Panther Wrestlers Excel At County Championships

Panthers wrestlers capped a successful winter season with a standout day at the county age/weight championship meet at Old Mill High School on March 1.

Consisting of Maverick Croyts, Landon Szymanski, Isaac Cicchetti, Griffin Couture, Kaiden Fraley, Jeremy Voss, Dixon Martin, Owen Collins, CJ Courture, Logan Harris, Nathan Ray, Gavin Lewis, Collin Lewis, Jacob Berry, Grayson Helmick, Brian Epps, Benjamin Klipp, Xander Dodd, Dylan Lewis, John Wade and Hunter Beck, the Panthers wrestling team made the organization proud by giving outstanding effort throughout the winter and turning in a handful of strong performances at the county meet.

Szymanski and Gavin Lewis both took home individual county championships, as Szymanski placed first among 5-year-olds/37 lbs and Lewis placed first for 6-year-olds/58 lbs. Berry took second place for 8-year-olds/63 lbs, while Helmick took second amongst 9-year-olds/63 lbs. Fourth-place finishers included Harris (9-year-olds/55 lbs), Collins (7-year-olds/52 lbs), Fraley (4-year-olds/45 lbs) and Epps (6-year-olds/70 lbs).

Coach Carl Cicchetti said the boys made tremendous strides throughout the season.

“It was a very successful season,” said Cicchetti. “We’re rebuilding, but the boys I had this year did fantastic. They come in the room [at the start of the season] and know absolutely nothing, and by the end of the year they can wrestle a complete match and demonstrate four or five moves proficiently, so that’s pretty good for four- and five-year-olds,”

Cicchetti said it was gratifying to see the boys grow and learn and added that he expects continued achievement by the team in the coming years.

“You get to see the transformation from the beginning of the season to the end where they start gaining confidence and believing in themselves,” said Cicchetti. “I’m really, really proud of how the boys did…The coaches, we’re here for the long haul, we’re not going anywhere, and we’re going to build this thing back up, so we’re pretty excited about the upcoming seasons. We’ve got a good core of kids to work with, and I think the next couple years you’ll be hearing a lot about the Panthers in the A tournament too, not just the B tournament.”