Last winter, three Recorder area athletes took home Western Mass Division 3 individual wrestling championships while four others made it to their respective sectional championship matches.
Two of those three winners have graduated, but all four runners-up are back and will be looking to bring home the title this weekend as the Franklin Tech, Frontier and Mohawk Trail compete in the Western Mass. Div. 3 championship at Mohawk Trail Regional while Athol and Mahar travel to Wayland for the Central Mass. Div. 3 championship.
For Mohawk Trail coach Mark Biagini, getting to host a sectional tournament is something his program is relishing.
“We’ve never hosted any sort of tournament like this,” Biagini said. “I’m more excited than nervous. The other coaches have been fantastic the last nine years I’ve been here. We’re really excited to be hosting this.
“The Mohawk community has been awesome with helping out,” Biagini added. “We have people chipping in with concessions, a bunch of different volunteers who are helping with a variety of things. That community connection has made the whole process more enjoyable than I thought it would be at the beginning. Our athletic director, Greg Lilly, has been amazing getting it all together.”
Frontier’s Payton Sladeski finished in first at 120 pounds while Franklin Tech’s Josh Brunelle came out as the winner at 145 at the Western Mass. Div. 3 meet last winter, but both have since graduated. Mohawk Trail’s Will Van Vleet is the lone returning champion among Recorder schools, and the junior looks to defend his crown at 220 where he enters as the No. 2 seed.
“[Van Vleet] will be right there,” Biagini said. “He’ll be looking to win again but as we know, anything can happen on any day in wrestling.”
Mohawk Trail’s Logan Moore, Frontier’s Jake Mattson, Mahar’s Abduli Gilmore and Athol’s Nate Torres each made it to the finals last year and will be in the mix again on Saturday.
Moore, a sophomore, has bumped up from 132 to 138 this year and has had plenty of success at the new weight. He enters as the No. 3 seed in the weight class. Mattson will look to cap off his final season with the Redhawks in style, once again competing at 195 where he will be the No. 1 seed Saturday.
Frontier coach Brian Bagdon said he is hoping to send multiple wrestlers to states, with the top four finishers in each weight class earning a spot in the Div. 3 state tournament, and the fifth-place finisher serving as an alternate.
Outside of Mattson, seniors Connor Hoffman (170) and Miles Keefe (160) as well as Wyatt Finch (113), Tavo Vincent-Warner and Javion Cabrera are Redhawk athletes to watch on Saturday. Hoffman has already won two tournaments this winter and is the No. 3 seed, while Keefe and Finch both enter as the No. 4 seed in their weight classes. Vincent-Warner is the No. 9 seed at 132 while Cabrera is the No. 6 seed at 285.
“We want to advance some of our kids to states,” Bagdon said. “We have a few that have a good shot at it. Everybody on the team has improved since the start of the year. Now it’s just about wrestling your best in the tournament and putting everything together. This tournament is all about doing what you need to do to advance.”
Mohawk Trail has a pair of eighth graders who Biagini is looking forward to seeing compete on the big stage.
Landon Purrington is in his first year wrestling, yet has logged more than 20 victories this winter and enters as the No. 3 seed at 113. Romer, who impressed as a seventh grader, has taken a step forward this year and comes in as the No. 6 seed at 170.
“Landon having over 20 wins in his first year is just ridiculous,” Biagini said. “Romer is quietly having a great season. We’re hoping Logan can once again finish in the top three. He’s another wrestler who is having a really good season but I don’t think we’ve seen just how good he is yet.”
Franklin Tech has many wrestlers who will be experiencing the sectional tournament for the first time, though coach Mike Aiken feels his young group will show well at Mohawk Trail.
Collin Eddy is the highest seeded Eagle, with the first-year coming in as the No. 3 seed at 182. Josh Lynde is the No. 5 seed at 285, Dillan Gagnon enters as the No. 6 seed at 132 while Zaydrien Alamed is the No. 8 seed at 126, which should be one of the tougher weight classes Saturday.
After putting together a challenging schedule, Aiken says he feels his group is ready to take on the best Western Mass. has to offer.
“It’ll be the first experience at this for a lot of our people,” Aiken said. “It’ll be about them adjusting to this level. I think we can still have some success [Saturday]. We’re excited. We wrestled a really tough schedule and went out and wrestled against Div. 1 schools like Saugus and Peabody. These kids have the ability and they’ll be ready to go.”
While Gilmore didn’t win the Central Mass. title last year, he made a run at the state title at 106, taking third at the MIAA Div. 3 meet.
He comes in as the No. 1 seed at the Central Mass. meet, with Mahar coach John Speek expecting another strong postseason from his sophomore.
“We’re really excited he got the No. 1 seed,” Speek said. “He’ll be great and we’re looking for him to get a spot in the finals. The struggle for a kid like him is getting him to not look past this tournament. There’s some really good competition and kids with 20-plus wins in his weight class. He’ll have to wrestle well.”
Elias Roberts (120), Colby Chaisson (132), Domanic Cacciolfi (138), Luke Chiodo (160), Xander Roberts (170), Cam Doyle (182) and Leighton Soucie (285) were all seeded for the Sens, with Cacciolfi and Chiodo both earning the No. 3 seed in their weight classes.
“We’re heading in the right direction,” Speek said. “I’m confident in the ability of all the guys we have going. The team chase will be beyond our reach with our numbers but I still think we should be in the top half as a team when it’s all said and done.”
Torres’ run to a Central Mass. title ended after he fell in the finals at 285 to Quabbin’s Colton Wells. Torres, a junior, was able to clear that hurdle this winter, defeating Wells in a dual meet.
Wells, a senior, will be back once again, with Torres fully expecting to have to beat his rival once again to capture the championship, with Torres the No. 1 seed and Wells the No. 2 seed.
Evan Ke comes in as the No. 4 seed at 106, Aiden Kirwas was seeded No. 2 at 160, Riley Reed earned the No. 8 seed at 170 and Ryan Romero will enter as the No. 6 seed at 182, with Athol coach Fred Marks hoping for a big day out of his group.
“We’re excited about our matchups,” Marks said. “I’m hoping we can do some good things. I think it’ll be a good tournament for some of our younger guys and we have other guys who weren’t seeded who we think can have a good tournament.”