Milestones Achieved During Mountie Wrestling Invitational
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Several area wrestlers enjoyed personal milestones on Saturday during the Mountie Invitational Tournament at Mount Greylock Regional.
A trio of Taconic teammates achieved milestone victories, while three Mount Everett brothers each enjoyed first-place finishes together.
Taconic had two wrestlers live their big moments in unforgettable fashion, reaching the accomplishment by winning their respective weight brackets. Senior Zabion Powell won the championship at 145 pounds to record his 150th career victory, and then junior Dylan Burke reached his 100th career win after claiming a tough battle for the 182-pound bracket.
Zach Mathes also eclipsed his 100th career victory, when he recorded a pin in his opening match at 138 pounds. Mathes finished fourth.
Powell set the school record for wins a few weeks ago, and Saturday’s feat meant more for him to share it with his two teammates.
“This is awesome, and we were talking about this for a couple of weeks. I am really proud of those guys,” Powell said. “I train with Dylan every day that I can, and it is nice to see him get that step and get to 100 wins. I got my 100th right here last year, so he is right on track and he will be following me for the record.”
The big moments capped a nice day overall for the Braves, as Taconic finished in second place with 196.5 team points. Rhode Island’s Chariho took first place with 240.5 points. Mount Everett was sixth with 76 points, Monument Mountain seventh with 74 points and Mt. Greylock finished twelfth with 30 points.
Brothers Nick, Zack and Anthony Lupiani each won his bracket for Mount Everett. Nick won the title at 98 pounds, Zack won the 120-pound bracket and Anthony won at 126 pounds.
“It feels good to have all of my brothers in the finals and it is cool that we all won,” Nick said.
Nick got the finals started by making quick work of Granby’s Jake Olivieri. He recorded the early takedown, worked Olivieri to his back and then seized his moment by slipping in a half nelson that earned the pin with 24 seconds left in the first period. The win was a great reward for Nick, after taking a tough loss in last year’s championship.
“It was a pretty good match,” Nick said. “I was in neutral and I was trying to do a double-leg and sprawl, so I grabbed his wrist and I got him down with a single-leg. He got caught because he lifted up his arm and I got his arm, so I got him in a half. I had him tight.”
Both big brothers then also took care of business. Zack rolled to victory by pinning Northampton’s Maddox McPherson with 45 seconds remaining in the first period, and Anthony built a strong 9-2 lead before sticking Chariho’s Zachary Jesuino on a power half with 1:08 left in the second period.
Zack also earned the biggest honor of the day in being named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
Powell continued his strong season by cruising to victory over Chariho’s Jackson Bridge. Powell scored several takedowns and nearly had the pin a few times, taking a 16-4 lead before finally securing the pin with 1:29 remaining in the third period.
“I was coming in not feeling good this morning and I worked it out as we went on, so I felt pretty good going into this match,” Powell said. “I went after it and started attacking, getting as many takedowns as I could. But once I got him down I was having trouble turning him. He was clamping down and it was hard to do much. But when I get them feet-to-back I can usually get it.”
Upon securing the victory, Powell was then focused on rooting on his teammates. Burke came through with a dramatic victory to join him in celebrating a milestone memory together.
“It feels good. I have been working the past three years to get it, and I finally got it,” Burke said. “I found out I only had two matches today so I knew I had to win it all today if I was going to get to one hundred.”
The 182-pound title did not come easy. Burke battled through a scoreless stalemate with Chariho’s Cameron Anderson in the first period, and fell behind after Anderson escaped from starting in the bottom position in the second. He evened things up midway through the third period with an escape after starting down, and then grabbed the lead with a clean takedown with 35 seconds left in the match. Time closed out as he worked to try and pin Anderson.
“It was a tough match,” Burke said. “The first was 0-0, and then I rolled him in the second period, and then he escaped. Then, in the third period, I got my escape and it was 1-1 with about thirty seconds left. I got my body-lock and got my two, and then I rode him out the rest of the match. It felt really good and I have been working hard for it. It felt great to get it.”
Several other locals reached the championship round and finished in second place. Monument Mountain’s Caleb Pollard was pinned by Berlin’s Evan Yerdon at 113, LaSalle’s Cole Edwards defeated Taconic’s Mike LaFreniere 12-4 at 132 pounds, Chariho’s Nathan Marchione pinned Taconic’s Shawn O’Shea at 195 and Chariho’s Clarke Richmond pinned Monument Mountain’s Sean Flaherty at 220 pounds.