By MATT METCALF

Sports Editor

Last winter Chariho wrestling ran the table in Division II, going 17-0 in the dual meet season en route to capturing its first championship over Pilgrim at Smithfield High School.

But on Thursday night, the Pats avenged that loss. They would get out in front early and hold off the Chargers, 48-32, to move to 5-0 on the season.

“It feels good,” Pilgrim head coach Tom O’Connor said after the win. “That’s a young team, but a strong team. They’re tough and there was no quit in anyone – any of their guys or ours. I was really encouraged about not getting pinned at a couple of weights because they have some really good wrestlers over there.”

The Pats took an early, 6-0 lead when Renzel Greene won by forfeit at the 106-pound weight class.

They quickly doubled that lead, too, as John Castaldi pinned Chariho’s Justin Hainse to up the Pats’ lead to 12-0.

Michael Sanville dropped the match at 120 for Pilgrim against Alex Storrs next, but Sanville battled until the end, only dropping three points to bring the score to 12-3.

Chariho would continue its momentum into the next weight class. However, a scary moment overshadowed the individual match.

At 126, Aiden Van Horn defeated Jaiman VanHeyringer by pin to cut Pilgrim’s lead to 12-9, but VanHeyringer stayed on the mat after getting pinned.

It was evident that VanHeyringer badly injured his shoulder during the match. After several quiet minutes from the concerned crowd, the medics would take VanHeyringer away on a stretcher as the crowd applauded the Pilgrim freshman.

After the injury, O’Connor huddled his team together.

“I just told them that Jaiman is going to be fine, he’s at the hospital and getting looked at, but we have to finish what he started,” O’Connor said of his message to the team. “He battled for six minutes before getting pinned at the end. Hopefully he’ll be all right and we’ll move forward.”

Pilgrim would rally together and stretch its lead again once wrestling resumed.

Jacob Zuller and Anthony Parente responded with back-to-back pins at their respective weight classes to push the lead to 24-9.

But the Chargers would show some fight to cut their deficit, answering with a pair of pins at 145 by Josh Monteiro and at 152 by Cam Anderson, trimming Pilgrim’s lead to 24-21.

Pilgrim pulled away late, though, getting four pins in the final six matches.

Garrison Potter at 160, Steven Kavanagh at 182, Nicholas Carpenter at 195 and Marcus Eckert at 285 all notched pins over that stretch to secure the 48-32 win.

Pilgrim would drop two of three matches to Central Falls prior to the bout against Chariho, with Castaldi picking up the lone win over Lakiesha Sullivan.

However, Pilgrim would win 70-9 because the Warriors couldn’t fill several weight classes.

The Pats will return to action on Thursday when they host Smithfield at 6:30 p.m.

After the hot start, Pilgrim is confident and optimistic about its title chances.

“I always like to think we’re a favorite,” O’Connor said. “I love to be the lead dog and let everyone chase us.”