Panthers edge Huskies on Senior Night

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Bolstered by four pins, Johnston High’s wrestling Panthers posted an impressive 39-30 victory over visiting Mount Hope High of Bristol Monday night inside the Edward L. DiSimone Gymnasium.

Chris LaVallee, who competes at 106 pounds, started Johnston’s pin parade and perhaps ignited the spark for Anthony Andriole (126), Eddie Melvin (1432) and James Baccala (145), who also recorded pins that helped the Panthers make senior night a huge success.

Likewise, Brad Testa (138), Frank Ferraccio (152) and Elijah Burgess (160) posted decisions in their respective matches that JHS Head Coach Kevin Sutherland, a one-time standout at Rhode Island College, later agreed were the Panthers’ keys to victory.

“This has been a challenging season for us to compete on a team level,” Sutherland, who has been ably assisted by former Johnston Youth Wrestling head coach John Antonucci, told the Sun Rise. “When you are forced to give individual matches away due to forfeits, it is very difficult to come out on top of the team score.”

However, Monday night’s victory – which marked the Panthers’ final home match of the 2016-17 season – perhaps spoke volumes about the future of wrestling at JHS.

“For starters, with the loss of only two seniors and several promising eighth graders coming to JHS from the Ferri Middle School program, the future is very promising,” Sutherland offered. “This year, we focused on having the wrestlers that do not stop on the mat and compete as hard as they can.”

Yet another bright sign of things to come is that Sutherland’s squad started four freshmen this winter in addition to five juniors and two seniors.

Moreover, as Antonucci emphasized while helping Johnston Youth Wrestling President Lisa Baccala put up special posters and a banner as a special tribute for the Panthers’ three seniors: “We have an excellent feeder program at the youth level that keeps getting stronger each year.”

So, with only one regular season match remaining, Sutherland and Antonucci will be working a bit harder during the next few weeks as they prepare the Panthers for what JHS wrestling fans are hoping will be more success in the upcoming state tournament.

Prior to Monday night’s match, Sutherland spoke briefly about each of the three Panthers seniors as he introduced their parents and each JHS wrestler presented their moms with a red rose.

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