There may be a new champion in the Suburban League this season.
Franklin County Technical School won seven matches on Wednesday night, including five by pin, and the Eagles defeated defending SL champion Hampden Charter School of Science, 49-24, in a wrestling match in Springfield.
The Eagles also picked up a pair of forfeits on the night en route to the win. Kyle Brunelle got things started at 106 pounds with a first-period pin over Lasondra Martinez, and Colin Pettis picked up a second-period pin over Emilio Rodriguez at 120 pounds. Skyler Rouse got a first-period pin over Joseph Philpott at 126 pounds, and Jaden Sadlowski got a first-period pin over Mohamed Shaw at 132 pounds. The fifth pin of the day came at 170 pounds when Brody Wood pinned Shawn Asiamah.
The Eagles also picked up a win via major decision at 152 pounds as Jordan Bashaw beat Khalil Kasimov, 13-4. In the closest match of the day, Franklin Tech’s Spencer Telega defeated Ali Younes, 2-1, at 160 pounds.
“It was a good start to the season,” Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said.
The Eagles head to the Tyngsborough High School Tournament this weekend.
Mahar 57, Pioneer 18 — Mahar Regional School used seven forfeits and picked up two other wins to defeat Pioneer Valley Regional School, 57-18, in a Tri-County League wrestling match Wednesday night in Orange.
Pioneer had two wrestlers win via pin and another took a forfeit for its points.
Mahar’s Christopher Vezina pinned Pioneer’s Cody Gibbons 47 seconds into the bout at 113 pounds, while Benjamin Gilmore earned a 8-2 win over Alex Tyson at 170 pounds for the other Senators’ win.
Pioneer got a win at 120 pounds when Noah Feuss pinned Gareth Gordon-Halpern 1:42 into the first period. Pioneer’s other win came at 126 pounds where Bryson Spinner pinned Cassidy Layton 1:03 into the first period.
Athol 43, Pathfinder 42 — Athol High School got seven pins on Wednesday night but was hurt by having to forfeit four matches and the Red Raiders had to settle for a win by tiebreaker after a 42-42 draw with Pathfinder Regional Technical High School in a TCL match in Three Rivers.
Athol won more matches and earned the extra point to break the tie. Athol was also missing four starters.
“I was very proud of the kids tonight,” Athol coach Phil Saisa said. “They wrestled their tails off and we won seven out of 10 matches on the mat. Hopefully, with a full lineup, we will be pretty tough.”
The Red Raiders got pins at the lowest three weight classes as Jon Mahoney pinned Dustin Lemoine in the second period at 106, Caleb Cox pinned Donovan Moineau in the second period at 113, and Merrick Decker pinned Hunter Chaiffre 22 seconds into the match at 120 pounds.
Athol also got a pin at 138 pounds where Joey Gray stuck Nathan Kendall in the first period. The Red Raiders then got three consecutive pins beginning at 170 pounds. Chris Waslaske pinned Mike Halpern 38 seconds into the bout at 170, Trevor Mousseau pinned Anthony Robitaille 41 seconds into the second period at 182 pounds, and Ryan Hulbert pinned Alex Misenhiemer with three seconds left in the first period at 195.
Frontier 60, South Hadley 24 — Frontier Regional School earned eight pins on Wednesday night and opened the TCL season with a 60-24 victory over South Hadley High School in South Hadley.
The Red Hawks also picked up two forfeits but won the match on the strength of its pins. The bout opened at 170 pounds and Andrew Logan earned a forfeit for the Red Hawks, and Joey Hildreth followed at 182 pounds with a second-period pin over Jeremy Rodriguez at 3:45 of that match. Miguel Olivera kept the hot start going at 195 pounds for Frontier with a second-period pin over Jacey Rondeau at 3:43 into that match.
After a South Hadley pin at 220 pounds, Matt Carlson got Frontier back on track with a pin over Joe Gonzales 30 seconds into the match at 285. Frontier got another pin at 113 where Emichan Yildiz pinned Ajanai Lopez 33 seconds in, and Bailey Murry pinned Dante Danilchenko 1:44 into the bout at 120. Connor Pettis pinned Jody Solzak 12 seconds into the second period at 126, Josiah Murry pinned Matt O’Brien 46 seconds into the bout at 138, and David Grover pinned Alex Schenker 22 seconds into the bout at 145.
South Hadley 4, Greenfield 1 — Nick Thibault had a goal and an assist and South Hadley defeated Greenfield High School, 4-1, in a Fay-Wright Division hockey game Wednesday night at Fitzpatrick Arena in Holyoke.
South Hadley (2-1-0 overall, 2-0-0 Fay-Wright) scored once in each of the first two periods to take a 2-0 lead into the third. The Tigers added two more in the final frame — one off the stick of Thibault, and one that he set up — before Greenfield broke up goalie Jake Remillard’s shutout bid with 10 seconds left.
“They were big and fast and I think we came out a little timid in the first two periods before we finally decided playing like we are capable of,” Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard said. “But I think we continued to show how we are growing and progressing by playing tough against a team that has handled us pretty easily in recent years.”
Luke Hunter scored 11:24 into the first period on assists from Dominic Rosazza and Billy Scott, and the Tigers added a second goal 9:40 into the second period when Trevor Ouimet scored from Corey Calkins and Will Hunter. The Tigers upped the lead to 3-0 2:30 into the third period when Ben Watkins scored from Sean Doherty and Thibault, and South Hadley made it 4-0 with 3 minutes to play as Thibault scored from Calkins.
Greenfield broke up the shutout bid with 10 seconds to play as Evan Simmons broke up a play in his defensive zone and took off from there to break in on Remillard and score his second of the season. Tyler Townsley also played a strong game for the Green Wave.
Remillard made 15 saves to earn the win. Finn O’Connor started the game for Greenfield and made 19 saves on 21 shots before Riley Drew came on and stopped 18 of 20 shots.
Greenfield hosts the Rabbit Graves Memorial Tournament this weekend at Collins-Moylan Arena, beginning Friday night. Turners Falls High School and Wahconah Regional School open the four-team tournament at 5:30, and Greenfield takes on Mt. Everett Regional School at 7:30.