Firmly back on solid ground after a slight dip a few years ago, the East Providence High School wrestling team starts its second season back in the Division I ranks in earnest in the coming days.

The Townies posted a 7-5 record in league duals last winter and earned 61 points to place 11th at the 2023 state championship meet.

Graduated from that group are the three wrestlers who placed — Martim Moniz, Robbie Amaral and Jacob Poore — though EP does return a core group of capable performers who scored points at the championships mixed in with a number of talented, but inexperienced athletes at the high school level.

"We were in a down cycle there for a little while, but now I think we're in a good place," said the Townies' now Hall of Fame mentor Tom Galligan, who is in Year 31 as the EPHS head coach. Galligan, himself a standout wrestler as a Townie and beyond, was inducted into the Rhode Island Wrestling Hall of Fame last spring.

He continued, "Last year we had a solid team that did pretty good, but we lost of lot of guys. This is a really young team. We only have one senior and we have some guys out right now, so it's kind of a rotating lineup. But they're really enthusiastic and even when they're losing matches, they're working their butts off.

"And like I keep telling them learning every time we step on the mat is the most important thing right now."

Early-season starters
Among those key returnees for 2023-24 are the team captains: senior Simon Palumbo along with juniors Charles Phillips and Ferhat Akdemir.

Phillips and Palumbo, at 138 and 145 pounds respectively, went 2-2 at states last winter as did junior Jordan Carl at 195.

Akdemir did not record a point at 170 nor did returning senior Machar Francis at heavyweight or junior Jonathan Raposo at 113.

As for the current campaign, the Townies opened with a fifth-place team finish during their annual trip to Waterford High in Waterford, Conn. for the Lancer Invitational.

Phillips won the 144 division and will compete there or at 138, at which he won three times last Friday, Dec. 29, in the Townies' own Manny Vinhateiro Holiday Duals.

Incidentally, East Providence, as a whole, went 3-0 at the Vinhateiro Duals. The Townies easily defeated both Barrington and South Kingstown, then edged Smithfield in their finale after Francis won the last bout of the match via pin at heavyweight.

Palumbo looks set to compete at 157 pounds and Akdemir at 175. Francis will start his third season as EP's top heavy. Raposo wrestles at 126 and Carl at 190.

The youth referred to by Galligan comes in the remainder of East Providence's early-season starters.

The rest of the Townies' lineup at the moment shapes up as follows: juniors Jayden Cabral and/or Deacon McShane at 106; sophomore Spencer Smith at 113; Aydin Schifino at 120; sophomore Brennan Bernard at 132; junior Jason Brown at 144; sophomore Cameron Pedro at 150; freshman Tyler Auclair at 165; and sophomore Aithan Vasquez at 215.

"It's a great group of kids to be around. They're all working real hard. We're young and we have a lot of interchangeable parts," Galligan said, who is assisted again by EPHS wrestling alum Mario Peoples.

Galligan was effusive in his praise of his aide, saying, "Mario deserves a lot of the credit for where we are. He's just fantastic with the kids. He's fantastic for the program. He's helped me out a lot these last couple of years."

Back to his team, Galligan continued, "I don't know if I've ever had a team that has so many interchangeable kids. It's a good 'team, team.' When they're competing, they're cheering on each other. Like the other day, Deacon wasn't able to wrestle, but he was cheering on Jayden, wanting him to do well. They're good like that."

Looking ahead to states, something Galligan doesn't like to do especially at this point of the season, the coach said he once again expects the likes of Akdemir, Phillips, Palumbo, Francis and Carl, among others, to be in the mix at their weights.

"We have some other kids that are working hard and could be in the mix. Like I always say, as long as the kids put in the work and leave everything they have out on the mat, that's all I can ask for,"  said Galligan.

He added, "It's going to be interesting. I'm sure there's going to be days, when I'm wondering what's going on. And then there'll be other days when I'll be pleasantly surprised with what's going on. So it's going to be fun."

Correction
Akdemir's name was misspelled in the December 21 edition of The Post in a blurb about the Townies' appearance at the Lancer Invitational. Akdemir placed second at 175 pounds.