WAYLAND — There wasn’t much time for celebrating following Chris Waslaske’s second consecutive Central Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament wrestling championship.
A few minutes after the match, he was involved in a strategy session with Athol coach Brandon Jeffrey.
“You are never perfect,” Waslakse said. “No matter how good you are. My coaches always want to see me improve. That’s what I need. You always have to improve and not get ahead of yourself.”
Waslaske won a 9-4 decision at 182 pounds over No. 2-seed Spencer Fetrow of Holliston High School to claim the championship.
“I put in a lot of extra time,” Waslaske said. “But I want my results to be greater. It is a great accomplishment but I have bigger goals.”
A very technical match to start had Waslaske leading 4-3 after about five minutes. Waslaske took over after a vicious take down that left Fetrow on his back with an injured knee.
“The first couple minutes I was just feeling it out,” Waslaske said. “I was able to capitalize on his mistakes. It was a good take down.”
Waslaske uses last year’s loss at All-States as a motivator.
“That haunts me,” Waslaske said. “All day all night. Every time I think about wrestling.”
Waslaske will move on to the state Division 3 tournament in Wakefield on Friday.
“He is always looking to improve,” Jeffrey said. “It speaks to not getting complacent. I thought he wrestled great. It was the best he’s wrestled.”
Athol placed ninth with 76 points, while Mahar placed seventh with 110 points.
Tri-County won the tournament with 198 points.
Mahar’s Jonathan Mahony came up short in his bid for a 113-pound sectional championship. Ari Dinerman of Ashland got the win by fall in 3 minutes, 30 seconds.
“This is one tournament,” Mahony said. “The next one is a new day. States is a completely different game.”
The rowdy crowd at the Wayland High School field house saw a 152-pound rematch between Henry Ndayisaba, of Mahar, and Caleb Cox, of Athol, for third place.
During the regular season, the combatants fought a brutal match filled with two stoppages for blood.
At the sectionals, Ndayisaba won an 8-4 decision over Cox.
“Last time I won by a point,” Ndayisaba said. “How I did here was better. I flexed my muscles and he couldn’t do anything,”
Todd Chiasson, of Mahar, was on a collision course with Athol’s Joey Gray for a third-place match at 160.
But Gray injured his back during a previous match and had to forfeit. In Gray’s semifinal loss to Mike German of Wayland, there was a take down that occurred out of bounds.
“He got thrown in an illegal chin whip out of bounds,” Jeffrey said.
Chiasson and Gray qualified for states, but Gray’s status will depend on his recovery from the injury, according to Jeffrey.
Advancing to states for Mahar was Mahony, Chiasson (third, 160), Justin DiDiego (fourth, 138), Ndayisaba (third, 152) and Peter Tattan (third, 170).
“We are building,” Mahar coach John Speek said. “A first-place finish is still eluding us but we are working up to it. Learning as we go.”
John Hicks of Athol qualified for states as an alternate at 195 along with Cox and Waslaske.
Domanic Cacciolfi was sixth for Mahar at 106. Gracin Bisceglia lost in the quarterfinals in the 195 weight class for the Senators.
