For this weekend’s Division 3 State Tournament at Wakefield High

THE WARRIORS had an excellent D3 North Sectional tournament this past weekend. Nine Warriors qualified for the Division 3 State Tournament which will take place on Friday and Saturday at Wakefield’s Charbonneau Field House (@WakefieldWrest2 Twitter Photo)

Published in the February 13, 2018 edition.

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

MELROSE — The Wakefield High wrestling team found themselves back in Melrose on Saturday, this time at MHS instead of Memorial Hall where they recently won the Freedom Division. This time the Warriors were wrestling at the Division 3 North Sectionals, looking to send multiple representative to the D3 State Tournament which will be held at the Charbonneau Field House this weekend.

It was a mission accomplished once again, as Wakefield came in 2nd out of 14 teams with a team score of 206. Individually, the Warriors qualified nine wrestlers and one alternate for the state tournament, two D3 North Champs and head coach Ross Ickes was named the 2017-18 D3 North Coach of the Year.

The Wakefield nine competing at home for states will be: senior co-captains, Ryan Smith, Jake Goodchild, Kevin Tran and Aiden Coleman, as well as Chris Alves, Aidan Armstrong, Brock Johnson, Mike Yirrell and Derek DiMascio. Dan Lamonica will be an alternate.

Starting off in the 106 weight class, Luke Fitzgerald placed 6th, just outside the qualifying mark as the top 4 make states and 5th is an alternate. Fitzgerald defeated Addison Twist of Essex Tech via an 11-3 major decision, pinned Connor O’Brien of Marblehead/Swampscott in 2:59, and beat Saugus’s Dylan Moody via an 18-2 technical fall to go 3-3 overall.

Chris Alves went 3-1 to pick up 3rd place at 113. All three came via pin, including Nathaniel Winders of Essex Tech in :41, Tom Brodeur of Melrose in 1:54 and Porter Danforth of Marblehead/Swampscott in 3:44. Alves will meet Mike Lafrenier of Taconic in the first round of the State Tournament.

Aidan Armstrong was the D3 North Champ at 126. Armstrong went 3-0, picking up three pins against Chong Ping of Melrose (:15), Kevin Keins of Nashoba Tech (3:31) and Jake Slevoski of Pentucket (3:36). Armstrong is the #4 seed for the state tournament and will wrestle Zach Anzivino of Wayland in the first round.

Brock Johnson went 5-1 to earn a 3rd place finish in the 138 weight class. All five of Johnson’s wins came via pin, including: Connor Young of Georgetown/Ipswich (4:20), Rob Delangis of Lynn Tech (:44), Matt Tyros of Tyngsboro (2:40), Eric Bazarov of Marblehead/Swampscott (3:50) and Cam Lampert of Essex Tech (2:53). Johnson will match up against Foxboro’s Tommy Gallagher in the first round of State’s.

At 145, senior co-captain Jake Goodchild went 3-1 to get 3rd. Goodchild’s wins came on three decisions including Wilmington’s John Cox (6-5), Saugus’s Dan McCullough (7-4) and Gloucester’s Liam Donahue (8-2). Goodchild will face Nehemiah Johnson of Sabis Carter in the first round of State’s.

Senior co-captain Ryan Smith, who has been working his way back from an early-season injury, also went 3-1 for a 3rd place finish at 152. Smith had two pins against Tyngsboro’s Matt Beauchesne in 33 seconds and Wilmington’s Pat Carroll in 4:49. Smith beat Georgetown/Ipswich’s Matt Mansfield via technical fall (17-2) for his third win. Smith will meet Jake Stephenson of Bristol/Plymouth Voke in the first round at State’s.

Kevin Tran made it three in a row for the captains, as he also took 3rd with a 3-1 record at 160. Tran got three pins against Tim Beech of Pentucket (3:44), Louis Izzi of Melrose (2:54) and Robbie Blythe of Georgetown/Ipswich (1:13). Tran gets Phil Hulbig of Tri-County Voke in the first round.

Mike Yirrell went 2-1 to get 2nd place. Yirrell pinned Gloucester’s Jack Bergin in 1:18, and defeated Cam Rosie of Melrose via a major decision, 11-3. Yirrell will wrestle Justin Flores of Smith Voke in the first round.

Senior co-captain Aiden Coleman went 3-1 to place 3rd. Coleman had two pins against Matt Hickey of Melrose in 1:46 and Jon Rolfe of Triton in 3:09. Coleman also beat Mark Vecchio of Essex Tech vis decision at 15-13, and will meet JC Rondeau if South Hadley in the first round at State’s.

Derek DiMascio went 3-0 to be crowned the D3 North Champ in the 220 weight class. DiMascio pinned Nick Frongillo of Georgetown/Ipswich in 48 seconds, and got two decisions over DJ Fraser of Nashoba Tech (5-3, OT) and Jackson Curran of Melrose (7-4). DiMascio is is the #4 seed at State’s where he will face Dom Parrella of Tri-County Voke in the first round.

Dan Lamonica went 3-2 to take 5th place. Lamonica had three pins, one against Pentucket’s Dan Oteri in 1:07 and two over Eric Pimentel of Melrose (3:17 and 5:24). Lamonica will be an alternate at State’s.

The announcement of Ickes as the Coach of the Year was a great way to end a successful sectionals for the Warriors who now turn their attention to getting themselves (and the field house) ready for an electric State Tournament which will take place on Friday and Saturday.