RI Wrestlers in Super 32 This Weekend

[atlantaal]

Below is the listing of Rhode Island high school wrestlers entered in the Super 32 wrestling tournament running October 23 in Greensboro, NC. This comes from Floarena:

Rhode Island (15)
Jacob Joyce 113 14
Jared Hood 106
Ryan Conlan 106
Matthew Dimen 113
Peyton Ellis 113
Hayden Myers 126
Luke Lagasse 126
Sebastian Armstrong 126
Aidan Robichaud 132
Andrew Reall 132
Jason Hood 132
Gabriel Bouyssou 138
Justin Hood 145
Christian Rutherford 152
Aidan Zarrella 170

Looks like pretty good participation this early in the pre-season, and maybe a good preview of the weights that notable competitors will fill during the season. Quite a large Ponaganset contingent with Coventry sending their best and other RI champs/placers going. It will be interesting to see Gabriel Bouyssou in action on this stage since it's HUGE (Super 32? There's like 100 guys at each weight) and it's all ages and grades going against each other. Of note is that at 138 he'll be in the same class as Kai O'Dell of Danbury, Conn., who he lost to in the New England finals at 126 last season. But Gabe isn't the ranked Rhode Islander. That honor goes to Jacob Joyce at 113, ranked 14th by Floarena. Other nationally ranked wrestlers from New England who are entered include Matthew Lopes (120) and William Henckel (145) of CT, Tyler Know (113) of MA and Kelvin Griffin (145) of ME. Oddly I don't see any big men from NE; no 285 pounders and only one 220 from CT.

[serge]

What a great tournament it was at S32. R.I. is steadily improving. We did not have any placers this year but we did have some solid wins with a relatively young group. I look forward to seeing our improvement over the next few years. It is really great to see the state come together as one team for these big events. USA Wrestling preseason nationals this weekend!

[atlantaal]

It is certainly worth noting that at the USA Wrestling Preseason Nationals Gabe Bouyssou took second at 138 lbs. in the 9th-10th tournament. There were no other RI place-winners at that competition that I am aware of, but there was another notable New England finisher: Michael Bobola of Mass. won the 152 lb. class in the 11-12th grade tourney. Bobola had placed 3rd in the 2021 Spartan Combat New England Wrestling Championship, also at 152.

Going back to the Super 32 another NE competitor, Will Ebert of Fairfield, CT, took 5th at 160 lbs. Ebert was also 3rd in the Spartan NE tourney, at 160. While Gabriel didn't place at Super 32 he did advance a little further than his nemesis Kai O'Dell of Danbury, CT, though they didn't meet up in the 138 lb. class. It will be interesting to see if they meet again at the end of the upcoming season. At any rate, there is plenty of talent in RI and NE still in high school. Gabe Bouyssou has racked up an amazing set of accomplishments in high school wrestling on the national level before even the start of his sophomore season!