Records can sure be deceving. Central, a 6-10 team during the regular season, won its eighth straight Western Massachusetts high school Division I wrestling championship Saturday. The Golden Eagles finished first in the 14-team event with 271 points and they will be joined in the upcoming state team tournament in Lowell by West Springfield...
Records can sure be deceving.
Central, a 6-10 team during the regular season, won its eighth straight Western Massachusetts high school Division I wrestling championship Saturday. The Golden Eagles finished first in the 14-team event with 271 points and they will be joined in the upcoming state team tournament in Lowell by West Springfield (235), Putnam (161).5) and Agawam (146).
Records mean little to Central. It's more about what it takes to succeed and maintain a storied championship tradition.
"Everybody went into this 0-0,'' Central coach Darby McLaughlin said.
But not everybody went through a schedule that was as grueling as Central's was. Central took on most of the top wrestling programs in the northeast, traveling to Vermont, Pennsylvania and eastern Massachusetts.
"Our schedule was a meat-grinder,'' McLaughlin said. "We faced top competition all year and we didn't win a tournament until today.''
' Nothing motivated Central more than losing to rival West Springfield in a regular season dual meet.
"Our goal was to keep improving and we did get better and better,'' McLaughlin said. "This was a team effort.''
Central will send 13 wrestlers to the state individual tournament Saturday in Weymouth.
"This is a tradition we wanted to keep going, not only for everyone on this team, but those from past teams,'' said Tyrique McDowdel, who won his second consecutive Western Mass. title .
Brennan Liebel of Agawam took a 6-3 decision from Alex Marquez of West Springfield at 106 to become the second member of hs family to win a sectional individual title. Older brother Connor won two years ago.
McDowdell beat Putnam's Trinh Nguyen, 8-4, at 113
"It's harder the second time because you have such high expectations,'' McDowdell said.
At 120, Chicopee Conp's Brandon Seibold pinned Agawam's Connor Liebel in 5:14.
Central's Ellison Robinson pinned Westfield's Dylan Theodorakis in 5:15 at 126.
Mizam Tamardze, who recently became a United States citizen, won his third consecutive Western Mass. title after he claimed a 9-4 decision over East Longmeadow's Jake Strohman at 132.
'"It does get tougher every year because the competition keeps getting better,'' Tamardze said.
Jonathan Viruet took a 12-0 major decision from Nate Kane of Amherst at 138.
Ricky Viruet pinned Mike Gardner of Putnam in 1:59 at 145.
Gary Shea, who was a state finalist last season, repeated as sectional 152 champ following a 15-0 technical fall over Westfield's Brandon Affeldt.
West Side's Kenny Line took a 7-1 decision over Central's Bryan Lebron at 160..
The 170 bout between top-seed Alex Perez of Putnam and Central's Mickel Melendez went into overtime after three periods of a 1-1 draw. Perez earned two points with 19 seconds left in the second overtime to win the title after a 3-1 decision.
At 182 Putnam's Hassan Graham beat Chicopee Comp's Alex Kravhenko, 22-10 in a hard-fought major decision.
Adam Gryzko of West Side pinned Chicopee's Joshua Torres in 4:10 at 195. Teammate Murod Usmanov pinned Minnechaug's Demetri Strange in 3:04 at 220.
Chicopee's Donovan Lozada won the heavyweight (285) title after he pinned top-seed Vinnie Guiel of West Springfield in 3:13.
East Longmeadow was presented with the Jack Jones Sportsmanship Award. Shea won outstanding wrestler.
Semifinals
106-Liebel (Aga 4-2 d over Seibold (Comp), Marquez (WS) p 4:50 over Fernandez (Put), 113-Dowdell (CT) p 0:33 over Matsuk (Chic), Nguyen (Put) 5-3 d over Geng (WS), 120-Seibold (Comp) p 1:46 Kreyeski (Put), Liebel p 0:44 Hearn (WS),126- Robinson (CT) 10-2 d over Basil (Aga), Theodorakis (Wf) 11-4 d over Lopez (WS), 132- Tamardze (WS) p 1:51 Quinones (CT), Strohman (EL) 8-1 d over Robbins (Put), 138-Viruet (CT) 14-1 d over Davey (Cath), Kane (Amh) p 2:55 Servantez (Minn) , 145-Viruet (CT) p 1:14 Donafrio (Wf), Gardner (Put) 17-16 d over Baker (Minn), 152-Shea (Long) p 3:32 hoeckh (Lud), Affeldt (Wf) 11-9 d over Sanchez (CT), 160-Lebron (CT) 9-0 d over Torres (Chic), Line (WS) 9-1 d over Farquhar (Long) 170-Perez (Put) p 5:15 over Graham (NO), Melendez (CT) 3-1 d over Shapkin (WS), 182-Graham (Put) p 0:18 over Escribano (CT), Kravchenko (comp) 5-2 d over Rrovelli (EL), 195Grysko (WS) 8-4 d over Saloio (Lud), torres (Chic) 15-0 d over Lamsey (Aga), 220-Usmanov (WS) p 0:46 over negron (Put), Strange (Minn), 10-3 d over Maldonado (CT)-285-Guiel (WS) p 0:36) Anderson (CT), Lozada (Chic) 5-3 d over Johnson (Cath).¶
Consolation finals
106-Fernandez (Put) 7-4 d over Seibold, Nelson (Comp) 11-3 d over Chase (Long), 113-Geng (WS) p Matsuk (Chic) 3:45, Galven df over Podmore (Aga), 120- Stahovish (CT), Hearn( WS ) 6-5 d over Rodriguez (NO), 126-Lopez (WS) p 1:28 over Matsuk (Chic), Monteiro (Minn) df over Basil (Aga), 132-Robbins 5-3 d over Quinones (CT), Lamagdaline (Wf) 7-5 d over Paull (Minn) 138-Basil p 2:57 over Servantez (Minn), Davey p 2:42 over Frappier (EL), 145-Dias (Lud) 1-0 d over Baker (Minn), Gomez 9-7 d over Donffrio (Wf), Fearn, Hoeckh p 1:42 over Bergeron (WS), 160-Karl-Morin (Aga) 3-0 d over Nutting (Wf), Farquhar 4-1 d over Torres (Chic),170-Graham (NO) p 2:50 Shapkin (WS), Logan (EL) 5-2 d over Ragali (Aga), 182-rovelli 8-1 d over Escribano (CT), Roberts (Cath) 2-1 d over Orgeta Aga) , 195-Paris (CtT) 17-6 d over Lamsey (Aga), Saloio (Lud) p 3:31 over Negron (Comp), 220-Maldonado (CT) 5-0 d over Blais (Aga), Negron (Put) 8-6 d over Sanchez (Chic), 285-Johnson (Cath) p 2:49 over Anderson (CT), Tremain (NO) 10-6 d over Machnacz (Chicopee Comp)..