Dews Wins 100th, Mounties Finish 3rd at Mountie Invitational

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Each of the county’s four high school wrestling teams brought home a title from the 32nd annual Mountie Invitational on Saturday.

 

One brought back a little piece of history.

 

“That was pretty cool,” Taconic’s West Dews said after earning his 100th win at the event. “I’m on the banner now. … I mean, I’m in Taconic history forever, and that’s just a cool thing.

 

“I wouldn't say it was a major aspiration. My teammate, Noah Poirier, did it last year, and I kind of looked up to him, so that’s definitely one thing I wanted to accomplish. But it’s not something that I was really working for.”

 

Dews, a senior at Wahconah Regional High School on the central county cooperative team, hit the milestone in the quarter-finals on Saturday when he stopped Springfield International Charter’s Jayden Johnson midway through the second round of their bout.

 

It was the quickest win Dews had among his four victories at the invitational.

 

His other two victories included a third-period pin in the semi-finals, a late second-period tech fall in the first round and a technical fall against Mount Everett’s Max Manning in the third period of their 144-pound title match.

 

It was a long and productive day on the mat for Dews.

 

“I’m gonna credit that to my coaches in the practice room,” he said. “A few weeks ago, someone said that my stamina was very bad, and that’s the main thing I worked on. I was able to wrestle into the third period all day today, and I had a lot of energy left. I’ve still got a lot of energy.

 

“So I’m going to keep getting my stamina up, working on my moves, perfecting everything. Because I think it worked.”

 

Things worked out for five Berkshire County grapplers on Saturday at the last major invitational before the Division 3 Western Mass Championships back at Mount Greylock on Feb. 15.

 

Joining Dews atop the podium were Mount Everett’s Diego Cruz (113 pounds) and Connor Lupiani (138), Monument Mountain’s Christopher St. Peter (106) and Mount Greylock’s Jacob Borawski (175).

 

The reigning county champions from Mount Greylock posted the highest team finish on Saturday, placing third behind champion Xaverian and Colchester, Vt.

 

The Mounties had five podium finishes as Logan O’Connell reached the 215-pound finals, Brian Liang earned a 21-15 decision in the third-place match at 150 and Jayquan Vazquez placed fourth at 150.

 

After two days of non-stop action in the Mountie Dome (Mount Greylock hosted the Berkshire County Duals on Friday evening), coach John Carvalho was happy to see his team tested by the 20-team field at the invitational.

 

“We want the competition to be tough,” Carvalho said when asked about inviting a team like Division 1 Xaverian. “That just makes you a little better. The kids are building confidence every time we have a match.

 

“We have this next week off so we can rest up, recoup, get working on some technique and stuff. And then we’re on to Frontier the eighth of February and it’s sectionals the week after.”

 

Mount Everett was the only team in the field to take home two individual titles as the Eagles posted a top 10 finish, placing eighth.

 

Lupiani said the tournament is a bit of a tune-up for the post-season but indicated there is still a long road to get where Mount Everett wants to be in a few weeks.

 

“The training all happens in the practice room,” Lupiani said. “That’s where it all begins.

 

“I think we’re gonna do pretty good. Diego [Cruz], Max [Manning], me and Ian [Lanoue]. There’s four pretty good guys going up to Western Mass. I think we’ll do pretty good.”

 

Taconic does not have the same kind of numbers this winter, but Dews likes his chances as an individual heading into the sectional tournament, where he won the 132 pound title to lead the Thunder to a county-best second-place finish.

 

“The main people I’m going to see, I saw here today,” Dews said. “So it just gives me a good look at where I’m at and where I’m going to be. … I guess this just helps me see the competition.”

 

Photos from this meet to come.

 

Team Scores

1. Xaverian, 221.5 points; 2. Colchester, Vt., 194.5; 3. Mount Greylock, 156; 4. South Hadley, 124; 5. Fair Haven, Vt., 124; 6. Athol, 110; 7. Westfield, 98.5; 8. Mount Everett, 89.5; 9. Gilbert/Torrington, 88; 10. Hampshire Regional, 86.5; 11. Springfield International Charter School, 86; 12. Monument Mountain, 84; 13. East Longmeadow, 76.5; 14. Smith Vocational, 71; 15. Taconic, 63; 16. Mohawk Trail, 55.5; 17. Belchertown, 41; 18. Gateway, 27; t-19. Frontier, 26; t-19. Granby, 26.

 

Championship Bouts

106: Christopher St. Peter, Monument Mountain, def. Gelier Vega-Burgos, Springfield ICS, 7-6.

113: Diego Cruz, Mount Everett, def. Noah Rushford, East Longmeadow, 9-5.

120: Matthew Karvelis, Xaverian, major dec. Wade Purington, Mohawk Trail, 14-5.

126: Nathan Sayers, Xaverian, pinned Cahota Lafond, Colchester, Vt., 3:21.

132: George McAteer, Xaverian, pinned Anthony Szabo, Fair Haven, Vt., 2:41.

138: Connor Lupiani, Mount Everett, def. Matthew Small, Smith Vocational, 12-9.

144: West Dews, Taconic, tech fall Max Manning, Mount Everett, 19-4, 4:35.

150: Garrett Crook, Colchester, Vt., pinned Timothy Mohan, Xaverian, :28.

157: Evan Schibi, Gilbert/Torrington, Conn., tech fall Matthew Ferrero, East Longmeadow, 18-3, 3:03.

165: Gabe Bache, Fair Haven, Vt., major dec. Brody Coppins, Colchester, Vt., 9-1.

175: Jacob Borawski, Mount Greylock, pinned Owen Fullerton, Colchester, Vt., 5:09.

190: Mateus Dalton, Xaverian, pinned Sawyer Lefsy,, Athol, 3:59.

215: Nicholas Gauger, Westfield, pinned Logan O'Connell, Mount Greylock, 3:35.

285: Roberto Melendez, South Hadley, def. Nicholas Leblanc, Athol, 3-1.