Warriors sweep Wilmington, Saugus, Pentucket
BEN PIERCY, a junior (right), posted three wins in Wakefield’s quad-meet against Wilmington, Saugus, and Pentucket on Saturday at the Charbonneau Field House. The Warriors won all three matches to go to 12-5-0 on the season. (Donna Larsson File Photo)
Published in the January 26, 2016 edition.
WAKEFIELD — After having a week off due to midterm exams, the Wakefield Memorial High wrestling team returned to competition on Saturday at the Charbonneau Field House for a quad-meet against Wilmington, Saugus, and Pentucket.
Given the final scores, the Warriors received tougher tests during the week than they did on Saturday.
Wakefield swept the quad meet with two of the three contests not even close. The Warriors tamed Wilmington, 60-12, and took down Saugus, 48-19. The only meet where Wakefield was tested was against Pentucket as the Warriors prevailed by a 36-27 score.
Wakefield is now 12-5-0 overall and 2-0-0 in the Middlesex League Freedom division.
Wilmington Meet
The Warriors earned their second league win as they won 11 of the 13 weight classes contested. The only bout where neither team entered a wrestler was at the 285 weight class.
At 106, freshman Aidan Armstrong won by forfeit as did Jake Allen, a junior, at 120. In between, junior Jack Spicer pinned Ethan Kamensky at 1:11 of the 113 contest.
Brandon Johnson, a freshman, pinned Josh Fitzler at 1:05 of the 126 match before Jake Goodchild, a sophomore, squeaked out a 7-6 decision over John Cox at the 132 weight class.
Wilmington scored its first six points of the meet as Fox Maxwell pinned Wakefield’s Ryan Smith, a sophomore, at 3:22 of the 138 weight class.
At 145, junior Matt Murdocca took down Pat Carroll for the six points with 1:45 elapsed. Then, Bailey Ritter won by forfeit at 152.
Ben Piercy, a junior, pinned Noah Shanning at 1:43 of the 160 bout.
The 170 match was a thriller as senior captain Evan Gourville pulled out a 3-1 overtime decision over Sam Jennings.
Wakefield then scored wins by pin at the 182 and 195 contests. At 182, freshman Mike Yirrell defeated Tyler Ward at 1:38. At 195, sophomore Steve Mercurio took down James Carroll at 1:20.
In the final bout at 220, Aiden Coleman, a sophomore, lost by pin against Markus Mercant at 1:10.
Saugus Meet
The Warriors won eight of the 12 weight classes contest. There were no matches at 195 and 285.
Spicer pinned Mike Titus at 1:07 of the 113 weight class before Allen accepted a forfeit at 120.
The Sachems won the next two bouts at 126 and 132. At 126, Shannon Drager, a senior, dropped a 4-0 decision against Austin Rogers. At 132, Goodchild lost by major decision (13-0) to Dan McCollough.
The Warriors then won the next six weight classes.
Smith pinned Will King at 1:58 of the 138 match. Then Murdocca won by injury default over Joe Alba at the 145 bout.
Piercy and Yirrell both won by forfeit at the 152 and 170 weight classes. At 160, junior Joe Marinaccio pinned Devin Duncan.
At 182, Gourville pinned Anthony Trang at 3:30.
Saugus earned six points at both the 220 and 106 weight classes. At 220, Coleman was pinned by Mathius Santos at 3:27. At 106, Armstrong was pinned by Sean Herbert at 1:01.
Pentucket Meet
The meet against the Chieftains was a little more nip and tuck as the two teams battled each other for supremacy on the mat. Wakefield won seven out of the 12 weight classes contested. There were no contests at 106 and 113.
Spicer won by forfeit at 120 and Goodchild won by forfeit at 132. In between Johnson was pinned by Garrett Lischske at 1:14 of the 126 bout.
At 138, Smith pulled out a 9-4 decision over Korey Sheffern.
Then the Warriors the 145 and 152 weight classes by pin. At 145, Murdocca defeated Matt Gafari at 5:41. At 152, Piercy beat Ben Jenkins at 1:16.
Marinaccio lost by pin to Kyle Knox at 3:59 of the 160 contest.
In a closely contested match at 170, Gourville edged Devin Young by a 2-1 score in three overtimes.
Pentucket then won the next three weight classes to make the score 30-27.
At 182, Yirrell lost a 5-1 decision to Kalon Boston. Mercurio and Coleman both lost by pin at the 195 and 220 weight classes. Mercurio was defeated by Noah Malhi at 1:02 at 195 and Coleman was beaten by Peter D’Agastino at 1:21 of the 220 bout.
Mike Lima, a senior, accepted a forfeit at 285 for Wakefield’s final six points of the meet.
The Warriors return to the mat tomorrow night at 7 p.m. when they take on Burlington in a M.L. Freedom division dual meet at Burlington High School.
