O'Connell, Lesure Earn Athlete of the Week Honors
Both of this week’s iBerkshires.com/Southwestern Vermont Health Care Athletes of the Week are students at Hoosac Valley High School, but only one reps the Hurricanes in the winter season.
The other, junior Logan O’Connell, wrestles for the Mount Greylock cooperative program, which welcomes grapplers from Drury, Hoosac and McCann Tech.
On Saturday afternoon in his adoptive home gym, O’Connell was one of three Hurricane/Mounties to claim individual titles at the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Championships.
O’Connell was a finalist at 215 pounds at the 2024 sectional and reached the finals again this winter at the Berkshire Holiday Tournament, Taconic Invitational and Mountie Invitational.
This time around, he went all the way, winning his first two bouts with pins and outpointing his opponent in the semi-finals, 10-5.
In the championship bout, O’Connell surprised Jackson Morey of team champion Franklin Tech and surprised his own coaches with the winning move midway through the second period.
“In practice, we have specific drills so we don’t do suicide cradles,” O’Connell said. “And I’m sitting there locked up in a bad cradle, I’m about to go to my back. And in the back of my head, I’m like, ‘What if I try it.’ And I just full sent it, got him there. I never would have thought it would end that way. I went completely the opposite direction, but it means everything.
“That was my first time trying [a suicide cradle]. It kind of just fell like the right moment to let it rip.”
O’Connell will join a large contingent of Berkshire County wrestlers at the Division 3 State Championships Friday and Saturday at Foxborough High School.
Hoosac Valley senior Ashlyn Lesure has the Hurricanes basketball team right back in the thick of things for long runs in the Western Massachusetts and state tournaments.
Earlier this season, Leisure added her name to a long list of Hoosac Valley girls who have scored their 1,000th career point for the Hurricanes.
Last year, she was the leading scorer at just more than 14 points per game for a team that won the Division 5 State Championship.
This winter, Lesure again is averaging more than 14 points per game in a program that consistently wins with balanced scoring.
The senior is peaking at the right time, scoring 18 points in Wednesday’s regular season finale and 17 two nights later in the Western Massachusetts Class D quarter-finals.
Lesure and the Hurricanes are home again on Tuesday in the regional semi-finals. After a a hoped-for date on Championship Saturday, Hoosac Valley will turn its attention to defending its state title; going into the week, the ‘Canes (16-3) are the top-ranked team in the commonwealth in D5.
The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Health Care.