NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Joseph McAuliffe had not stepped onto a wrestling mat since sixth grade. Now in high school, the Granby sophomore decided to give it another try.
"I had friends telling me to do it and family," he said. "I had a little bit of a peaked interest at some point this year and I was like 'why not?'"
The Comets could not be happier with that decision. Entering Friday, the 175 pounder was a perfect 27-0 on the season. Not bad for a first year high school wrestler.
"I didn't know it would be going this well," McAuliffe noted. "I had a feeling I would be OK, maybe not going 27-0."
"He's just an all-around all-star, pleasure to have on the team," added Granby co-head coach Samson Sausser. "[He's a] great teammate with everyone he works with and every match he shows up."
Four of McAuliffe's 27 victories came via forfeit, but of the other 23 wins, 21 of them happened by way of a pin. He's dominating in his first year and putting together a streak that has the whole team excited.
"Any time you see your teammate win, it fires up the whole bench," Sausser observed. "He usually wins by pin or a big move, so it fires everybody up."
"It's contagious because you want to be that next guy," added Comets' co-head coach Keith Goff. "If I'm not 27-0, I want to be 18-2. I want to be on the podium with him."
What's behind the success? The sophomore may not be as familiar with wrestling, but he's spent time in combat sports. McAuliffe also practices Jiu-Jitsu, which translates well to the mat.
"I'd say it helps with my movement, especially with my hip movement for throws and take-downs, especially," he noted.
The future is bright for the Granby grappler. He's considering whether he wants to pursue the sport in college, but with plenty of high school remaining, he's focused on the task at hand.
"I'm looking into it right now, deciding what I want to do and what I don't want to do, what's going on," he said. "I've been thinking about it, though."
"He has a shot at the state title this year," Sausser explained. "We're going to see how he does, we're going to coach him to the best of our ability and he's only a sophomore, so he's just going to keep getting better from here."
Granby will welcome Churchland, Norview and Maury for an Eastern District clash on Saturday morning.
If you have a nominee for Student-Athlete of the Week, send an email to marc.davis@wtkr.com.
