In the lead-up to the varsity state championship meet later in the month, members of the Mt. Hope High School wrestling team participated in the 2025 Freshmen/Junior Varsity state competition held February 14 and 15 in Coventry where several Huskies shined.

Mt. Hope finished third in the freshmen standings with 124 points. North Kingstown won the title with 149. Scituate was second with 137.5. Cranston West won the JV championship.

The Huskies were led by stellar first-year performers Kyle McCarthy, the reigning middle school state champ at his weight who won the title this winter at 144 pounds, and Eli Francis, who captured the 126 crown.

McCarthy was dominant in both his semi and final matches, winning the championship over Izayah Rison of East Greenwich via tech fall, 20-5, and his round of four match via major decision, 12-3, over Tyler Vargas of Ponaganset. Francis was just as concise, winning both of his last two matches quickly via pin.

"Eli winning was great. He finished seventh last year at middle school states, so we were happy to see him win the whole thing this year," MHHS head coach Ryan Fazzi said. "Kyle was just awesome. In the semis he beat the kid who he faced in the middle school finals last year and won something like 2-0. He just destroyed him (Saturday) and then he had another outstanding performance in the final."

As well, Luka Saganic was the runner-up at 150, falling to Aiden Grover of Scituate by pin late in the first round. In addition, Bryce Brown, at 120, and Travis Furtado, at 138, each wrestled back to third-place results. Another highlight for the locals came in the JV portion of the event as Arion Ferris won his second title at 113 pounds.

"It's great to the see the improvement everyone has had throughout the season," Fazzi added of the Huskies' overall performance last weekend. "They're doing everything they've been taught to do, supposed to do. It's hard guageing the freshmen during the regular season going up against upperclassmen. So comparing them to other freshmen, they did excellent."

The Huskies next compete in the first-of-its-kind, Red and Green state qualifier tournament Saturday, Feb. 22, at LaSalle. The event is being used as a new means of seeding athletes for the state championships. The top 10 finishers every class at the qualifier advance to the 2025 RIIL State Meet the next weekend at the PCTA Fieldhouse, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28 and March 1.