The rising Cranston East wrestling team has jumped out to a promising start this winter season as it sits at 5-1 in its conference.

After seeing its numbers double last winter, the East program has continued to grow as it now has 32 grapplers in house. The team’s most recent conference win was in a 57-24 victory over Westerly last week.

East’s Sean Mendonca pinned his opponent in less than two minutes at 144 pounds, while Aquaves Roberson won a 9-6 decision at 175 pounds. Tony Tep pinned his opponent at 190 pounds for the Bolts while Jamani Tavares also picked up a win by pin at 220.

The Bolts also beat Woonsocket 51-24 earlier that day.

Jason Digiovanni pinned his opponent at 126 pounds for East while Mendonca earned another win by fall, this time in just 53 seconds. Roberson pinned his opponent for the victory at 175, while Tep won a 7-4 decision.

“I’m really proud of where we are in terms of progress and numbers. With only one senior set to graduate, we have a good young team with a lot of potential,” said East coach Ruben Rey, who enters his third season at the helm.

Leading the way so far for East has been sophomore Kevin Zulu, while Cameron Boulanger is also poised to make a splash when he returns from a shoulder injury. Rey has also been excited to see Roberson, Mendonca and Dominic Proeun improving as well. 

“We are looking good right now. Zulu is stepping up and has been our top guy, he is someone who should be able to place at states along with (Boulanger) depending on his injury. Then the few guys behind them, if they come to wrestle on tournament day, then anything can happen,” said Rey.

East built some momentum toward the end of last season and saw Eneas Castillo finish with a second-place finish at states. His success last winter helped spark some confidence in this year’s group, which is hoping to emerge as one of the state’s best programs in the next few seasons.

“A lot of them got to see the growth of Eneas Castillo. He started as a sophomore and ended up placing second in the state. Having that kind of Cinderella story for them to see first hand, it’s awesome because it shows them that hard work pays off,” said Rey. “One thing that I do run is a very tough room, it’s not for the weak hearted. I am not concerned about losing guys that are not willing to put in the work, and I have been blessed because we have not lost too many and everybody stuck it out. Even on the younger side with freshmen and sophomores, they have received it very well.”