CANTON, April 8, 2011 – A youth club that has provided opportunities for town youngsters to participate in wrestling for the past 11 years could be leaving Canton if interest doesn’t increase.

The Canton Youth Wrestling club recently completed its 11th season with three members of the club winning state championships at the recent USA Wrestling Connecticut state tournament at Hillhouse High in New Haven.

But only four members of the 28-man team that practiced three to four days a week in Canton High’s wrestling room were from Canton. The remainder of the team was comprised of wrestlers from Winsted, New Hartford, Avon, Simsbury, Harwinton and Granby.

Three of the club’s five coaches plan to leave and to establish a club in New Hartford next year to help foster interest in wrestling with an eye on improving wrestling at Northwestern Regional. Nearly 20 of the club’s current wrestlers are from New Hartford or Winsted.

The coaches moving to New Hartford have invited Ed deSimas, the club’s long-time coordinator and coach, and Tom Getler, the club’s founder and coach, to join them in New Hartford next winter.

However, deSimas and Getler don’t want to give up on Canton and will continue to operate the team in Canton next winter, if there is additional interest from athletes. Interested athletes or parents should contact deSimas at 860-670-6360 or the Canton Park and Recreation Department.

 “Your wrestlers are only as good as their (practice) partners,” Getler said. “We don’t want to leave but we don’t want to do a disservice to the wrestlers (with a lack of practice partners to improve). As long as kids are interested in wrestling, we’ll be here. If you want to wrestle, we’ll be here for you.”

New Hartford’s Angelo Folino won a state championship at 61 pounds in the Intermediate Division (ages 9-10) with four victories including a 17-second pin in the finals. Winsted’s A. Lee Mumin-Walker (64 pounds) also won a state title in the Intermediate Division with a new single season club record of 32 wins, while his brother, Redd won a state title in the Bantam Division (ages 7-8) at 63 pounds.

At the recent Middle Atlantic Wrestling Association (MAWA) qualifying regional tournament, James DeMaio, an eighth grader from Simsbury, finished second at 85 pounds. It qualified DeMaio for the MAWA East Regional tournament in Pennsylvania in April. He has been wrestling with the club for four years.

The club has an impressive list of alumni. Nate Getler, who won Canton’s first state championship in wrestling since 2004 in February, wrestled with the club along with former State Open champion Joey Martin of Simsbury and former high school All-American wrestler Dominick Malone of Granby.

Current Avon High freshman Jimmy Murphy won a state title with the club along Simsbury’s Luke Salls. Simsbury teammates Tucker Salls, Chris Brandt and Ben Durst, who won 35 matches for Simsbury this winter, have wrestled with the club along with two-time Class S finalist Stephen Carpenter of Canton.

Tom Getler began the club at Avon High in 2000 with 30 wrestlers. He moved it to Canton in 2001. The team, which has wrestlers ages 7-13 in grades 1-8, practices three to four times a week from the end of November through March from 6-8 p.m. They’ve also had wrestlers from Farmington, Hartland, Burlington and Norfolk on the squad.

CANTON, March 5 – Three wrestlers from the Canton Youth Wrestling club won state titles at USA Wrestling Connecticut’s state championship meets recently in New Haven. Angelo Folino (61 pounds) won an Intermediate Division championship, A. Lee Mumin-Walker (64 pounds) won an Intermediate Division title and Redd Mumin-Walker (63 pounds) captured an Bantam Division championship.

Anthony Carfiro (56 pounds) finished second in the Bantam Division along with teammate Connor Clement (77 pounds).

Canton Youth Wrestling club wrestlers have won 15 state titles since the club began operation in 2000.

Wrestlers competing in the Intermediate tournament are born in 2001 and 2002 (ages 9-10). Wrestlers in the Bantam tournament were born in 2003 and 2004 (ages 7-8).

Folino went 4-0 in the tournament, pinning Sean Arnold of Newtown Youth Wrestling in the finals in 17 seconds. Folino earned a spot in the final with a 6-2 win over Luca Briganti from the Newington Blackhawks. Folino, who lives in New Hartford, had a career-high 28 wins this season in 30 matches.

