And they’re off. The North Providence Cougar Wrestling team opens up the 2015-16 season looking for success. Last year the Cougars finished 2nd overall in the Division 1-B standings just behind rival Mt. Hope, who captured the title for the 2nd year in a row, and finished 15th out of 34th in the  end of the year State Championship Tournament. The Cougars have many returning varsity wrestlers this year including state place finishers form the year before Shawn McCarron and Nathan Moreira. This years captains for the Cougars would be seniors Dylan Rodrigues and Nathan Moreira.

The Cougars kicked off the season with an away match against Cranston West. The Cougars pulled out a 41-31 win against the Falcons with key pins from Josh Wheeler, Daniel Martinez, and captains Rodrigues and Moreira. North Providence would then host a weekend tournament with 14 teams from all around Rhode Island and Massachusetts. North Providence ended up getting 2nd as a team in the tournament finishing behind 1st place LaSalle. The wrestlers who placed for the Cougars were Daniel Martinez who got 3rd at 132, David Symmes go 4th at 152, Ethan Young got 4th at 126, Biago Rizzo 2nd at 106, Shawn McCarron 2nd at 145, and both Josh Wheeler and Nathan Moreira got 1st respectively at their own weight classes, Wheeler at 120 and Moreira at 195. The Cougars finished out their early season before Christmas break with a match against South Kingstown. South Kingstown is a powerhouse Rhode Island team that gave everybody trouble the year before. North Providence was already giving up 2 forfeits at 220 and 113 coming into the match, but still found a way to pull out a 43-36 win. The win was huge with pins from Wheeler, Young, Martinez, Rizzo, Rodrigues, and Moreira. Also contibruting was McCarron who won a crucial and close match in overtime 4-2.

The Cougars are going into 2016 undefeated and with much momentum. This week they face 2 tough teams in LaSalle and Coventry, and those 2 matches are very crucial in North Providence’s title hopes. They then will head to Maine to compete in the very competitive Sanford Tournament, where they will compete against some of New England’s premier high school wrestling programs.