On Thursday night, the defending state champions, the Cumberland Clippers, traveled to Cranston East in a wrestling match. Although the Thunderbolts have made great strides and improved, they could not compete with Cumberland. They won the match 68-9.
Cumberland sophomore Cody Beaudette gave his team a 16-0 lead and Nicholoas Tribelli upped the lead to 22-0.
East's Damon Raposa claimed a victory in the 126 pound weight class. Raposa led 11-3 in the third period when he pinned his opponent, trimming the deficit to 22-6.
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Clippers senior Sean Creamer led 15-3 after two periods in the 132 pound weight class and pinned the East wrestler with 50 seconds left in the third period.
William Spaziano, Ryan Gaumond, Jonathan Maccini, and Maxwell Carlsten all picked up the maximum six points in a match by pinning their opponents.
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Cumberland began their season with a dominating 68-9 victory over Cranston East. The Thunderbolts battled all night long, but could not keep up with the depth and experience the Clippers possess on their roster.
"Cranston is getting better and he is doing a great job with them," Clippers coach, Steve Gordon, said. "East gave us a battle tonight and we have a lot more experience than them," he added, "Our conditioning needs to be better."
