The Mt. Hope High School wrestling team began the 2024-25 season feeling very good about the winter ahead and so far the Huskies have done nothing to dampen that enthusiasm.

The locals sandwiched a pair of notable finishes at tournaments around a victory in an Interscholastic League Division I dual during and after the holiday recess. Mt. Hope closed last week with a 6-2 overall record and 2-1 in the league.

"We're looking phenomenal," Mt. Hope head coach Ryan Fazzi said of the season to date. "The athletes are coming together and establishing themselves as one of the best teams in Rhode Island. Despite being a young team, we are composed and precise. Our wrestlers constantly push to score early and often."

Mt. Hope spent this past weekend in Natick, Mass., where the Huskies placed third in the Redhawk Duals. The locals defeated the host's "B" team 58-21, Brookline 60-18, Algonquin 72-6, and Franklin 55-22. Their lone loss was a narrow one to Salem, N.H., 42-38. The host Natick "A" team later defeated Salem for the event championship.

For the day, Huskies Kyle McCarthy at 144 pounds, Anthony Lombardi at 150, Matthew Thibaudeau at 157, Colin Maloney at 215, and Ben Martel at 285, all finished undefeated. Nick Rogers lost just one of his bouts at 165.

In between tourneys, the Huskies defeated visiting North Kingstown, 57-22, in a Division I contest Thursday night, Jan. 2. Winners for the locals included Bryce Brown at 120, Eli Francis at 126, Aidan Squatrito at 132, Ethan Martel at 138, McCarthy at 144, Lombardi at 150, Thibaudeau at 157, Rogers (forfeit) at 165, Robert Annis (forfeit) at 190 and Maloney at 215.

The Huskies also spent part of their Christmas break participating in the Marshfield (Mass.) Holiday Tournament, where the locals finished fourth overall among 37 competitors. The Huskies earned 172 points, led by three runner-up results individually.

Bridgewater-Raynham was the overall team winner with 268.5 points, paced by three solo wins, one second-place finish, two thirds and a fourth. New Bedford was the team runner-up with 196.5 points. North Attleboro was third by a mere half-point just ahead of the locals with a total of 172.5.

Ethan Martel, at 138 pounds, McCarthy, at 144, and Michael Bouchard, at 113, each finished second in their respective weight classes for Mt. Hope.

Martel was defeated in the championship match by Brent Von Magnus of the winning Bridgewater-Raynham via pin in 32 seconds. He won his four previous outings in the event, two by tech fall (17-1, 16-1) and two by pin (3:34 and :57). McCarthy fell 15-10 in the 144 final to

Braintree's Michael Nigro. He won his initial three matches by pin (2:36, 5:22 and 5:12) then won his semi by a slim 4-3 decision over fellow Rhode Islander Kason Wirtz of Toll Gate (Warwick).

Bouchard began and ended his run with pinfall decisions, a victory in 1:02 and a loss to Hingham's Ethan Kadish for the 113 title in 3:09. In between he won two matches by tech falls (24-9 and 19-4) and another by decision (16-14).

Of note as well for the Huskies, Lombardi wrestled back to third place at 150 pounds with a 9-3 decision over Camden Hawkes of Silver Lake. Lombardi dropped a 5-2 decision to eventual class champ Matthew Patterson of Middleboro, who pinned Sharon's Nick Varvak (1:51) in the title match. Mt. Hope's other top finishers were Rogers fifth at 165, Logan Sousa seventh at 106 and Francis eighth at 126.

Also of significance from Marshfield, senior Ethan Martel collected the 100th victory of his career, something Fazzi initially referred to as a "huge accomplishment."

Fazzi continued, "Ethan is a standout success story for Mt. Hope. As a freshman, he struggled, securing only 13 wins. His sophomore year, despite weighing just 127 pounds, he filled the 138-point varsity spot and had only 22 wins. By his junior year, he made significant strides, earning team captaincy, achieving more than 50 wins and placing fifth at the state tournament, all while maintaining high academic honors. Now a senior, he's has already made it to the Marshfield finals and is expected to excel at the Rhode Island state tournament."

In the fall, Martel intends to major in Biology at Emmanuel College in Boston, where plans to be a member of the Saints' inaugural wrestling team.

The Huskies are back on the tournament trail this weekend when they head to Fazzi's native New Jersey to compete against local sides there Montville, Kinnelon and Sayreville.

Of the trip Fazzi said, "It’s a great opportunity for our team to test themselves against tough competition, and I have no doubt they’ll rise to the occasion."

— East Bay Media Group and eastbayri.com contributing photographer Julie Furtado shot the accompanying gallery of photos.