Spartans Have Best Bay State Result at Mountie Invite
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – As the high school wrestling season hits the home stretch, the Monument Mountain Spartans made themselves right at home at Mount Greylock.
The Spartans placed three wrestlers in the finals and came away with one tournament title on Saturday at the 31st Mountie Invitational.
Sam St. Peter closed the tournament with a win in the 285-pound title bout to help the Spartans finish third overall and first among Massachusetts schools competing in the meet, which drew squads from four states.
It was a strong showing for Monument Mountain in a venue it will see a lot this winter. The county’s four high school wrestling teams will be back in the Mountie Dome on Feb. 10 for the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Championships.
Spartan coach Simon Jones said that competition Monument Mountain saw on Saturday will pay dividends down the road.
“It’s great to get up here and see this type of competition, get the kids used to the gym, the environment, the fans,” he said. “And on an individual seeding level, we had some really good wins over competition that we’re going to be seeded up against. That’s going to help us, too.
“I think, on an individual level, person-to-person, we’re starting to click on all cylinders, which is great. That’s where we want to be going into the postseason in two weeks.”
After reaching the final with a decision and two pins, St. Peter registered three takedowns, including one in the closing seconds, to beat Colchester, Vt.,’s Graham Resmer in for the individual title.
Resmer’s Colchester team ran away with the team title by a margin of more than 120 points over runner-up Gilbert/Torrington, Conn.
The Colchester Lakers placed seven wrestlers in the 14 finals, by far the most of any team.
They went 5-2 in those finals, but they also lost the only two championship bouts in which they faced wrestlers from Berkshire County.
In addition to St. Peter’s win at 285 to end the final round, Mount Everett’s Diego Cruz started the finals with a first-period pin over his opponent from Colchester at 106.
The Eagles sent three wrestlers to the finals and came away with two titles. Connor Lupiani earned a first-period pin in the championship bout at 126.
Taconic went 2-0 in the finals.
At 132, West Dews edged Mount Everett’s Max Manning, 7-5.
At 175, Noah Poirier pinned East Longmeadow’s Cole Johnson late in the second period.
The host Mounties did not have a wrestler in the final round, but they did send three to the consolation finals.
Jacob Borawski ended his day with a pin in the third-place match at 175 pounds against Colchester’s Owen Fullerton. Mount Greylock’s Jeffrey Daignault (144) and Logan O’Connell (215) each placed fourth as the Mounties finished fourth out of 19 teams – second among the Bay State squads in the field.
Monument Mountain had four place winners on the day.
Dominic Dignard and Shaun Frank reached the title bouts at 144 and 190, respectively. At 120, Alexander Schindler beat Hampshire’s Taylan McColgan, 4-0, in the consolation final to claim third place.
But the Spartans were even deeper.
“I think Isaac Hartschorn at 165, was impressive,” Jones said. “He’s a freshman for us. He was one match away from placing the top four there. And, as a freshman I think he’s got over 20 wins this year. He’s really come a long way.
“And, obviously, Sam St. Peter there in the finals has been doing that for us all year, but that was probably some of the biggest competition he’s had. And he came and showed up. So that’s great. We love to see that.”
Mount Everett, Mount Greylock and Taconic are all scheduled Saturday to compete in the Monument Mountain Duals in Great Barrington, the last tuneup before Western Mass.
Team Scores
1. Colchester, Vt., 267.5 points; 2. Gilbert/Torrington, Conn., 147; 3. Monument Mountain, 137.5; 4. Mount Greylock, 111.5; 5. Athol, 106; 6. South Hadley, 101; 7. Mount Everett, 100; 8. Taconic, 91.5; 9. Westfield, 88; 10. Southwick, 83; 11. Chicopee, 82; 12. East Longmeadow, 75; 13. Frontier, 71; 14. Hampshire Regional, 69; 15. Springfield International Charter School, 55; 16. Mohawk Trail, 50; 17. Gateway, 32; 18. Northampton, 25.5; 19. Berlin-New Lebanon, N.Y., 25.
Championship Bouts
106 Diego Cruz, Mount Everett, pinned Mason Sheltra, Colchester, Vt., 2:00.
113 Cahota Lafond, Colchester, Vt., pinned Abduli Gilmore, Athol, 131.
120 Jaden Coppins, Colchester, Vt., pinned Dylan Desanti, OWT, 4:39.
126 Connor Lupiani, Mount Everett, pinned Alexander Rodriguez, SICS, 1:49.
132 West Dews, Taconic, def. Max Manning, Mount Everett, 7-5.
138 Sam Goncalves, Gilbert/Torrington, def. Lucas Gilbert, Gateway, 11-2.
144 Matthew Beach, Chicopee, pinned Dominic Dignard, Monument Mountain, 1:29.
150 Evan Schibi, Gilbert/Torrington, def. Borese Antropov, Southwick, 11-1.
157 Brody Coppins, Colchester, Vt., pinned Aiden Kirwan, Athol, :32.
165 Skyler Lamphere Colchester, Vt., pinned Riley Reed, Athol, 2:55.
175 Noah Poirier, Taconic, pinned Cole Johnson, East Longmeadow, 3:50.
190 Cooper McNamara, Westfield, pinned Shaun Frank, Monument Mountain, 1:37.
215 Jordan Lavoie, Colchester, Vt., def. William Vanvleet, Mohawk Trail, 4-0.
285 Sam St. Peter, Monument Mountain, def. Graham Resmer, Colchester, Vt., 8-4.