Four Taconic Wrestlers in Semi-Finals at State Championships
WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- The Taconic wrestling team finished the first day of the Division 3 State Wrestling Championships with a one-point lead for first place and four wrestlers through to Saturday's semi-finals.
Taconic has 46 points, just ahead of second-place Norton, and has one more wrestler still contending for an indvidual state title than any other team in the 50-team field.
Mike LaFreniere, Zabion Powell, Dylan Burke and Shawn O'Shea Friday each earned a spot in Saturday's state semi-finals.
At 132 pounds, LaFreniere advanced with pins over wrestlers from Nauset and host Wakefield to earn a spot against Foxborough's Shane Kerrigan in the final four.
Powell started his day in the 145-pound class with a second-period pin in the first round before earning a 4-0 decision in the quarter-finals. Powell will face Cohasset's Daniel Nolan in Saturday's semis.
At 182, Dylan Burke earned an 11-4 decision in his first match on Friday before ending his quarter-final match at the 1 minute, 5 second mark. Burke will face Holliston's Spencer Fetrow in the semis.
O'Shea won two matches by falls on Friday. He will see Essex Tech's Mark Vecchio in the state semis.
The county's only other state semi-finalist is Mount Everett's Zach Lupiani.
At 120 pounds, Lupiani earned a pair of pins on Friday, stopping his first round opponent in the second round before pinning Bristol County's Ben Dubois at 5:21 of their quarter-final match. On Saturday, Lupiani faces Sandwich's Connor Keegan in the semis.
Anthony Lupiani is alive in the consolation bracket for Mount Everett at 126 pounds.
Taconic has two wrestlers alive in the consies: Zach Mathes at 138 and Mike Puskey at 160.
Monument Mountain, which sent three wrestlers to the tournament, has two still wrestling, both in the consolation brackets: Caleb Pollard at 113 and Lgan Mead at 195.
Mount Greylock's two entrants, Jack Rosier (145) and Liam Feeley (170) each were eliminated with a pair of Friday losses.