Mount Carmel wins third straight
David Denne’s dream of being a four-time Catholic League wrestling champ disappeared last year.
And Mount Carmel’s chances of putting up a good dual-meet record were gone by mid-December.
But Denne and the Caravan showed their resiliency on Saturday. Denne’s hard-fought 3-1 decision over Providence’s Vince Ambrose in the 220-pound championship put a capper on the Caravan’s 246-223 victory over runnerup St. Rita at Brother Rice for its third consecutive league title.
All that kept Denne from joining the elite list of four-time Catholic League winners was a 6-5 overtime loss to Bishop McNamara’s Channing Dolliger in last year’s 220 final. The Mount Carmel star, who earned the Lawless Award as the league’s top senior wrestler, won at 189 as a freshman and at 215 as a sophomore.
Last year’s loss was on his mind all week, Denne said. “But when I got here I wanted to focus more on my [Saturday] matches,” he added. “Last year, I don’t feel it went the way it should have. But you know, it happened.”
So did Mount Carmel’s 2-7 start. But Denne and some other members of the Caravan’s Class 8A football champs weren’t around for most of those losses. Now Mount Carmel’s at full strength, Denne’s in full-on wrestling mode and the team is living up to its potential.
“Cheesehead [tournament, earlier this month] was where I started to feel like I’ve really gained my wrestling shape,” said Denne, who is 24-6. “Every single match I’ve wrestled since then ... I’ve never been tired.”
Also winning titles for the Caravan were freshman Jake Tucker (30-7) at 120, Rodrigo Garay (228) at 126, Bryce Brill (33-0) at 145, Notay Jackson (20-1) at 152, Jack Hightower (8-2) at 170 and Jimmy Mickens (23-7) at 182.
Jackson and Brill were among of four repeat champs, along with Providence’s Ronald Triche (28-1) at 113 and St. Rita’s Ben Threloff (19-8) at 195. Also winning: St. Rita’s Mike O’Connor (27-8) at 138, Brother Rice’s Paul Balich (30-2) at 132 and Nuntrae Jackson (23-1) at 160 and Gordon Tech’s Justin Alonzo (22-4) at 285.