Takedown Report

Carteret County Student-Athlete of the Week

OCEAN – Max Buglisi was part of a trailblazing group last season that led the Croatan boys soccer team to its first-ever conference championship. He hopes to repeat that history this year. “It was something special, especially to do that with this group,” he said. “It was definitely fun. I’ve been playing since the fifth grade when I moved here, and it’s been the same group ever since then.” The Cougars tied for the top spot in the 1A/2A Coastal 8 Conference with Dixon and Southwest Onslow as each team finished with 6-1 league records in a hurricane-shortened schedule.

The club has enjoyed much success in the first two years of the Coastal 8, having finished as the runner-up in Buglisi’s sophomore season with a 12-2 mark. The standout senior defender has helped produce an 18-3 conference record over the past two seasons. Croatan gave up 27 goals in that time. Only Dixon with 20 gave up fewer goals. “Winning that conference championship was the highlight of my soccer career so far, but this year, we’re hoping to do even better,” Buglisi said. “Winning the conference is a big goal and doing our best in the playoffs.” The postseason has been the one disappointment of Buglisi’s soccer career. The Cougars have lost in the second round of the 2A playoffs in each of the past two seasons.

“We feel like we’ve gotten unlucky, feel like we should have made it further, should have done better,” he said. “The goal is always a state championship.” Buglisi has been playing on the defensive side of the ball since middle school. He waited to start his wrestling career in high school. “Honestly, it scared me a little bit,” he said of the sport. “But I got to high school and figured I would give it a try and have stuck with it.” His courage to step on the mat has paid off. He has been a member of two dual-team state runner-up finishes. Last year’s team got through the third round and regional final in matches that each came down to just one bout. The Cougars (25-4) edged Washington (33-6) by a 33-31 spread and then took a 39-33 victory over Ledford (22-11).

Buglisi won his 113-pound match in the regional final with a 5-1 decision to play a major role in the team win. As a sophomore, he was part of an inexperienced team that had little expectation of making noise in the playoffs with a 9-2 record but then ripped through Dixon (21-8), Washington (21-2), North Pitt (23-6) and Wheatmore (24-5) to make it to the 2A state final. “Oh, man, those trips to the state championship are the highlights of high school for me,” he said. “They’ve been crazy. I’ve loved it. A lot of those matches have been close, and could have gone either way. It’s been nice to see the work pay off. It’s really been something.” Rest of the story at http://www.carolinacoastonline.com/news_times/article_e1e0716a-da2d-11e9-ad4c-9f7077db0db9.html

September 25, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized