February 7, 2022 - Story by Joshua Ross
Death, taxes, and a Patriot League Championship for Hingham High School wrestling. It certainly seems that these thing are certain every year, and it has been for the past 10 years. With a win last week over Whitman-Hanson, the Harbormen secured the title for the tenth year in a row. An impressive feat for any program in any sport.
“It’s just the kids working hard, being tough and wrestling well,” says head coach Paul Canniff.
Canniff attributes part of the team’s success over the years to the great work the youth program has done to get the kid interested and ready to wrestle in high school.
“The youth program has played a tremendous part in it as well,” he adds.
Finally getting back to somewhat of a normal schedule and routine has worked out well for the team this year. Competing in a full season and participating in tournaments is a welcome change after last year’s adjustments. Canniff points to a few highlights of the season, so far.
“We took 8th place (out of 73 teams) at the Lowell Tournament as a team, which is very good,”explains Canniff. “We’ve beaten some pretty good teams. Winning the league title is a highlight, obviously. Beating Duxbury and Whitman-Hanson, two very good teams, two weeks in a row. I’m really proud of the team.”
Even though they win and lose as a team, it’s hard to overlook some individual performances this year. When asked to highlight some of those individuals, Canniff said “the whole team.” But, he did finally breakdown and named a few wrestlers deserving of some recognition this year.
“Jasper Henly at 113, Matt Botello at 120, Kyle Gidman at 126, Mark Botello at 145, Aiden Parker at 170, Quinn Fleming at 182, Sam Oppedisano at 220,” he listed. “Just to name a few.”
Just like the regular season, Canniff is getting his team ready to make a big impact in the post season, which is right around the corner. Congrats to coach and all the wrestlers, past and present, on their impressive decade of dominance.
