at Salem and the New England Championships will be held at the Providence Career and Technical Center in Providence, R.I.