Wakefield’s wrestling community puts on great show at states

Warriors send six to All-State meet tomorrow

THE WARRIORS had another great performance on their home mat at the D3 State Tournament. Wakefield had six place winners, pictured here with their coaches, including from left to right, Ryan Smith (7th), Aiden Coleman (7th), Derek DiMascio (6th), Kevin Tran (6th), Mike Yirrell (4th) and Jake Goodchild (7th).

Published in the February 22, 2018 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

WAKEFIELD — Hosting a State Tournament with some of the best wrestlers and coaches from 54 high schools across Massachusetts might seem like an overwhelming task.

While it certainly takes plenty of hard work and planning from a multitude of people, WMHS and the Wakefield wrestling community pretty much have it down to a science.

The Division 3 State Meet was exciting, fun and very well organized considering the amount of people who came to support their teams.

THE CHARBONNEAU FIELD HOUSE was packed last weekend for the D3 State Tournament. Wakefield’s Ryan Smith is pictured on the mat furthest to the left. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

Hopefully you got a chance to sit back with some Warrior Mac ‘N Cheese and enjoy the show.

The Wakefield High wrestling team had nine compete in the state tournament. While the goal was to certainly survive and advance through the brackets, the Warriors were also on a mission to send as many representatives as they could to the All-State Meet which will be held tomorrow and Saturday at St. John’s Prep in Danvers.

When it was all said and done after two exciting days, (two and a half of you count Thursday night when coaches and teammates set up the Charbonneau Field House after the basketball game), Wakefield finished 9th overall and had six wrestlers place, all of which might have a chance to compete at All-States as three qualified and three will be alternates.

Those six wrestlers include the four senior captains Ryan Smith, Kevin Tran, Aiden Coleman and Jake Goodchild, as well as Mike Yirrell and Derek DiMascio.

Smith, who missed the majority of the season due to injury, hasn’t missed a beat in his return as he went 3-2 including a close 10-9 decision over Jake Erali of Smith Vocational to take 7th in the 152 weight class. Smith pinned Dedham’s Colin Curran in 38 seconds during his final match and will be an alternate at All-States.

Goodchild also finished 7th overall at 145. Goodchild, who has had a great final season to help lead the Warriors to another Freedom championship, also went 3-2, including a 10-6 decision over Wayland’s Robert Kashian. Goodchild pinned Nehemiah Johnson from Sabis in 1:25 to win his final match of the day and he will also be an alternate at All-States.

Coleman, a consistent and clutch wrestler for Wakefield this year, went 3-2 to take 7th in the 195 weight class. Coleman had three hard-earned pins at states, including wins over Cole Emery of Mahar in 3:17 and Hampshire’s Kobe Clifford in 3:13. Coleman will be the third Warrior alternate at All-States.

Tran won multiple big matches in his final season and went 3-3 at states to take 6th place at 160 and qualify for All-States. Tran had two tough pins over Tim Fritz of Franklin County (3:35) and Frontier’s Miguel Olvera-Aguilera (4:59). His third win came via a 10-9 decision over Wayland’s Cameron Jones. Tran will match up against Lowell’s Drew Diamantopoulos in the 160 round of 32 at All-States.

Mike Yirrell, one of Wakefield’s most promising wrestlers, finished 4-2 to take 4th at 170. Yirrell found multiple ways to win as he opened up with an 8-7 decision over Justin Flores of Smith Voke. After falling to Scituate’s Jason Dwight in the quarterfinals, Yirrell bounced back for three straight wins, including a pin in 5:02 over Triton’s Josh Stevens, an 11-2 major decision over Jason Alves of Sabis and a 3-1 decision over Monument Mountain’s John Field. Yirrell will get a bye in the round of 32 at All-States and will match up against Dohnivin Harvey of Springfield Central in the round of 16 at 170.

Derek DiMascio, he of the multiple clutch victories wrestling as a heavyweight, took 6th at 220. DiMascio went 2-3 including a 5-3 decision over Tri-County’s Dominic Parrella and a 13-8 decision over Rockland’s Cam Smith to get to the semi-finals. DiMascio was the only Warrior to make it the semi’s where he ran into eventual champion Sam Ware of Quabbin. DiMascio will square up Natick’s Ramathan Makayu in the round of 32 at All-States.

Also competing for Wakefield at the state meet was Chris Alves, Aidan Armstrong and Brock Johnson. Alves had a great senior year to help a very young team learn what it takes to compete in the Middlesex League. Armstrong and Johnson certainly have bright futures for Wakefield.

While the wrestling was fantastic and there was plenty to be proud of on the mat, it was really the work from the many members of the team who didn’t compete that deserve a nod for how successful the tournament was. Credit is also due to Wakefield’s coaching staff, the Wakefield Wrestling Boosters, administration from WMHS and supporters of the team. It was a whirlwind 48 hours for all of these people; but another excellent states at Charbonneau.