BY SAPNA PATHAK
According to their head coach, “they’d be this good even if a monkey coached them.”
But when Ryan Carr isn’t contemplating leaving his post as head coach of the Salem boys wrestling team, he’s busy training two of the best grapplers in school history.
On Saturday, Feb. 17, Carr watched as his stars, Trevor Deardon and Aaron Kalil, starred at this year’s Division I state wrestling championship. Both won state titles, one broke a school record in the process, and the other took notes on how to break that record next year.
With Kalil graduating this year, Deardon has a realistic chance to break Kalil’s record next year. Kalil, who broke the school record for most career wins, 174, in the same match he won the 119-pound title, had no qualms about asking his best friend to leave his record intact.
“Yeah, maybe I’ll come see him next year and just ask him to swing a few matches the other way so he won’t break my record,” said Kalil with a laugh. “I wish he wouldn’t beat it, but if anyone is going to, it should be one of my best friends.”
The grappling duo helped the Blue Devils to a third-place finish behind D-I champion Timberlane and runner-up Concord. Bringing 11 wrestlers to the meet, Carr said the top-three finish was higher than expected.
“We have a reputation of being a tournament team,” said Carr. “So we work on doing well individually, which will help the team. It’s a life lesson: do your job right and the rest will, too.”
Kalil and Deardon earned spots at the Meet of Champions on Saturday, Feb. 24, as Kalil won his title match by major decision, 14-4, and Deardon posted a 16-1 win by technical fall for the 125-pound title.
The MoC includes the top six finishers in each weight class of Division I and the top four in Division II.
Joining Kalil and Deardon at the MoC is 130-pounder Alex Pittera, who lost to Concord’s Tyler Saltsman in the championship match; 152-pound champion Peter Freeman; Nick Tomasi, who took fourth at 140 pounds; third-place finisher Corbin Decker, who wrestled at 160 pounds; Nick Iliopoulos, sixth in the 189-pound class; and Ryan Stanton, who took sixth place as a heavyweight.