AUSTIN SHREWSBURY
PROVIDENCE, RI – Westfield High School wrestlers Austin Shrewsbury and Dominic Liquori competed at the New England Tournament in Providence, RI this weekend. They were the first two wrestlers from Westfield to qualify for the tournament in more than 20 years.
Westfield junior Austin Shrewsbury wrestled in the 285 class, while his teammate, Senior Dominic Liquori wrestled in the 185-pound class.
Both wrestlers fought hard and performed well.
Liquori ranked in the top 12, but fell just short of the medal round by one match. According to coach Coe, he wrestled incredibly well and just barely lost a very close match.
Shrewsbury had a tough match in the quarterfinals. It was an equally close match and he kept fighting back. Ultimately, he finished in 3rd place.
Dominic Liquori, a senior, will be going on to Springfield Community College to study Criminal Justice. He will continue to wrestle, but his focus will be on his education.
Coach Bob Coe reveals, “He came a long way as a student, an athlete, and a person.”
After struggling academically as a freshman, which interfered with his wrestling, Liquori did a complete 180 and came back strong.
Many schools showed interest in Liquori for wrestling, but he is choosing to stay closer to home for now.
Proudly, Coach Coe explains that although Liquori values wrestling very highly, he is making the choice of putting his academics and his future first.
As for Shrewsbury, Coe believes that while he is already a very good athlete, he will continue to improve for next season.
While the team suffered some setbacks throughout this season due to the weather, injuries, sickness, and discouragingly close losses, the Bombers really stepped it up and had many highs.
“Overall, it was a great season,” Coe said. “I couldn’t be prouder of these guys … Coming back next year, we have some very strong wrestlers.”
