Individual wrestling tournaments begin high school postseason this weekend
1
The first postseason event of the winter season kicks off Friday when the Western Massachusetts Division 3 individual wrestling tournament begins at Pioneer Regional in Northfield.
The two-day event begins with the first two rounds and continues Saturday. The championship round is expected to start around 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Division 1 tournament, meanwhile, takes place all day Saturday with title bouts expected to start around 6:30 p.m.
In the Division 3 field, Granby junior James Cupak is fresh off a first-place finish at the Mountie Invitational in Williamstown and will be one of the top seeds at 182 pounds when the seeds are finalized at a coaches meeting Friday afternoon. Cupak finished the regular season with a 38-3 record. He was third at 171 last year in Division 3.
"He's incredibly pumped, incredibly excited," Granby coach Joe Denette said. "He has the confidence to go all the way. He has that kind of drive and determination."
Two of Cupak's three losses came to likely No. 1 seed Gary Charlton of Dean Tech, who was third at 189 last year. But Denette said he hopes Cupak's performance over the weekend will give him a boost in the event of a rematch in the WMass finals.
"He wrestled a tough kid (Matt Massotti) from North Providence in the finals (at the Mountie Invitational) and it went right down to the end," Denette said. "He showed the kind of drive and will to win that we've been looking for."
One of the best weight classes to watch will be at 152 pounds. Defending champion Dan Boyden of Franklin Tech is back after another strong season, as is second-place finisher Dylan Walker of Mount Greylock, Quincy Smith of Sabis (third) and Dalton Remy of Granby (fifth). Adding to the intrigue is the addition of Hampshire Regional junior Frankie Weir, who took second at 140 last year and moved up two weight classes.
Weir, who was 36-3 on the season, is ranked No. 7 in the state at 152 by MassWrestling.com, while Boyden is No. 8.
Other local wrestlers who could draw high seeds in the D-3 event include Brendan Weir (Hampshire) and Tom Antunes (South Hadley) at 106, Chris Rojas (South Hadley) and Justin Seney (Gateway) at 120, Marc Saulnier (Frontier Regional) at 138, Nick Rojas (South Hadley) at 145, Carter Levreault (South Hadley) and Anthony Hoskin (Hampshire) at 160, Nate Ghareeb (Hampshire Regional) at 170, Peter Larsen (Hampshire Regional) at 182, Calvin Lachowicz (Hampshire Regional) and Chris Toomey (Frontier Regional) at 195, Ben Galica (Hampshire Regional) at 220 and John Lachowicz (Hampshire Regional) at 285.
Rojas was third last year, while Levreault was fourth at 152. Galica was second at 215.
MassWrestling.com lists Brendan Weir as seventh in the state at 106, while Galica is 10th at 215.
In Division 1, Northampton junior Harrison Tremaine finished second at 215 last year and is coming off a third-place finish at the Mountie Invitational last weekend.
MILESTONE UPDATE - Mat Sulda of Smith Academy needs 33 points to reach 1,000 career points. The Falcons play at Mohawk Trail tonight at 7:30, and home against Athol on Monday at 7.
Casey White of Easthampton needs 100 points for 1,000.
HAMPSHIRE TURNAROUND - The Hampshire girls basketball team responded to a disastrous December with a jolly January.
The Raiders, who entered 2012 with an 0-5 record, went 7-2 in January to put themselves in position to reach the postseason.
Hampshire's biggest improvement has come on the offensive end, where it went from averaging 39.2 points per game in December to 55.6 in January.
The continued strong play of double-double machine Sarah Kober (13.5 points per game, 12.9 rebounds) and the development of key young players like sophomores Anna Dziok, Brianna Weltlich, Jess Kowal and Laura Whiteley, as well as eighth-grader Chelsea Moussette has been key.
Hampshire looks to win its fourth straight game and fifth of its last six tonight against Westfield at home.
GAME OF THE WEEK - Mahar Regional at Hopkins Academy girls basketball, 7:30 p.m., Friday.
The first-place teams in the Franklin North and Franklin South square off in Hadley. The Senators (14-0, 3-0) could be headed to an undefeated season, but the Golden Hawks (11-4, 11-2) would like nothing more than to avenge their 17-point defeat in Orange on Jan. 2.
Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
