Monument Mountain in First After First Day of Sectional

NORTHFIELD, Mass. -- Eight Monument Mountain Spartans advanced to the semi-finals as Monument moved into first place in the team standings after Day 1 of the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Wrestling Championships at Pioneer Valley Tech.

 

Steven Wool, Sam Cormier and Caleb Pollard each pulled off an upset in Friday's quarter-finals to advance into Saturday morning's semis.

 

At 220 pounds, seventh-seeded Wool defeated second-seeded Ahkmet Azizov of Hampden Charter, 7-5, to advance to the semi-finals, where he will meet third-seeded Alex Griffs of Mount Greylock.

 

Pollard was seeded No. 6 at 106 pounds. He advanced on a pair of pins, dispatching his first round opponent in 36 seconds before ending his quarter-final with No. 3 Jon Mahony of Athol at 2:34. Pollard will face second-seeded Mike LaFrenier of Taconic in the semis.

 

At 120, Monument Mountain's Cormier pulled off a mild upset with a 10-9 win over No. 4 Zach Mathes of Taconic in the quarter-finals. Cormier will face top-seeded Pat Fosby of Mount Everett on Saturday morning; Fosby advanced with a pair of pins on Friday.

 

Monument Mountain's other five semi-finalists are Max Buffoni (113), Alex Leonard (138), Nate Cormier (145)John Field (182) and Shamal Schoonmaker (195).

 

Taconic and Mount Greylock are second and third, respectively, in the team standings after Day 1.

 

Monument leads the 18-team field with 96 points. Taconic has 72, and Mount Greylock has 63.5. Southwick is one point behind in fourth place.

 

Taconic sent six wrestlers through to the semi-finals: LaFrenier (106), Zabion Powell (132) Isiah Williams (152), Dylan Burke (160), Tanner Hastings (195) and Teyler Hiestand (220).

 

Mount Greylock has five wrestlers still in contention for an individual title: Robert Sutter (126), Dillon Whitley (145), Jude Rorke (152), Devin Pelletier (170) and Griffis (220).

 

In addition to Fosby at 120, Mount Everett sends Anthony Lupiani into the semi-finals Saturday at 113.