By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

CUMBERLAND – Wrestling season really hasn’t gotten serious yet this winter. The traditional powers in Rhode Island (Cranston West, Cumberland and Bishop Hendricken) haven’t met yet in dual-meet competition. The first two months of the season are just a time for teams to polish their moves in practice, dual-meets  and out of-state tournaments.
Or even inside Rhode Island. On Saturday, the annual Cumberland Invitational fills The Wellness Center with a day of wrestling, beginning at 9 a.m. and culminating with the individual weight class finals beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Cumberland coach Steve Gordon will send his defending state dual-meet championship squad against a variety of teams from Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The strongest competition will come from always-tough North Attleboro, which has won this tournament team title the past two years.
A total of 14 schools will field 14 wrestlers apiece in Saturday’s tourney, which makes for a lot of activity on the four mats at The Wellness Center. Besides North Attleboro, the top contenders include two more Bay State squads – Weymouth and East Longmeadow – along with La Salle, Ponaganset, Smithfield, Lincoln, Johnston, Burrillville, North Providence and Exeter/West Greenwich from Rhode island. Rounding out the field are Cambridge Rindge & Latin out of Boston and Tri-County Regional from Franklin, Mass.
“The field is stronger this year with the addition of East Longmeadow and Weymouth,” Gordon admitted. “They are both very respectable teams in Massachusetts. North Attleboro is always tough. They are ranked No. 2 in their division.”
Cumberland finished a distant second in the team scoring last winter to North Attleboro. The Clippers lost three starters from last year’s team but return several state tourney place-winners, beginning with the Lariviere twins – Shai and Shoneil – at 103 and 112 pounds. Jaron Parent, who finished fourth in the state last March, is back at 119.
“Our team is much more experienced this year,” Gordon said. “We’ve had unbelievable out-of-state competition so far. I would say our team is very ready for this tournament.”
The Lariviere twins bring an explosive quality to their wrestling that could lure more traditional sports fans to the Cumberland meets. They bring speed, athleticism, balance and wide-open wrestling to their matches.
As precocious freshmen, Shai finished second in the state last March and Shoneil earned a third-place finish. Both are aiming higher this time around.
“They are both dynamic wrestlers,” Gordon said. “They can finish matches very quickly with explosive moves. Their matches are exciting. They remind me of Stevie Goncalves, who won two state titles for us a few years back. Both Shai and Shoneil are stronger this year and not giving away any weight. In fact, they have to cut a couple pounds now to make weight, which is ideal.”
The twins wrestle all year round, something that is common in wrestling-crazy states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey and Iowa. But rarely do you see this kind of dedication in Rhode Island wrestlers.
“I’ve never coached a wrestler who competed all year the way they do,” Gordon said. “Shai and Shoneil wrestle for Bob Gibbons and the Northeast Elite team in Woonsocket. Bob does an excellent job with his program. It’s a great thing to wrestle all year but it also represents a huge commitment by the kids who do it. Shai and Shoneil have worked for everything. They just love to wrestle.”
That love for the sport will be in evidence all day Saturday as wrestlers converge on Cumberland High’s Wellness Center for the kind of competition that can only lead to better things later in the month and again in February, leading up to the state tournaments in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
“We’re expecting a great day of wrestling,” Gordon admitted.