Taconic's Burke Wins State Wrestling Title

WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- Taconic sophomore Dylan Burke won the 170-pound state title Saturday to lead the Taconic wrestling team to a sixth-place finish at the State Division 3 Championships.

 

Burke won a pair of decisions on Saturday, first edging Scituate’s Jason Dwight, 4-3, in the semi-finals before downing Dave Dow of Foxborough, 7-3, in the championship bout.

 

Foxborough ended up two points out of the team title hunt, finishing with 127 points to Dedham’s 129.

 

Taconic was the highest finishing Berkshire County squad, finishing sixth in the state with 84 points.

 

Zabion Powell joined his teammate in the finals, reaching the title bout at 145 with three pins.

 

In Saturday’s semis, Powell pinned Melrose’s Steven Macintosh midway through the second period. He then was edged, 6-4, by Triton Regional’s Jared Durkin.

 

Taconic also got a seventh-place finish from Mike Lafreniere at 113. He went 3-3 at the tournament, finishing his weekend with an 8-7 win over Gateway’s Brandon Daniels in the seventh-place match.

 

Monument Mountain finished 22nd out of 52 teams scoring at the meet.

 

The Spartans got a pair of fifth-place finishes from John Field and Sam Cormier, who each reached Saturday’s championship semi-finals.

 

Field dropped a 2-1 decision to Dow in the 170-pound semis but came back with a pair of wins in the consolation bracket to claim fifth, beating Wakefield’s Mike Yirrell, 3-1, and Pentcuket’s Jason Young, 7-5.

 

Cormier (132 pounds) bowed out of the championship bracket on Saturday morning when Foxborough’s Shayne Kerrigan ended the match at 4:51. Cormier then pinned Tyingsborough’s Josh Ducharme in his first consy match before beating Cohasset’s Daniel Nolan, 12-4.

 

Mount Everett sent two wrestlers to the state meet, and Pat Fosby (120) and Zack Lupiani (106) placed sixth and seventh, respectively.

 

Mount Greylock’s Liam Feeley went 2-3 at 182 pounds to finish in eighth place.