Taconic Wrestlers Finish Second at Home Invitational

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – All four county wrestling teams finished in top five at Saturday’s Taconic Invitational as the local contingent brought home eight titles.

 

No school won more individual gold than Mount Everett, but the host Thunder edged the Eagles for second place behind final round pins from Jake Broc Healy and Jake Hall.

 

Mount Everett continued to dominate the lower weight classes, with wrestlers in the championship finals in the first four divisions.

 

Diego Cruz (106 pounds), Max Manning (120) and Tyler Candelari (126) each finished his day with a victory to take home a title.

 

Connor Lupiani went the distance but fell to Monument Mountain’s Colin Kinne at 113.

 

In addition to Mount Everett’s three wins in the first-place matches, the Eagles garnered a pair of third-place finishes as Omar Cruz (138) and Michael Devoti (152) each came back to win a pair of matches after dropping out of the main draw in the semi-finals.

 

“We’re not all up to par with our wind and stuff,” Mount Everett coach Dave Lupiani said. “We’ve got some work to do. Three wins a second and two thirds – that’s not too bad. That’s basically the whole team.”

 

Six of Mount Everett’s nine entrants in the tournament made it onto the podium in the 14-team tournament.

 

The team championship went to Ludlow, which competes in Central Mass for state tournament purposes. The Lions earned just one title, from Lucas Alvan at 160, who pinned Taconic’s Noah Poirier in the second round of their finals.

 

Ludlow’s depth proved too much for the rest of the field, though, as it placed eight wrestlers in either the title bout or the consolation final.

 

The third-place Monument Mountain Spartans placed seven wrestlers the first- and third-place bouts.

 

Colin Kinne (113) and Luke Hartshorn (195) each brought home a tournament title. Keegan Dargie (106) and Shaun Frank (182) each won a consy final.

 

“Four guys in finals, which is great,” Monument Mountain coach Simon Jones said. “We won two of them … probably the two we expected to win.

 

“From where we were in the beginning [of the season] to our progression through, I think we are in a great place. We’ve got about a month to work on endurance before the post-season, and I think we’re in really good shape.”

Taconic went 2-for-3 in the finals.

 

The Thunder got titles from Broc Healey at 170 and Jake Hall at 182. Taconic’s West Dews (126) and Hunter Christman (145) also ended the day on a high note, winning third-place matches.

 

The last match of the day also was a highlight for the county as Mount Greylock’s Hunter Marceau earned his first career championship and the Mounties’ first tournament title of the winter with a first-period pin in the 285-pound final.

 

“I think the kids have worked hard, they’re starting to come around,” Mounties coach John Carvalho said. “They’re starting to learn a lot of the different techniques and everything else.

 

“We had a lot of success today, actually. We had our [195 Nicholas Bellora], who actually bumped up from 182, take second. The heavyweight [Marceau] actually bumped from 220 to heavyweight and took first. The younger kids are starting to come around, and it’s been more success the last couple of weeks. In practice, there’s a lot of determination, and these guys have learned a lot.”

 

Next Saturday, the Berkshire County league will be in Sheffield for the Mount Everett Duals. 

 

Team Scores

1. Ludlow, 173.5 points; 2. Taconic, 157.5; 3. Mount Everett, 146; 4. Monument Mountain, 141; 5. Mount Greylock, 118; 6. Hampshire, 81.5; 7. Pathfinder, 81; 8. Duggan, 80; 9. Franklin Tech, 76; 10. Smith Voc, 67; 11. Mohawk Trail, 63; 12. Gateway, 50; 13. Northampton, 30; 14. Springfield International Charter, 17.

 

Finals

106: Diego Cruz, Mount Everett, pinned Samantha Bertini, Ludlow, 1:57.

113: Colin Kinne, Monument Mountain, major decision, Connor Lupiani, Mount Everett, 18-10.

120: Max Manning, Mount Everett, pinned Alexander Schindler, Monument Mountain, 1:15.

126: Tyler Candelari, Mount Everett, pinned Lucas Gilbert, Gateway, 1:15.

132: Ariel Escalante, Duggan, pinned Noah Simard, Ludlow, 1:32.

138: William Burke, Pathfinder, def. Antonio Goncalves, Ludlow, 6-3.

145: Jeremiah Cruz, Duggan, pinned Forrest McSweeney, Smith Voc, 2:34.

152: Alex Willard, Hampshire, pinned Logan Cabral, Ludlow, :46.

160: Lucas Alvan, Ludlow, pinned Noah Poirier, Taconic, 3:05.

170: Broc Healey, Taconic, pinned Eli Gilbert, Gateway, 5:18.

182: Jake Hall, Taconic, pinned Collin Eddy, Franklin Tech, 1:58.

195: Luke Hartshorn, Monument Mountain, pinned Nicholas Bellora, Mount Greylock, 2:59.

220: William VanVleet, Mohawk Trail, pinned Sam St. Peter, Monument Mountain, 4:34.

285: Hunter Marceau, Mount Greylock, pinned Aiden Dearborn, Hampshire, 1:46.