TAUNTON — Superintendent John Cabral and Athletic Director Mark Ottavianelli are pleased to announce that Taunton High School wrestler Christian Balmain has committed to wrestling at the collegiate level in the fall.
In the fall of 2022, senior Balmain will be attending Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, Iowa, to pursue wrestling at the collegiate level. He received an athletic scholarship from the college for wrestling.
Balmain has been wresting for the past five years at Taunton High School. During that time, he won 122 of the 183 (67%) wrestling matches he participated in. Balmain has 63 pins, 233 takedowns, 58 escapes and 30 reversals. In total, he earned 576 team points for the Taunton High School wrestling team.
“Christian in the last five years has been the catalyst for our team’s transformation from a fringe team with one to two good wrestlers a year to a team of great wrestlers,” Head Wrestling Coach Adilson Galvao said. “This culminated in our team winning its first Division 1 South Sectional title and that can be traced to Christian’s dedication to the sport and his leadership on and off the wrestling mat. Christian was not only dedicated to the team and the sport in the season but also during the off-season and that legacy will help shape Taunton High wrestling for years to come.”
Most recently, Balmain placed in eighth at the 2021-22 Division 1 All States Competition. Before that, he placed fourth at the 2021-22 Division 1 State Competition, second at the 2021-22 Division 1 South Sectional, second at the 2022 Cape Cod Invitational, first at the 2022 Sandwich Early Bird, second at the 2019-20 Division 1 South Sectional and fourth at the 2018-19 Division 1 South Sectional.
“The entire Taunton High School community extends their congratulations to Christian on committing to wrestle at Iowa Lakes in the fall,” Director Ottavianelli said. “Throughout his time at the high school, Christian has had an extremely impressive wrestling career. We all greatly look forward to watching him continue to perfect his skills at the collegiate level and wish him a successful first season.”
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