The Mt. Hope High School wrestling squad completed a superb 2024-25 season last weekend by placing third as a team in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League State Championship Meet held Friday and Saturday, Feb. 28 and March 1, at the Providence Career and Tech Academy Fieldhouse.

The Huskies placed eight wrestlers among the top six in their respective weight classes, accruing 128.5 points.

Ponaganset continued its dynastic run, winning its third consecutive team title with 315.5 points. The Chieftains, who have also won the last two New England high school tournaments, claimed 10 of the 13 individual state champs.

Bishop Hendricken was the runner-up with 178.5 points. South Kingstown was fourth behind Mt. Hope with 125.5 and East Providence was fifth with 116.

For the Huskies, it was their best finish since winning the program's first state title in 2021.

"First, I want to thank my assistant coaches Doug Sampson, Brad Oliver, Eric Francis, Collin Cardoso, and Byron Thibaudeau for a great season. Without each of these men, we would not be as successful," said Mt. Hope head coach Ryan Fazzi.

He continued, "Also, the parents and the Bristol/Warren community have been nothing but supportive of our program. Overall, I think we performed really well. We had eight state place finishers this year, up from five last year, and we jumped from sixth place to third as a team. That’s a big step forward for our program."

Mt. Hope had five athletes wrestle-back to the consolation finals, though unfortunately each lost in their third-place matches.

Kyle McCarthy, at 144 pounds, Michael Bouchard at 113, Anthony Lombardi, at 150, Ben Martel, at heavyweight, and Eli Francis, at 126, wound up fourth in their respective divisions.

Three other Huskies — Ethan Martel at 128, Bryce Brown at 120 and Colin Maloney at 215 — won their consi runner-up matches to place fifth.

Said Fazzi, "Of course, I would have loved to see some of our wrestlers reach the finals or place in the top three, but we're a young team. I know we're only going to keep improving. The majority of our lineup consists of freshmen and sophomores, and this experience was huge for them.

"More importantly, I know my kids wrestled their absolute hardest, and I could not be prouder of their effort. We're going to keep pushing through with high school nationals in March and put in the work this offseason. My goal is to continue progressing this team until we’re the best program in the state. These kids are really special, and this is really just the beginning of the Mt. Hope dynasty."

The top three wrestlers from Rhode Island qualified to compete in the 60th annual New England Wrestling Championships Saturday and Sunday, March 8 and 9, back at the PCTA Fieldhouse.

For the Huskies, as Fazzi noted, they'll now focus on nationals set for March 28-30 in Virginia Beach, Va. Logan Sousa, Bouchard, Arion Ferris, Brown, Francis, Aidan Squatrito, McCarthy, Lombardi, LJ Pacheco and middle schooler Will Corrente are the locals headed to the event. 

Also of note, former Mt. Hope standout and Warren native Andrew McCarthy, now prepping at New York Military Academy, is headed to nationals as well and will represent Rhode Island through the local club run by Fazzi and Oliver, East Bay Wrestling Wolfpack.