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12/10/2016 11:00 PMSound Correspondent
The Walsh Intermediate School wrestling team hosted its first Duals on Damascus on Dec. 10 and started the season with three wins to extend its unbeaten streak to 85-straight matches. In the big gym, Walsh topped East Hartford 78-10, took a 57-28 win over rival Haddam-Killingworth, and beat Berlin 72-30.
“I’m really excited because the kids wrestled well for their very first meet of the year,” said Coach Tom Ermini. “H-K was our second dual meet of the day and they’re a very good program.”
Walsh not only wrestled against East Hartford, Haddam-Killingworth, and Berlin in official matches, but competed in exhibition matches, as well. Throughout the day, about 180 wrestlers from the four schools took part in more than 220 matches.
“I wish I had the opportunity to see everyone wrestle, but I heard the exhibition matches went really well,” said Ermini. “The 5th-graders wrestled very well and we had two 5th-grade starters who each went 2-1. It’s going to be a really fun year.”
Ermini is also appreciative of the support he’s received from the Walsh wrestling families and the community. He worked closely with Ralph and Kristina Torre, as well as Neil and Holly Warner to prepare for the event.
“It was an enormous effort to put this on and a lot of people volunteered their time to help cook, supervise areas of the event, sell T-shirts, cook and sell food, and more,” said Ermini. “We had a ton of community support from everyone who donated and it made for an excellent event. I am so appreciative for everyone’s support.”
Coach Ermini, who thanked the event’s sponsors for their support, is looking forward to more success for his program in the 2016-’17 season and hopes his team will build on the experience gained at its quad-meet. Branford next takes on Middletown at Walsh on Friday, Dec. 16.
“Holding a quad-meet gives the kids an idea of what a high school meet might look like,” said Ermini. “We have a nice balanced team and I was very impressed.”