Taconic Wrestlers Win Home Tournament

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Taconic wrestler West Dews Saturday learned a valuable lesson and earned some valuable points, winning an individual title and helping his team place first at the inaugural Kevin Harrington Memorial Tournament.
 
Dews was locked in a back-and-forth battle with Mount Everett’s Connor Lupiani in the 113-pound title when the Taconic wrestler earned a takedown in the final minute of the third period to take an 11-9 lead.
 
But after establishing his position on top, Dews appeared to lose his concentration, allowing Lupiani to get a reversal in the final five seconds to force overtime.
 
“I personally just got too cocky,” he said later. “That won’t happen again.”
 
Dews righted the ship and used a double-leg takedown to took down Lupiani at the edge of the mat in the first minute of overtime to earn a 13-11 win.
 
He did not have much time to think about his lapse at the end of regulation before jumping into the extra session, but it was enough to turn things around.
 
“I just thought about what I learned from my coaches,” Dews said.
 
“I knew [Lupiani] was tired. I knew I could beat him when he started to show he was tired. It was just about staying with my form and taking him down from there.”
 
Dews was one of three Taconic wrestlers to earn individual titles as the team amassed 190 points to get a solid victory over runner-up Ludlow (134 points) in the team standings.
 
Noah Poirier won at 152 pounds, and Broc Healey won at 160 in their home gym.
 
Poirier went 4-0 on the day with four first-period pins, stopping Granby’s Gavin Gilburg in 1 minute, 53 seconds, in the final.
 
Healey also earned four pins in the tournament. He ended his day with a pin against Holyoke’s Russell Rivera in 1:38.
Dews, who had a bye into the quarter-finals, advanced to the title bout with a pair of pins.
 
In addition to the three titles, four more Taconic athletes finished their day with victories in the consolation finals. Hunter Christman (126) Owen Brennan (132), Ben West (170) and Ethan Nicholls (195) each finished in third place.
 
Nicholls took a nail-biting 5-4 win over Northampton’s Dillon Green in their third-place match at 195.
 
Mount Everett’s six wrestlers took home three individual titles in addition to Connor Lupiani’s runner-up finish, and the Eagles placed fourth among 19 teams in the tournament.
 
Diego Cruz pinned Hampden Charter East’s Michael Harris in the third period in the 106-pound final. At 120, Nick Lupiani needed just 47 seconds to stop Southwick’s Isaiah Wood for his fourth first-period pin of the day. Omar Cruz pinned Pathfinder’s William Burke in the third period of their 138-pound final.
 
The other Berkshire County wrestlers to reach the winners bracket final on Saturday were Monument Mountain’s Ely Cormier (126) and Mount Greylock’s Jacob Mucci (195).
 
Cormier needed less than one minute on the mat combined in his quarter-final and semi-final wins. But Ludlow’s Lucas Alvan stopped Cormier’s run at 2:46 of their final.
 
Mucci earned three pins to reach the title bout and went the distance against Ludlow’s Michael Gilrein before Gilrein prevailed, 8-3.
 
Mount Greylock also got a third-place finish from Aaron Bush at 160 pounds as the Mounties finished ninth in the team standings.
 
 
Teams
1. Taconic 190; 2. Ludlow 134; 3. Holyoke 109; 4. Mount Everett 103.5; 5. Chicopee 94.5; 6. Pathfinder 78; 7. Granby 76; 8. Hampden Charter East 73; 9. Mount Greylock 71; 10. Smith Vocational 60; 11. Southwick 59; 12. Franklin Tech 57; t-13. Mohawk Trail 46; t-13. Springfield International Charter School 46; 15. Monument Mountain 46; 16. Northampton 36; 17. Berlin-New Lebanon, 30; 18. Hampshire Regional 23; 19. Hampden Charter West 20.
 
Finals
99: Samantha Bertini (Ludlow) F Isaac King (Taconic), 0:45.
106 Diego Cruz (Mount Everett) F Michaell Harris (Hampden Charter East), 5:09.
113 West Dews (Taconic) DEC Connor Lupiani (Mount Everett), 13-11 OT.
120 Nick Lupiani (Mount Everett) F Isiah Wood (Southwick), 0:47.
126 Lucas Alvan (Ludlow) F Ely Cormier (Monument Mountain), 2:46.
132 Antonio Goncalves  (Ludlow) DEC Matthew Small (Smith Voc), 8-4.
138 Omar Cruz (Mount Everett) F William Burke (Pathfinder), 4:38.
145 Josh Brunelle (Franklin County) DEC Forrest Mcsweeney (Smith Voc), 8-5.
152 Noah Poirier (Taconic) F Gavin Gilburg (Granby), 1:53.
160 Broc Healey (Taconic) F Russell Rivera (Holyoke), 1:38.
170 Bobby Burke (Pathfinder) F Gabriel Simard (Ludlow), 3:19.
182 Myles Brown (Springfield International Charter School) TF Joe Lafreniere (Taconic), 16-1 3:53.
195 Michael Gilrein (Ludlow) DEC Jacob Mucci (Mount Greylock), 8-3.
220 William Vanvleet (Mohawk Trail) F Richard Rodriguez (Holyoke), 2:45.
285 Quinton Gardener (Hampden Charter East) F Keishon Martin (Taconic), 2:16.
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