A. Lee Mumin-Walker of Winsted went 4-0 to win a championship, giving up just two points in his four bouts. Mumin-Walker beat Daniel Veleas of Berlin Minutemen, 5-2 in the finals. Mumin-Walker pitched three shutouts in his other matches. He set a new single-season Canton Youth Wrestling club record with 32 wins in 33 matches.

Mumin-Walker’s younger brother, Redd, also won a state title in the Bantam Division.

A look back at previous state champions, runner-ups and top records by wrestlers for the Canton Wrestling Club.

State champions

Champion                                           Year, Division, W-L record, if available

Angelo Folino, New Hartford          2011 Intermediate (28-2)

A. Lee Mumin-Walker, Winsted      2011 Intermediate (32-1)

Redd Mumin-Walker, Winsted       2011 Bantam (24-3)

Luke Salls, Simsbury                        2009 Midget (19-2)

John Graziano, Canton                     2008 Midget (17-1)

Luke Salls, Simsbury                        2007 Bantam (14-5)

Sean Penney, Simsbury                   2007 Bantam (11-2)

Keith Penney, Simsbury                   2007 Midget (13-0)

Keith Penney, Simsbury                    2006 Bantam

Steven Carpenter, Canton                 2004 Novice

Dominick Malone, Granby                 2003 Midget

Jimmy Murphy, Avon                           2003 Bantam

Steven Carpenter, Canton                 2002 Midget

Joey Martin, Simsbury                        2002 Cadet

Dominick Malone, Granby                2002 Bantam

Second place

Wrestler                                             Year, Division, W-L record, if available

Anthony Carfiro, Winsted                  2011 Bantam (10-3)

Connor Clement, Canton                 2011 Bantam (7-2)

Angelo Folino, New Hartford           2009 Bantam (19-2)

Luke Salls, Simsbury                        2008 Midget (23-6)

Angelo Folino, New Hartford            2008 Bantam (12-2)

Tucker Salls, Simsbury                      2008 Novice (14-3)

John Graziano, Canton                     2006 Bantam

Steven Carpenter, Canton                 2003 Novice

Top records (single season)

Wrestler                                               W-L                        Division

A. Lee Mumin-Walker, Winsted       32-1                        2011 Intermediate

Angelo Folino, New Hartford            28-2                       2011 Intermediate

Redd Mumin-Walker, Winsted        24-3                        2011 Bantam

Angelo Folino, New Hartford            23-3                        2010 Intermediate

Luke Salls, Simsbury                        23-6                        2008 Midget

Chris Brandt, Simsbury                    22-8                        2008

Chris Brandt, Simsbury                    21-8                        2007

Sean Penney, Simsbury                   21-3                        2010 Novice

Skyler Lang, Canton                          20-3                        2008

Tucker Salls, Simsbury                     20-6                        2010 Middle School

Luke Salls, Simsbury                        20-7                        2010

Keith Penney, Simsbury                    19-1                        2010 Novice

Luke Salls, Simsbury                        19-2                        2009 Midget

Angelo Folino, New Hartford            19-2                        2009

Chris Brandt, Simsbury                     19-7                        2009

Ben Durst, Simsbury                         19-8                        2009

Age divisions for the tournaments

Middle school: 7th and 8th grade, ages 13-15

Novice: Ages 11-12

Intermediate or Midget: Ages 9-10

Bantam: Ages 7-8

CANTON, Nov. 8  – Registration is now open for the wrestlers interested in participating with the Canton Youth Wrestling club during the 2011 winter season. The club is open to wrestlers ages 7-14 or eighth grade from Canton and surrounding towns. Practice begins on Tuesday, Nov. 16 at the high school at 6:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Canton Park and Recreation Department, the club has veteran coaches and instructors that teach the sport of wrestling in a fun and informative atmosphere. For more information, attend the first practice or please download our 2011 registration form. It can be found in our "Files" section.