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Sport of the Week
Hiller Grapplers Show They Can Compete With Elite Top TVL Team, Despite Tough Loss To Neighboring Panthers, 39-24
January 26, 2012 — It’s been an up and down season for the Hiller grapplers due to some unfortunate and untimely injuries on this wrestling team. Despite their setback, Hopkinton is still staying competitive. “At this point, I’d like to obviously be a lot healthier as a team,” says Coach Tim Nelson. “But with respect to our team’s situation, our performance and schedule I’m proud of the way the team is doing. They’re hanging tough with some of the better teams in the state and beating the teams that they should. Our injuries certainly haven’t helped us.” Nelson is referring to five key contributors in their respective weight classes: Scott Nixon, a sophomore (113 lbs.), who has been out due to a rotator cuff injury sustained earlier in the season; Tyler DeWolfe, a senior captain (132 lbs.), who has been out all season with a shoulder injury which he sustained during football season. “This has been a big blow for us,” said Nelson. “Tyler would have been a huge factor for us had he been healthy.” Another senior captain, Tucker Mayo (160 lbs.) has been out with a shoulder injury as well, but should be ready, hopefully, come time for post season action. Callan Berry, a sophomore (182 lbs.) suffered a concussion in a previous match and will be forced to sit out a week (MIAA rules) for this week’s competition and senior (220 lbs.) John Schofield has also been sidelined battling a lingering back injury sustained during football season. He is being re-evaluated to see if and when he will be able to return. “John is a very strong wrestler and a key wrestler filling one of our upper weight class spots,” says Nelson. On a positive note, this year’s squad has produced the largest numbers since Nelson has been coaching at Hopkinton. “We have a young team mostly comprised of freshmen and sophomores which bodes well for our future,” said Nelson. Typically when a team encounters obstacles, it presents opportunities for others to step up and perhaps even catch the eye of the coach. For Nelson this has been the case. Wrestlers acknowledged for their effort include: Nick Ferris (a 126 pound sophomore), brothers Nolan (145 lbs., sophomore) and Nick Cornu (132 lbs., senior), senior captain Jesse Shea (152 lbs.), Collin Shea (106 lbs., freshman) and senior Tim O’Malley (285 lbs.).
“Nick (Ferris) is starting to come into his own
and is starting to peak,” said Nelson. “This is good for him as we
start to get ready for the upcoming post season. Both Nolan and Nick
(Cornu) have been consistent all year and have a great shot at
qualifying for the state tournament this year. Jesse has been our
most elite wrestler at this point. He looks to contend for a
sectional title and place in the state tournament. Collin (Shea)
has been an up and coming wrestler and shows promise for the
future. Tim (O’Malley) has a great shot at placing or even winning
at the sectional tournament for us.”
THE REST OF THE STORY: Last night saw Hopkinton (7-7) put up a good match to second place Holliston (13-30, despite not having the services of five key starters from their lineup, due to injuries. Despite the final outcome, losing 39-24, the Hillers made a gallant effort. The Panthers took a quick 12-0 lead with two straight pins. Hopkinton’s E.J. Picozzi (120 lbs.) and Nick Ferris (126 lbs.) won back to back pins to tie the score at 12-12, while senior Nick Cornu (132 lbs.) gave Hopkinton a 15-12 lead with his impressive 3-1 overtime decision win. Holliston bounced back to pick up 6 more points on a pin decision, giving the Panthers a total of 18 points to Hopkinton’s 15. But an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Hillers deducted a point off of their score to have it stand at 18-14. Nolan Cornu (145 lbs.) scored a major decision win (9-1) giving his team four points to tie the score at 18-18. Jesse Shea (152 lbs.) won a 7-1 decision to put the Hillers on top 21-18 with five matches remaining on the night. Two quick pins by Holliston and another win by forfeit in the 182 weight class gave the Panthers a 36-21 lead with two matches to go. Roddy Towner (220 lbs.) also had an impressive overtime decision win (9-7) bringing the Hiller score to 36-24. Holliston picked up three more points with a decision win on the final match, giving the Panthers a 39-24 victory on the night. “I thought we wrestled very tough tonight,” said Coach Nelson. “I knew that they (Holliston) had a lot of good wrestlers in their lineup and that we’d have our hands full. I did think that our guys rose to the occasion and did a good job picking the team up, despite not having five of our regular out.” Hopkinton will travel to Reading High School this Saturday for a Quad meet against Reading, Nashoba and Woburn. Then on the following Wednesday, the Hillers will finish their regular season finale at home, taking on Northbridge for their Senior Night. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to take in a wrestling match, I would encourage you to check it out. There’s a lot of action to be seen and it’ll be worth your time! Support your Hiller Wrestlers. |
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"The News Starts Here!"
By:
Lou Ottaviani