John Speek doesn’t like to talk about South Hadley High School in his house.
“We refer to them as the school that shall not be named,” mused the Mahar Regional School wrestling coach, whose Senators have had to share the Tri-County League title the past two years after the Tigers beat them in 2015 and tied them last year.
That mini-jinx ended in resounding fashion Wednesday night, as Mahar overcame early deficits of 12-0 and 15-10 to thump South Hadley, 52-21, in Tri-County League wrestling Wednesday night in Orange.
“South Hadley has been a real thorn in our side the last two seasons,” said Senators head coach John Speek. “It was good that we were able to clear them out of the way and get that behind us.”
After losing the first bout by pin and the second to an injury default, Henry Ndayisaba posted a 9-1 major decision win over Zabe Solivan at 120, and Justin deDiego followed that up with a pin at 4:47 against Jody Solzak at 126 to pull Mahar within two, 12-10
The Tigers earned three points by a decision at 132, but the Seantors’ Todd Chiasson (138 pounds) pinned Alex Schenker at 1:06 to put them ahead to stay.
Mahar final four contested wins all came via pin — Miller Richardson (145) needed only 59 seconds to stop Matt O’Brien, Benjamin Gilmore (170) bested Jeremy Rodriguez in 1:14, Matt Herk (220) finished off Zack Zayas in 1:26, and Branden Burke (285) downed Joe Goncalves in 57 seconds.
“We’re doing OK but still need to knock off some of the rough edges,” said Speek. “We’re making some silly mistakes but the mistakes we made we were able to recover from.”
Mahar heads to Franklin County Technical School for the Eagle Duals on Saturday at 10 a.m.
FC Tech 45, Chicopee Comp 33 — Franklin County Technical School continued to its strong start to the season with a 45-33 win over Chicopee Comprehensive High School in an independent wrestling match Wednesday night in Chicopee.
The Eagles won six of their seven matches by fall, the quickest being Jordan Bashaw’s 33-second conquest of the Colts’ Alex Ramos at 152 pounds.
Franklin Tech won three other matches by fall in the opening period — Colin Pettis (120) pinned Ivan Santiago in 1:33, Chris Ludwig (145) downed Isaias Gomez in 1:45, and Kyle Brunelle (106) stopped Caleb Dion in 1:49.
Two others won by pin in the second period: Spencer Telega (160) finished off Nate Rodriguez in 2:29, and Antonio Govan dropped Dylan Labonte in 3:22.
Brody Wood won the other match for the Eagles, posting a 10-4 decision over Comp’s Brian Perez.
Franklin Tech (6-1) returns to action Saturday host the Eagle duals.
Pathfinder 66, Pioneer 18 — Pathfinder Vocational High School picked up its first league win of the season with a 66-18 verdict over Pioneer Valley Regional School in a TCL wrestling match Wednesday night in Three Rivers.
All three of the Panthers’ wins came via fall — Noah Fuess pinned Alexandria Skrocki at 120 pounds, Bryson Spinner felled Hunter Chaiffre at 126, and Alex Tyson downed Mike Tirrell at 170.
Frontier 54, Smith Voke 21 — Frontier took advantage of eight forfeits to defeat Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School, 54-21, during independent wrestling action Wednesday night in Northampton.
The Red Hawks’ lone contested win came at 113 pounds, where Tanner Finch recorded a pin in 47 seconds against the Vikings’ Jon Tennyson.
Frontier improved to 4-4 overall.
Palmer 72, Greenfield 46 — Ryan McCarthy took a brief sabbatical from his point-guard duties to pour in a career-high 41 points and lead Palmer High School to a 72-46 win over Greenfield High School in an independent boys’ basketball game Wednesday night at Nichols Gymnasium in Greenfield.
McCarthy’s night was remarkably consistent — he had at least 20 points in each half and only missed double digits in the opening quarter (8 points). He also hit five 3-pointers during his career night.
“He’s normally a pass-first point guard, but he clearly had it going tonight,” offered Green Wave head coach Tim Caplice. “I had no idea how many points he had until I looked at the book. I was pretty surprised because they’re so balanced I didn’t realize it was mostly him.”
Matt Niemczura added 11 points and Drake Bucknam chipped in with 10 for the Panthers (7-1), who led 34-27 at halftime.
Kevin Mendez led Greenfeld with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Connor Joy finished with 9 points and 5 assists, Colin Cloutier hit a pair of treys en route to 8 points and Tyler Boissonneault connected on a pair of trifectas for 6 points.
The Green Wave dropped to 2-5 overall, but things will start to get better soon — their five losses are to teams with a combined record of 27-5, and three of them are still unbeaten.
Greenfield hosts Mohawk Monday at 7 p.m.
Pioneer 52, Frontier 38 — Pioneer rode a consistent and balanced offensive performance to a 52-38 victory over Frontier in independent girls’ basketball action Wednesday night at Goodnow Gymnasium in South Deerfield.
Jess Scoville led three double-digit scorers for the Panthers (4-3) with 13 points. She also grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 4 assists. Briana Jobst totaled 10 and 5 rebounds, Olivia Rowe also threw in 10 points, and Caroline Merkle registered 8 points, a team-high 15 boards and 3 assists.
Ella Deane led the Red Hawks (2-3) with 13 points to share-game-high honors. Lisa Portier added 7 points and Celia Speth contributed 6.
“We’re still struggling,” said Frontier coach Marty Sanderson. “We’re turning the ball over and not making shots, and that’s a recipe for disaster on offense.”
Pioneer led 23-14 at halftime.
Frontier hosts Palmer Friday night. The game was scheduled for 7:30, but Sanderson said it will be varsity only and may start earlier.