The Mt. Hope wrestling team is ready to start the new season with a new coach, senior leadership and freshman ready to make an impact. New head coach Eric Francis wrestled for Bristol High School from 1986-1990. He wrestled some at RIC and coached at Bristol High School and Kickemuit Middle School before landing a head coaching position at Somerset High School in 2006, where his team won a championship during his tenure. His goal is to bring a championship to Mt. Hope.

“We have a very solid line up. We have a couple of holes we need to fill in,” he said.

Huskies seniors Alex Tainsh, Aaron Meyers and Cam Nappi helped lead the team to a second place finish at their own Sharon Lombardo Huskies Holiday Wrestling Tournament on Saturday. The Huskies scored 146.5 points with two first place winners, one second place, three third place and one fourth place finisher. Franklin High School won the tournament scoring 256 points.

Tainsh (152 lbs) and Meyers (170 lbs) each placed third after losing matches in preliminary rounds.

“They are good leaders for our team. “They lead by example. they both wrestled back to get third place. Which is a big deal. It’s important to show the younger guys that we have to work hard through out the whole tournament. Keep wrestling hard and don’t pack it in,” said coach Francis.

Nappi (138 lbs) lost in finals to Wilker Pedro of Brockton High School.

“He got caught trying a big throw. He was down on points, so he went for a big throw and got pinned. But it was a very close match. I expect quite a bit from him this year. He has placed twice already in the state tournament (at Hendricken). He’s quite an accomplished wrestler, so he should do pretty well. He will likely compete at 132 for us this year,” said the coach.

The Huskies also have three freshman that should make a huge impact on the team.

Freshman Nick Gomes and Corey Grifka both won the tournament at their weights and look very strong. Gomes defeated Jake Carlucci of Franklin High School to take first place at 106 lbs and Grifka beat Ayomide Dnalide of Hope High School to take first at 160 lbs.

“Gomes upset the one seed, Chris LaVallee of Johnston in the semifinal round and beat Jake Carlucci of Franklin High School to win the tournament. It’s a great accomplishment for a freshman coming in. We were quite proud of him,” said coach Francis.

“Grifka was unbeaten at middle school. He looks very sound. He is a very technical wrestler and he holds his position. He keeps his head in tough matches. He wrestled unbelievably well in the tournament. It’s a tough thing to do as a freshman at 160 lbs,” said coach Francis.

Freshman Liam Mallon (113 lbs) placed fourth in the tournament and his brother Noah, a junior, wrestled back and placed third.

“Liam did very well. Noah had a few injuries last year. We are looking for him to really come through this year and finish strong. As a junior he competed unbelievably well in the tournament. I was proud of the way they wrestled,” said the coach.

Trey Coroa (126 lbs), Antoine Mouligne (182), Brian Gamez (220 lbs) Rich Amaral and Spencer McGuire will round out the team, though the coach is still trying to fill in a couple of holes for their first match against Coventry at the high school on Thursday night. Over all he was happy with the way the team wrestled in the tournament.

“The team exceeded the expectations that I had for them for the tournament. That was the highest that they have placed in the tournament. I was very proud of the way they wrestled. They came to wrestle and they did their job. That’s all I can ask as a coach.” he said.