Taconic's Burke, O'Shea Win State Titles

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WAYLAND, Mass. -- Taconic's Dylan Burke and Shawn O'Shea each won a gold medal at Saturday's Division 3 Wrestling State Championships.
 
Burke dominated his two matches on the second day of the tournament, not surrendering a point to his competition.
 
In the 195-pound semi-finals, he earned a 15-0 technical fall against Wayland's C.J. Brown.
 
Then in the afternoon, Burke bested Hanover/Norwell's Jack Long, 12-0, for a major decision.
 
O'Shea earned his second pin of the tournament in the semi-finals at 220, stopping Melrose's Matt Hickey late in the second period of their match.
 
In the finals, he took a 4-2 lead after two periods and went on to a 7-3 win over Keefe Tech's Nero Bono.
 
Taconic's Mike LaFreniere also reached the final at 132, taking a nail-biter early Saturday with a 2-0 decision over Georgetown-Ipswich's Troy Forgitano.
 
In the title bout, LaFreniere fell to Holliston's Brian Garry, 8-0.
 
Taconic had a fourth wrestler reach the podium on Saturday. Ryan Scott at 145 pounds went 3-2 in the two-day event, ending his run with a pin of Sandwich's Tanner Davison on the seventh-place match.
 
Taconic finished with 88.5 team points, 66 behind state champion Melrose but well ahead of D3 Western Mass champion Hampden Charter, which placed seventh with 62.5 points.
 
Mount Everett placed 12th in a 54-team field with 50 points. Monument Mountain and Mount Greylock finished 24th and 38th, respectively.
 
Mount Everett sent Nick Lupiani to the final round after he pinned Norton's Steven Chaffee in the semis. Sean Thomas of Melrose defeated Lupiani, 9-0, in the 106-pound final.
 
Zack Lupiani dropped his semi-final, 10-1, on Saturday morning but came back to win a pair of matches. He beat Hampden Charter's Devin Lewis, 15-11, to get to the third-place match at 126 pounds. Zack Lupiani then ended his tournament by pinning Norton's Alex Turcotte midway through the second period of their match to claim bronze.
 
Monument Mountain put two wrestlers on the podium Saturday afternoon, and Mount Greylock put one.
 
Mount Greylock's Jack Rosier went 4-2  after finishing with a victory in the fifth-place match at 160 pounds. Rosier posted three pins in the consolation bracket, finishing by stopping Triton's Ethan Tremblay in the second period of their bout to place fifth.
 
At 220, Monument's Logan Mead was knocked out by Keefe Tech's Bono in the semis but went 2-0 in the consolation bracket to finish 4-1 for the weekend.
 
Mead won by forfeit to reach the third-place match, where he outlasted Melrose's Matt Hickey for a 9-7 win.
 
Caden O'Rourke placed sixth for the Spartans at 195. He went 3-3 in the tournament.
 
O'Rourke and all the top six finishers from Saturday's competition advance to the all-state meet next Friday and Saturday at Methuen High.

 

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