Come up short against CAL power Triton in non-league meet
SHANNON DRAGER, a junior (right), earned a win by a 4-3 decision at the 113 weight class against Triton’s Anthony Ausragiers. Wakefield came up short in the meet against Vikings as it lost by a 40-30 score last night at the Charbonneau Field House. (Donna Larsson Photo)
By JIM SOUTHMAYD
WAKEFIELD — You can never say that the Wakefield Memorial High wrestling team is shy about scheduling some very good non-league competition.
The Warriors took on Cape Ann League power Triton in a non-league dual meet last night at the Charbonneau Field House. While Wakefield wrestled well in the lighter weight and heavier weight classes, it was the middle weights where the meet was decided as the Warriors were handed a 40-30 defeat.
Wakefield dropped to 10-8 overall on the season.
The meet started with Wakefield scoring the first nine points with a pin and a victory by decision at the 106 and 113 weight classes.
At 106, sophomore Jack Spicer pinned Josh Stevens at 32 seconds.
Shannon Drager, a junior, faced Anthony Austragiers at the 113 bout. Drager scored all the points and had a good match as she prevailed by a 4-0 decision.
After that it was all Vikings as they earned victories at the 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 160 and 170 weight classes. That allowed Triton to open up a commanding 40-9 advantage.
At 120, junior Evan McGuire lost by pin to Rudy Johnson at 1:30, while at 126, senior Connor Shine lost by pin to Jared Derkin at 3:27 as Triton took a 12-9 lead.
The 132 match was a good one as freshman Jake Goodchild took on Kyle Frazer. Goodchild trailed 4-3 after the first period and led 7-6 after two periods. But in the third period, Goodchild let the lead slip away with a bunch of points to Frazer in the final seconds as he lost a 15-11 decision.
Freshman Ryan Smith competed at the 138 weight class and faced Josh Misiano. Smith lost by fall at about 2:30 of the contest for six more Viking points
At 145, Ben Piercy, a sophomore, was pinned at 41 seconds by Jake Derkin as the visitors led 27-9.
The 152 contest went in Triton’s favor but senior Dan Bertini wrestled fairly well. Bertini was pitted against Louis Larou. Bertini fell behind 2-0 and and 4-0 after two periods. While Bertini earned a couple of points, he dropped a 5-2 decision.
The 160 and 170 matches went Triton’s way as well with standouts Luke and John Boyle both winning.
At 160, junior Evan Gourville faced Luke Boyle and as was pinned at 2:52. At 170, senior tri-captain Ryan Cunningham lost by major decision, 14-1. Cunningham surrendered seven points in the first period and trailed 11-1 after two.
“We’re young in the lighter and middle weights and they took advantage of that. That was the story of the meet,” said Head Coach Ross Ickes. “Shannon Drager wrestled well and I had hoped that would get us going. Jake Goodchild will learn from his mistake. He keeps getting better and better. Ryan Smith kept battling.
“We lost the coin toss, so I wasn’t able to move people around against their better kids,” added Ickes. “I know their coach well and we probably knew what was going to happen before we wrestled. They’re a good team up and down their lineup. They’re well coached. Their only loss in the Cape Ann League was to Lynnfield.”
The Warriors scored the final 21 points of the meet to make the final score more respectable.
At 182, senior Matt Yirrell pinned Tyler Ceromadaro at 1:44 to end the string of Triton victories.
Senior tri-captain Dan Wensley earned six points as he pinned Alec Moughlin at 3:14.
At 220, senior tri-captain Alex Kane took on Charlie Fraufilter and prevailed by fall at 3:35 of the contest to cut the lead to 40-27.
Nick Murphy, a senior, took on John Fusco at 285 and prevailed by a 9-2 decision for three more Warrior points. Murphy held a 2-0 lead after one and 4-2 after the second period. Murphy went on score five more points, but was unable to pin his foe like he wanted.
“Dan, Alex and Murph are all solid,” said Ickes. “We’re young in the lighter and middle weights. We have Wilmington on Saturday. If we win that, then we face Melrose next Wednesday for the league title.”
The Warriors face the Wildcats on Saturday at 9 a.m. as part of a quad-meet with Saugus and Pentucket at Pentucket Regional High School. Wakefield then squares off against Melrose next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at the Charbonneau Field House.
