Can anyone stop Bridgewater-Raynham?
Deep team has lost only once
In the eyes of Bridgewater-Raynham wrestling coach Sean Petrosino, the potential for success was certainly there.
The results have proven Petrosino correct.
Bridgewater-Raynham put together one of its best regular seasons in school history, posting a 23-1-1 record (3-0 in the Southeast Conference). The only loss came early in the season against Whittier when the Trojans were missing several starters due to illness.
“I liked our team going into the season, but I didn’t know if we could do this well,” Petrosino said. “I figured we might lose a match here and there due to injuries and the cold and flu season, but we’ve had kids really step up.”
Like any successful team, good leadership is one of the keys and BridgewaterRaynham is no different. Captains Chris Hogg (182 pounds) and Christian Hurley (170) have done it all both on and off the mat for the Trojans.
“They run the warmups, they run part of the practice — it’s really like having extra assistants,” Petrosino said. “Hogg is undefeated on the season and recently won his 100th match, while Curley has just one loss. They’re such good leaders and good kids.”
The marque name in the lineup is Nathan Leach. The top-ranked 195-pounder in the state, Leach has been virtually unbeatable. Brent Von Magnus is the fourthranked wrestler at 120 and has only lost once this season. Myles Beckett has been a glue man at 220, willing to do whatever it takes to help the team.
“He missed some time early in the year with sickness, but ever since he’s come back he’s been a stud,” Petrosino said. “He’s had some really outstanding wins. He’s also the kind of kid that will do whatever we need. Some matches we’ve bumped him up to heavyweight where he’s giving away 60-70 pounds and has done an outstanding job.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise has been freshman Kennedie Davis at 106. She’s stepped in and been a huge factor with 22 wins.
“She wrestled as an eighth grader last year so we all knew she was tough, but wasn’t sure how well she would do at this level,” Petrosino said. “But she’s been on fire, she’s done well all year long, done well at legitimate tournaments. She’s just tough as nails.”
Coleman stepping down
Norton wrestling coach Pat Coleman loves everything about his job except for one thing. As a result of that one thing, Coleman announced last week that he was retiring following the season to do the one thing that wrestling wouldn’t allow him to do — spend more time with his growing family.
“I’m 73 years so I’m one of the senior guys in coaching,” said Coleman, who has more than 500 wins and three Div. 3 state titles on his resume. “I’m a grandfather of four with a fifth coming next month. I just wanted to have more time with my children and grandchildren, so I think this is the right time.
“I still love the sport, love the team I am coaching. I have a great athletic director (Aaron Summer), strong support from the school and the wrestling families here are great. I’m happy to say with confidence that I am turning over a good program to my successor, Bo Santangelo.”
Family was the reason Coleman stepped aside years ago. Having served as *head coach at both Brookline
and Newton North, Coleman took a two-decade sabbatical from the sport to start a family. When his son Scott showed an interest in the sport, Coleman stepped up and started the wrestling program at Norton in 20052006.
“I appealed to the school to start the sport and they said as long as it didn’t cost them anything, we could do it. I was a volunteer head coach for a couple of years before I got a salary,” Coleman said with a laugh. “When we started the program, we wrestled a JV schedule and the team consisted primarily of juniors with no wrestling experience.
“I was expecting to compete as a JV program the next year, but the kids came up to me and said they wanted to compete as a varsity program so they could get a varsity letter. We started 0-9 and finished 1115, then won the Tri-Valley
League title in 2008.”
Coleman is quick to credit his assistants who helped him along the way, starting with Brian Gallagher, Peter
Holmes and Jeff Francis. Gallagher helped Coleman get started before going on to coach at Foxboro and Walpole. Holmes wrestled
at Harvard and brought a no nonsense approach to the mat, while Francis has been everything Coleman could ask for in an assistant.