Post by atlantaal on Feb 26, 2014 22:49:08 GMT -5
With the States starting in two days and the New Englands a week later we're about to see a lot of great Rhode Island schoolboy wrestling careers come to an end. There are too many to mention but a group I think deserve special recognition are the trio of John Altieri, Cody Beaudette and Jason Davol. Each of them have reached tremendous accomplishments in their state wrestling careers, with 4 state titles, 7 finals appearances and 9 state places among them, all 4 year starters of course. What makes this so much more remarkable is that they've had to do it pretty much against each other every season for 4 years. They started their varsity careers as freshmen in the same weightclass (103 in 2010) and will finish it in the same class at 120. In between they've always had two of them in the same class. I've observed wrestling in Rhode Island for almost 50 years (I realize that there's no way to say this without feeling old) but I've never seen a rivalry this enduring and meaningful for 4 straight seasons. The Matt Martin (EP) and Nathan Myers (BH) rivalry from 2000-2002 comes close, but that was two guys and they were in different weightclassess in 2003.
Altieri is the most noteworthy of course, since he will be going for the rare 4X State championship and a 4th time placing in NE. Beaudette will go for his first title and Davol his second. Neither have placed at NE's but both have come close and both have beaten NE placewinners. What's also remarkable is that up to this season their rivalry had followed a very set pattern: Altieri always beat both, Beaudette beat Davol. It's actually statistically improbable that they all could have been so successful in the midst of this rivalry. Maybe that's what helped them all be so good. I think each season Davol and Beaudette got measurably better; Altieri just got better still. Now this year Altieri is coming back from a shoulder injury, having lost by default to Beaudette, and Beaudette lost to Davol.
What makes it even more interesting to me is that despite their 4-year overlap in competition I believe this is the first time they've all truly been the same size. I saw a poster note earlier on this site that Altieri's always been small for his class, but it's Davol who's been the real outlier. In 2010 Davol won the New England Middle School Championships at 70 pounds (against Cardosa in the finals; Altieri and Beaudette wrestled at 105 in the same tourney, with Altieri finishing 5th and beating Beaudette in the consolations). I don't think Jason's body mass increased by nearly 50 percent in one year. So he was undersized in 2011 and 2012 at 103/106 until he won in 2013 while Altieri and Beaudette met in the 113 finals. I'm guessing that if Jason wasn't a true 120 pounder now he'd be at 113 lbs. switched with Nick Celico and away from possibly the deepest, toughest weightclass in New England at 120. So here they are again.
So now what happens? Hopefully, Altieri is fully recovered and they face each other as peers. Only one can win though. Will Altieri win his 4th and make it to the New England finals? Will Beaudette win his first RI title and finally get his name spelled correctly on this site and in out-of-state tournaments? Will Davol come out on top of both? Whatever happens, to me this is a unique and epic event in Rhode Island wrestling history.
Altieri is the most noteworthy of course, since he will be going for the rare 4X State championship and a 4th time placing in NE. Beaudette will go for his first title and Davol his second. Neither have placed at NE's but both have come close and both have beaten NE placewinners. What's also remarkable is that up to this season their rivalry had followed a very set pattern: Altieri always beat both, Beaudette beat Davol. It's actually statistically improbable that they all could have been so successful in the midst of this rivalry. Maybe that's what helped them all be so good. I think each season Davol and Beaudette got measurably better; Altieri just got better still. Now this year Altieri is coming back from a shoulder injury, having lost by default to Beaudette, and Beaudette lost to Davol.
What makes it even more interesting to me is that despite their 4-year overlap in competition I believe this is the first time they've all truly been the same size. I saw a poster note earlier on this site that Altieri's always been small for his class, but it's Davol who's been the real outlier. In 2010 Davol won the New England Middle School Championships at 70 pounds (against Cardosa in the finals; Altieri and Beaudette wrestled at 105 in the same tourney, with Altieri finishing 5th and beating Beaudette in the consolations). I don't think Jason's body mass increased by nearly 50 percent in one year. So he was undersized in 2011 and 2012 at 103/106 until he won in 2013 while Altieri and Beaudette met in the 113 finals. I'm guessing that if Jason wasn't a true 120 pounder now he'd be at 113 lbs. switched with Nick Celico and away from possibly the deepest, toughest weightclass in New England at 120. So here they are again.
So now what happens? Hopefully, Altieri is fully recovered and they face each other as peers. Only one can win though. Will Altieri win his 4th and make it to the New England finals? Will Beaudette win his first RI title and finally get his name spelled correctly on this site and in out-of-state tournaments? Will Davol come out on top of both? Whatever happens, to me this is a unique and epic event in Rhode Island wrestling history.
