Two Mount Everett Wrestlers Reach State Semi-Finals

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Mount Everett's Connor Lupiani and Diego Cruz have wrestled their ways into Saturday morning's semi-finals at the Division 3 State Championships.

 

Lupiani earned a pair of pins on Friday, stopping Martha's Vineyard's Kevin Almedia in the first round and Ashland's Dante Merloni in the quarter-finals. Both bouts lasted less than one minute.

 

On Saturday, Lupiani will meet Norton's Jacoby Flynn for a berth in the 138-pound title bout.

 

At 113, Cruz earned a quick pin against Keefe Tech's John Lago in the first round before going the distance for a 14-9 decision against Bristol's Colby Grenon in the Round of 8.

 

Cruz's semi-final opponent is Lynnfield's Nathan Barstow.

 

Lupiani and Cruz have led Mount Everett into a tie for 17th place among 49-teams at the two-day championships, the highest among the four Berkshire County teams.

 

Wayland leads the event with 61.5 points. Mount Everett has 27 points.

 

Mount Greylock is just behind the Eagles with 25 points, tied for 19th place.

 

The Mounties' Logan O'Connell Friday advanced to the semi-finals with a pair of wins in the 215-pound weight class.

 

First, O'Connell pinned Lynnfield's Zack Morse with two seconds left in their bout. Then he outpointed Athol's Timothy Gerry, 8-2, to set up a date in the final four against Tewksbury's Manuel Mengata on Saturday morning.

 

Taconic's lone entrant in the field, West Dews, remains alive in the 144-pound division. Dews earned second-period pins against Excel Academy's Kevin Tabares and Ludlow's Kyle Rodrigues on Friday.

 

Dews' Saturday will start against Triton's Samuel Imlach in the semis.

 

Monument Mountain ended the first day in 23rd place in the team standings. All seven Spartans in the field dropped out of the main draw on Friday, but three remain alive in the consolation brackets: Christopher St. Peter (106), Kamren Boino (150) and Sam St. Peter (285).