Hoosac Valley Wrestler Injured in Crash

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A Hoosac Valley High School teen was seriously injured Wednesday night in a one-car accident that closed Routes 2 & 7 for three hours.

Firefighters had to use the Jaws of Life to extricate Nicholas Morey, 17, of East Road from his 1995 Jeep Cherokee after it landed in Hemlock Brook. He was taken to Berkshire Medical Center by Village Ambulance with leg and head injuries. A Life Flight helicopter from Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center was contacted but could not fly because of the weather conditions.

Morey was on his way home after competing in a wrestling match at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington as a member of the Mount Greylock Regional High School's cooperative wrestling team. Buses had returned the team to Mount Greylock, from which Morey took his own car home.

Police received 911 calls beginning at 9:12 p.m. that the Jeep had veered off the road, over the guardrails and into the brook just south of Coyote Flaco.

Traffic was rerouted at the Five Corners intersection and Field Park until 12:30 a.m. while the state police accident reconstruction team investigated the accident and the vehicle was pulled from the brook.

Williamstown Police were also assisted at the scene by members of the North Adams Police.

Update on Dec. 18: The investigation into Morey's accident on Dec. 16 was completed. As a result, he was issued a citation for a marked-lanes violation. Speed and alcohol were not contributing factors in the crash.