Triton wrestling captures CAL/NEC title, coach McElligott earns 400th win
Jun. 13—Throughout the fall and winter Triton coach Shawn McElligott's wrestlers would periodically pop by his room, and every time they always had the same question. "Do you think it's going to happen?"
With coronavirus cases spiking and the obvious logistical challenges surrounding wrestling in a pandemic, McElligott usual response was one of doubt.
"Finally in February I was able to brighten [their] day a little bit and said I think it might happen," McElligott said.
Things have come a long way since then, and this past Friday Triton wrestling got to celebrate one of the most satisfying days in the history of program.
In the final meet before the state tournament, Triton beat the Pentucket-Georgetown co-op 45-25 to finish the regular season 8-0 and clinch the CAL/NEC title. In the process, the Vikings also delivered McElligott his 400th career win as head coach.
"It was good, especially being at home, it was a lot more pressure than I kind of wanted but I think the kids really stepped up," McElligott said, noting he'd hoped to keep the 400-win milestone to himself but that everybody figured it out anyway. "I think they actually reacted in a positive way, that was about as tough as we've wrestled the entire season."
Facing a Pentucket team that now features standouts from Georgetown, Newburyport and Ipswich, Triton had its hands full but set the tone early with strong showings against Georgetown's Geno Tirone and Tre Aulson. Tirone and Aulson both won at 120 and 126 pounds respectively, but Triton freshman Lucas Bistany fought back after falling behind Tirone early to avoid a pin.
"Him not getting pinned really set the tone and saved us two team points," McElligott said. "Then you have Chris Montes, he lost 5-1, so that saved us another three points, so that set the tone for the entire day."
Once past Pentucket's big standouts in the lower weight classes, Triton started picking up momentum. Hayden Salmonson started by getting a second-period pin at 132 pounds, and in probably the biggest match of the day, Alex Montes beat Pentucket's Jackson Neumann in a 6-4 decision at 145 pounds.
Triton's Doug Aylward (160), Hunter Parrott (195) and Ashton Wonson (220) all got pins as well, and the Vikings also benefitted from forfeit wins by Finnley Packer, Tori Orender and Dylan Karpenko. Pentucket's winners included Nic Williamson (152), Chris Legacy (170) and Connor Young (182).
Following the win, McElligott said winning the league title was incredibly satisfying for the whole team, especially after all the uncertainty of the past year and everything the kids had taken away from them throughout the pandemic.
Now another big opportunity awaits the Vikings, as the team now has a chance to make a major statement in the upcoming MIAA Dual Meet Tournament. The Vikings won the dual meet state title a decade ago in 2011, and McElligott said this year's team is well equipped to make another run.
"This has always been our style," he said. "We're a dual meet team.
Triton 45, Pentucket 25
Local winners:
106: Finnley Packer (T) by forfeit; 113: Tori Orender (T) by forfeit; 120: Geno Tirone (P) major dec. 15-7; 126: Tre Aulson (P) dec. 5-1; 132: Hayden Salmonson (T) pin 3:15; 138: Dylan Karpenko (T) by forfeit; 145: Alex Montes (T) dec. 6-4; 152: Nic Williamson (P) pin 3:00; 160: Doug Aylward (T) pin 5:37; 170: Chris Legacy (P) pin 1:47; 182: Connor Young (P) 0:30; 195: Hunter Parrott (T) pin 0:51; 220: Ashton Wonson (T) pin 1:54
Records: Triton 8-0
