MC's Visconti Brothers Place First and Second at All-State Wrestling Meet

SALEM--Malden Catholic’s Devin Visconti lost in the final of last year’s MIAA All-State wrestling championships.

He wasn’t about to let it happen again.

After two days of grueling competition, Devin and his twin brother Kyle Visconti both progressed to the finals in their respective weight classes,

Just minutes after watching Kyle lose a heartbreaking 4-3 final against Matt Buco of Greater Lawrence at 125 pounds, the look of determination in Devin’s eyes as he took to the mat said quite clearly: not this year. This time I can’t be beaten.

And he wasn’t. In fact, he hasn’t been all year.

Devin Visconti defeated CJ Doherty of Methuen on a 3-0 decision to capture the state championship in the 145 pound division at Salem High’s Veterans Memorial Field House yesterday. Both Visconti brothers earned the right to represent the Bay State at next weekend’s New England championships in New Haven, CT.

“Devin is still undefeated,” said MC head coach Mike Bolduc. “He’s been on a mission, he’s very focused.”

Indeed. Visconti won all of his first three bouts by pin/fall.

The North Reading native defeated Charles Jackson of Lexington by pin 1:28 in to their preliminary round bout, and then did the same to Adam Travaglione of Bridgewater-Raynham 2:46 into their quarterfinal duel. Next to succumb was Framingham’s Robert Coukos, who lasted until the 3:48 mark before being pinned.

“It’s nice, I got second last year, so it’s nice to come back and win it,” said Devin Visconti. “(Doherty) was tough out there, I started bleeding early in the match, it threw my head out a little bit.”

Devin started bleeding from his nose about the mid point in the final.

“It’s always tough when (the blood) is blocking your nose,” said the senior grappler, who won the MIAA Division 2 State Tournament on Feb. 19. “You can’t really breathe, you just try not to get your head out of it.”

Down the hall in the Visconti household, Kyle faced a familiar opponent in Greater Lawrence’s Buco. The two have been trading blows all season, and have developed quite a rivalry. Kyle Visconti bested Buco 5-1 at the George Bossi Lowell Holiday Tournament in December, while Buco pulled off an overtime win at the division 2 state championships. 

“They’re 4-4 against each other,” said Bolduc. “The state finals went into overtime, (the finals) were one point ... every match is going to be a grind. Hopefully next week at the New England’s we end up on the right side.”

While there are certainly no guarantees that Buco and Kyle Visconti will meet again in the New England finals, they both will be favored to advance heading in.

“Hopefully in the end they meet in the finals again,” said Bolduc. “They are ranked number one and two in New England right now.”

Kyle Visconti defeated Edgardo Rios of Lawrence by technical fall in the preliminary round, Scituate’s Spencer Slishman by pin at 4:59 in the quarterfinals and Mike Stewart of Dracut by virtue of an 8-0 major decision in the semifinals.