Smith, Denham earn second places in 17th annual event
RYAN SMITH, a junior, was the runner-up at the 145 weight class in the 17th annual Anthony Lisitano Memorial Tournament which was held Saturday at the Charbonneau Field House. (Donna Larsson File Photo)
Published in the December 20, 2016 edition.
WAKEFIELD — The Wakefield Memorial High wrestling team had six place winners total between its A and B teams in the 17th annual Anthony Lisitano Memorial Tournament which was held Saturday at the Charbonneau Field House.
As a result, the Wakefield A team finished eighth overall with 102 points, while the Wakefield B team finished 16th overall with 25 points.
Lincoln-Sudbury won the entire tournament with 210 points as it beat out Catholic Memorial (168 points) and Georgetown/Ipswich (158 points).
Taking fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh were Methuen (148 points), Lexington (137 points), Arlington (123 points) and Lynnfield/North Reading (107 points).
The rest of the 17-team field included Greater Lawrence (99.5 points), Malden Catholic (93 points), Pentucket (88.5 points), Watertown (64 points), Reading (55 points), Saugus (51.5 points), Marblehead/Swampscott (43 points) and Malden (21 points).
Ryan Smith, a junior, was the runner-up at the 145 weight class with a 3-1 record. Smith won by injury default against Watertown’s Rodrigo Moscoso. The junior then won by fall over Marblehead/Swampscott’s Ari Shteynberg and then by major decision (13-2) over Georgetown/Ipswich’s Matt Mansfield. In the title bout, Smith lost by fall to Lynnfield/North Reading’s Connor Stead.
Senior Anthony Denham finished second overall at the 285 weight class with a 2-1 record. Denham won by decision over Catholic Memorial’s Ryan Durant and then defeated teammate Dan DiMeglio by fall. In the title match, Denham lost by fall to Lincoln-Sudbury’s Francisco Colon.
DiMeglio, a senior, finished fourth overall with a 3-2 record at 285 as a member of Wakefield’s B team. DiMeglio won by fall over Georgetown/Ipwich’s Can Dalley and then won by fall over Reading’s Nick Frongillo. After dropping the bout against Denham, the senior then won by fall over Lexington’s Andreas George. In the third place match, DiMeglio was pinned by Durant at 55 seconds.
Jack Spicer, a senior captain, had a fourth place finish at 138 with a 3-2 record. Spicer pulled out an 8-2 decision over Arlington’s Suraj Malvo. The senior then won by major decision (15-0) over Greater Lawrence’s Amihail Espinosa. Spicer dropped a 7-4 decision to Malden Catholic’s Will Tosi. Spicer rebounded with a 3-2 decision over Saugus’ Danny McCullough. The match for third place, Spicer lost by major decision (9-0) to Marblehead/Swampscott’s Stephen Hawkins.
Aiden Coleman, a junior, had a fourth place finish at 220 with a 3-2 record. Coleman won by fall against Greater Lawrence’s Sam Lopez and then pinned Malden Catholic’s Dan Coelho at 2:59. Coleman then lost by fall to Lincoln-Sudbury’s Andrew Marshall at 1:01. The junior rebounded with a win by major decision (11-0) over Lopez. In the third place match, Coleman lost by fall at 23 seconds to Methuen’s Chris Fowler.
Jake Goodchild, a junior, placed fifth at the 132 weight class and had a 3-2 record. Goodchild won by major decision (14-0) over Malden’s Hasnat Moughal. The junior then won fall over Marblehead/Swampscott’s Steven Ratner. Goodchild lost by major decision (11-0) to Arlington’s Matt Pickett and then dropped a 9-7 decision to Lexington’s Jack Marcin. In the match for fifth place, Goodchild won by fall against Methuen’s Chris Ramos.
Wakefield also had wrestlers that competed in the tournament, but did not place.
At the 113 weight class, Chris Alves, a sophomore, and CJ Hagen, a freshman, both went 0-2. Alves competed for the A team and Hagen for the B team.
Alves lost to Reading’s Ryan O’Neil by major decision (16-6) and then was defeated by fall against Watertown’s Nick Stanizzi.
Hagen lost by fall at 15 seconds to Arlington’s Paul Sangakakom and then was pinned at 1:37 by Malden Catholic’s Richard Swierk.
The Warriors had an A and a B team wrestler at 120.
Aidan Armstrong, a sophomore, posted a 1-2 record. Armstrong won a 10-6 decision over Tommy St. Cyr of Malden Catholic. Armstong then lost by fall to Lynnfield/North Reading’s Timmy Leggett and by fall at Arlington’s Taisei Akatsu at 2:59.
Nolan O’Callahan, a sophomore, went 0-2. O’Callahan lost by fall to Catholic Memorial’s Joe Gbadema at 49 seconds and by fall to Akastsu.
Wakefield also had two wrestlers at 126 with freshman Brock Johnson as a member of the A team and Dale Denham, a sophomore, who was part of the B team.
Johnson posted a 1-2 record. The freshman dropped a 9-5 decision to Lexington’s Ethan Fong. Johnson then won by fall against Saugus’ Nick Franco and then lost by fall to Greater Lawrence’s Louis Torres at 3:50.
Denham lost to Franco by fall and and then pinned Georgetown/Ipswich’s Evan Swanton. Denham then lost by fall to Fong at 40 seconds.
Steve McDonough, a freshman, wrestled at 138 as well. He lost by fall to Espinosa at 1:16 and then was pinned by Malvo.
At 152, Kevin Tran, a junior, went 1-2. Tran lost by fall at 3:06 to Arlington’s Dean Smida. He rebounded with a 10-2 major decision over Watertown’s Louie Fabrikarakas. Tran then lost by major decision (12-2) to Malden Catholic’s Kevin Batting.
At 160, senior captain Ben Piercy went 0-2. Piercy lost by fall to Lynnfield/North Reading’s Sean McCullough and then lost by decision, 10-7, to Reading’s Dan Graham.
The Warriors had two wrestlers at the 170 weight class.
Esdras Hernandez, a sophomore, competed with the A team. He earned his first varsity win as he prevailed by fall against Pentucket’s Andrew Gould. He then lost by fall to Malden Catholic’s Josh Bechen and then to teammate, freshman Robbie Fossett, by a 13-6 decision.
Fossett, who competed for the B team, lost by fall to Watertown’s Parsa Medhati. The ninth grader then won by fall over Malden’s Brian Rivera for his first varsity victory. After defeating Hernandez, Fossett lost by fall to Arlington’s Mike Doherty.
At 182, senior James Connors posted a 1-2 record. Connors lost by fall at 4:35 to Watertown’s Juan Gonsalez. Connors then won by injury default against Malden Catholic’s Nico Johnson. The senior’s final match was against Saugus’ Anthony Trang and he lost by fall at 2:37.
Freshman Sam Valenti competed at the 195 weight class and he went 0-2. Valenti lost by fall Lexington’s Jon Stix at 22 seconds and then lost by pin to Arlington’s Josh Bowen at 48 seconds.
