There was lots of Guelph representation at the annual CFL draft Thursday night.
Throughout the eight rounds and 69 picks, a total of four players who donned Guelph Gryphons jerseys had their names called.
Of those, was Guelph native and Gryphons defensive back Nick Parisotto.
The five-foot-11-inch tall, 195 pound, 22-year-old defensive back was selected in the eighth round by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at the 66th overall position.
Parisotto is no stranger to football fans in Guelph.
Having played for several programs throughout the city from a young age including the Guelph Bears along with the Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School program where he won District 10 titles.
He’s also represented Ontario West on two separate occasions in 2011 and 2012 and Canada at the IFAF Junior World Championships in Kuwait and at the 2014 International Bowl.
In Parisotto’s eight games played for the Gryphons last season, he recorded 32 tackles and two interceptions along with one fumble recovery. In his entire four-year tenure at the U of G, he made 114 tackles, and nine interceptions in 30 games played.
Other notable names that were taken from the University of Guelph Gryphons in this year’s draft include 21-year-old offensive lineman Andrew Pickett.
The Kitchener native was actually the first of the bunch selected in the draft. The Ottawa Redblacks selected the six-feet-three-inch tall, 313 pound player with their 22nd overall pick in the third round. Joining the Gryphons ahead of the 2014-15 season he suited up for 24 games during his stay in Guelph.
A few selections later, defensive back Royce Metchie became the first of two Gryphs taken by the Calgary Stampeders in the draft. The Stamps selected Metchie — who stands six-foot-one and weighs about 203 pounds — with their 25th overall pick in the third round.
Metchie, who calls Brampton home but has been in Guelph the last four years, recorded an impressive 108 tackles and two interceptions in his 28 games played.
Finally, kicker Gabriel Ferraro was selected by the Calgary Stampeders 59th overall in the seventh round of the draft and was the first and only kicker selected.
The five-foot-11-inch tall Ferraro hails from Mississauga, and has had an 80 per cent kicking average in 28 games played making 69 of 86 attempted field goals. When it comes to extra points, Ferraro has only missed two and his longest field goal came in at 51 yards.
Overall, the draft was a huge success for the University of Guelph‘s football program with four representatives chosen by teams in the CFL.
The draft kicked off with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats selecting wide receiver Mark Chapman from Central Michigan University with the first overall pick.
The first Canadian was selected with the second overall pick. Offensive lineman Trey Rutherford from the University of Connecticut is from Markham and was picked up by the Montreal Alouettes.
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