St. Peter Leads Monument Mountain to Third Place at Taconic

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – The Monument Mountain wrestling team picked up just one title at Saturday’s Taconic Invitational, but the Spartans’ depth paved the way to a third-place showing, the best among the four Berkshire County squads at the event.

 

Sam St. Peter ended the day with a first-period pin in the 285-pound title bout to give Monument Mountain its individual crown.

 

But eight of the 10 Spartans in the field placed in his division as the team amassed 145 points to finish behind team champion Ludlow and Gilbert, Conn.

 

Mount Greylock, Taconic and Mount Everett were fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively in the 14-school field.

 

In addition to St. Peter, Keegan Dargie and Shaun Frank reached the main draw final for Monument Mountain.

 

At 113 points, Dargie advanced with two pins before he was stopped in the first round by Pathfinder’s Taran Prak. Frank also earned pins in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. He was pinned by Mount Greylock’s Jayquan Vazquez.

 

Monument Mountain’s Sam Teigen ended his day with a win in the third-place bout at 175 pounds. He pinned Pathfinder’s Gustavo Vega in the first period of their consolation final.

 

Four other Spartans reached the consolation finals: Alexander Schindler (120), Dominic Dignard (144), Kamren Boino (157) and Isaac Hartshorn (165).

 

Vazquez’ win in the 190 final gave the Mounties their only title of the day. But Jacob Borawski (175) and Hunter Marceau (285) each posted a runner-up finish for Mount Greylock.

 

It’s been a strong season for the North County cooperative team at Mount Greylock, which earlier this week claimed the county dual meet title with a win at home against Taconic.

 

“It shows that the kids have wanted it more this year than they have in the past,” Mounties coach John Carvalho said. “They worked hard. They deserved it, and that’s what they get – one step at a time.”

 

Mount Greylock’s depth was on display Saturday. It was one of nine teams to put a “B” team in the competition. And its B squad finished first out of that group and ahead of three varsity teams.

 

“[The depth] makes everyone feel good,” Carvalho said. “At least everybody has someone to work out with in the room now. They all have their separate partners. They’re getting good workouts. There’s more energy in the room now.

 

“We put the trophy out every night at practice now, and they just watch it and look at it – the next step.”

 

The win Saturday by Hoosac Valley sophomore Vazquez was just one sign that Mount Greylock will be a team to contend with for a while.

 

“They’re all young,” Carvalho said. “They’re all sophomores. Some of them are first-year wrestlers. They’re producing well and learning fast.

 

“Our 113 [Cash Kolodziej], he’s a first-year kid. He’s a freshman at McCann, and he took third place at the first tournament he went to this year.”

 

Host Taconic took two first place belts on Saturday, a total surpassed by just team champion Ludlow.

 

At 175 pounds, Noah Poirier won one of four all-Berkshire County finals, outpointing the Mounties’ Borawaski, 16-7.

 

At 132, another Wahconah student-athlete on the Taconic cooperative team, West Dews, won the most dramatic bout in the finals when he pinned Mount Everett’s Max Manning with 33 seconds left in the third period.

 

Dews won his first two matches on Saturday with pins that took a combined 76 seconds.

 

In the final, Manning earned two takedowns in the first period to take a 4-2 lead. Dews came back to take a 7-5 lead after two periods. After an escape by Manning in the third, it was a one-point margin when Dews got a takedown and a pin to end it.

 

“Max is really good,” Dews said. “I’m going to see him like two more times this season. He’s good, but I just kept fighting.

 

“The first time I faced him [this season], he beat me, pinned me in the third period. This time, I got him back in the third period. It felt good to win. … I controlled the match this time. I made the shots. I controlled the offense. And it’s something I didn’t do the first time.”

 

Manning’s Mount Everett teammate, Diego Cruz, did pick up a title on Saturday. After advancing to the finals with three pins, Cruz was the beneficiary of a forfeit in the final.

 

The Eagles also got third-place wins in the consolation bracket from Connor Lupiani at 126 and Ian Lanoue at 157.

 

Team Scores

1. Ludlow, 167 points; 2. Gilbert (Conn.), 159; 3. Monument Mountain, 145.5; 4. Mount Greylock, 119; 5. Taconic, 115; 6. Mount Everett, 93; 7. Pathfinder, 88; 8. Springfield International Charter, 73; 9. Smith Vocational, 68; 10. Hampshire, 53; 11. Mohawk Trail, 51; 12. Mount Greylock B, 50; 13. Gateway, 46; 14. Ludlow B, 32; 15. Wolcott Tech (Conn,), 26; 16. Gilbert B, 20; 16. Pathfinder B, 20; 18. Monument Mountain B, 13; 19. Gateway B, 4; 19. Smith Voc B, 4; 22. Northampton, 3; t-23. Mount Everett B, Springfield International Charter B, Taconic B.

 

First-Place Bouts

106 Diego Cruz, Mount Everett, won by forfeit.

113 Taran Prak, Pathfinder, pinned Keegan Dargie, Monument Mountain, 1:37

120 Dylan Desanti, Wolcott Tech, pinned John Laquio, Gilbert, :27.

126 Ryan Gomes, Ludlow, def. Trevor Llewellyn, Gilbert, 8-0.

132 West Dews, Taconic, pinned Max Manning, Mount Everett, 5:27.

138 Sam Goncalves, Gilbert, def. William Burke, Pathfinder, 3-2.

144 Adan Clifford, Hampshire, pinned Hunter Christman, Taconic, 1:39.

150 Evan Schibi, Gilbert, pinned Logan Moore, Mohawk Trail, 2:45.

157 Brady Trahan, Ludlow, def. Hosam Abdullah, Gilbert, 6-3.

165 Lucas Alvan, Ludlow, pinned Eli Gilbert, Gateway, 3:55.

175 Noah Poirier, Taconic, def. Jacob Borawski, Mount Greylock, 16-7.

190 Jayquan Vazquez, Mount Greylock, pinned Shaun Frank, Monument Mountain, 1:26.

215 William Vanvleet, Mohawk Trail, pinned Tristin Stephens, Ludlow, 2:55.

285 Sam St. Peter, Monument Mountain, pinned Hunter Marceau, Mount Greylock, 1:02.