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Sports

Canton Wrestling Falls in Regional Final

Chiefs topped by defending state champion Detroit Catholic Central.

The wrestling team experienced both the highs and lows of the sport Wednesday.

The Chiefs started slow in the semifinal round against Livonia Franklin. Though the match started off close, the Chiefs eventually ran away with it, advancing to the finals with a final score of 69-9.

In the final, however, the Chiefs found themselves on the other side of the score. Despite victories from seniors Anthony Abro and Ben Poirier, Canton was outmatched and fell to Detroit Catholic Central, 69-13.

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Canton was disappointed, but senior Ben Poirier kept his head up after the match.

“We knew we weren’t really going to have a chance against CC. We were going to go out there and wrestle and fight tough,” he said. “But I was confident I wasn’t going to lose a match,” Poirier added.

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Even Poirier’s match, which he won, wasn’t comfortable.

“Well, the kid just pulled on my head,” he explained. “Frankly, it wasn’t really comfortable but I’m just glad my athleticism got me through the match.”

Canton dominated Franklin in the semifinals, winning 12 of the 14 weight classes. Eight of those victories were by pin. However, the Chiefs got pinned ten times in the final, and only found themselves on the winning side of three matches.

“It’s a tough loss,” Poirier said, but he offered hope for the underclassmen on the team.

“You just got to push the younger kids to work harder. My sophomore year, I didn’t even make it out of districts, Last year, I went to states and I just didn’t have the mental capacity to finish out the year. But it can happen with [Cory] Mancuso as a coach. He’ll push you hard, but he can definitely get you where you want to be if you want to be state place or even state champ.”

For a young team, the loss can be devastating, but something to build on in the future.

“It’s definitely a learning experience no matter what.”

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