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04/04/2023 06:29 AMFor Carter Burgess, Billy DellaCamera, Greg Kealey, Drew Schwartz, and Jake Elpi, the five seniors have not only bonded through the sport of wrestling together since the fifth grade, but they have additionally been at the crux of crucial triumphs for multiple schools in the town of Branford.
In March of 2020 for Branford High School (BHS), the then five freshmen were on a squad that ended up giving the Hornets’ wrestling team its best ever regular-season record at 26-1 overall. Then, after navigating through the COVID pandemic for their sophomore years, they returned in a huge way for the 2021-2022 campaign as juniors in aiding Branford to its first state crown in history after finishing first in Class M.
All five of these amazing young adults have additionally earned a spot on the BHS Wrestling Top 50 All-Time Career Win List, as they have now completed their tenures with the Branford wrestling squad.
“It is an honor, because we have done it together since fifth grade, and we created a really good bond together,” said Kealey, who finished third at states for Class M this year at 170 pounds and was 59-27 for his career record at Branford. “It was a pleasure, and we leaned on each other. We were all on the edge of the mat when any of us were wrestling. It is probably my favorite sport; it taught me self-discipline, to never give up, and to dig deep. There is no other sport like it.”
Success was synonymous with the fivesome long before they first strapped on a singlet for BHS, because while at Francis Walsh Intermediate School, the boys were part of history when the program got its 100th consecutive win, and the squad was undefeated until their eighth grade season.
“It’s been awesome to wrestle together, because you develop special relationships with teammates,” said Burgess, who finished third and fourth at the SCC and Class M State Championships, respectively, at 132 pounds this year. “With these four, I went through all the hard practices with them. We accomplished a lot together with 100 [consecutive] wins at Walsh and a state title at Branford.”
Burgess, who finished with a 96-43 record for his Branford career, added that the sport has certainly influenced more than his athletic life, as it has additionally shaped his friendships while teaching him a plethora of life lessons around persistence.
“I do not know if we would be friends if it was not for wrestling,” Burgess said. “Our families also know each other very well. I tell people that I wouldn’t be the same guy I am now without wrestling. It taught me discipline, confidence, and how to get through hard and tough times with friends.”
Current Branford High School Athletic Director Thomas Ermini has seen the growth, progress, and success of all five young men firsthand on multiple fronts, as he previously coached the quintet when they wrestled for Walsh.
“I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to coach these five fantastic students,” said Ermini. “With each of the wrestlers starting to compete together in fifth grade, I’ve had the privilege of watching them all improve and grow for the past nine years.”
Elpi, who broke the century mark for career wins with the Hornets with a final record of 100-29, marveled at how the fivesome had the fortitude to stick to the mats throughout middle school and all four years at BHS, when several others fell off by the wayside.
“There was a way bigger group of wrestlers when the five of us started together at Walsh, but then people stopped wrestling once high school started, so it was fun to be with four other guys who stuck with it,” said Elpi, who was a runner-up at 126 pounds for SCCs and states for the 2022-’23 campaign. “It was nice to be part of the streak at Walsh; it was a thing when we started, and it was cool that we got to add to it. I met a lot of cool, inspiring people and good coaches through wrestling.”
DellaCamera, who concluded his Hornets’ tenure with a 49-24 mark and finished third in his weight class at SCCs in 2023 for 285 pounds before suffering an injury in his first match at the Class M State Championships, explained that the friendship that was forged amongst the five bred familiarity when it came to cheering each other on during matches.
“We had chemistry between ourselves with matches,” said DellaCamera. “We would know the outcomes for each other’s matches because we knew how everyone wrestled. We all wanted to perform at our best; we pushed each other hard in practices and it showed. We became a family and are like brothers. I had a great team in middle school at Walsh and a great coach in Coach Ermini, which is why I kept wrestling. The sport taught us how to be better men, and the past few years, I learned that mindset is everything when I wrestle.”
Schwartz, who claimed a state crown in Class M at 220 pounds this past postseason in 2023 and was sixth at the State Open Championship to cap an 85-20 tenure, acknowledged that the five were true blue competitors that grinded it out with the sport while bolstering their friendship and abilities, in addition to discovering how to turn setbacks into triumphs.
“The fact that we went through wrestling together the whole time, it made it all that much more fun,” said Schwartz. “It was a great experience. The ones that stuck around with the sport in high school were the ones that cared the most about the sport. The sport teaches you how to deal with a loss. When you are competing in a tournament and take a loss, you only have about an hour to figure it out before your next match. But the five of us have grown closer over the years, which really helped us learn about ourselves and get better at the sport.”
Ermini went on to praise the boys for not only their mutual support of one another, but also their perseverance to navigate through the constraints of COVID campaigns to get back to the mat and help the Hornets ascend to a new level of achievements.
“In addition to each of their individual successes that they have achieved, it has been incredible to watch them all support each other since they first got on the mat,” Ermini said. “Despite not having a chance to compete during their sophomore seasons due to the pandemic, they really made the most of their high school careers. In their junior seasons, they were each vital contributors to the program’s first-ever state championship. I am so grateful to have been able to watch them on their journey. They really brought our BHS program to new heights in their time here.”