Two Frontier Regional School wrestlers were crowned champions at Franklin Tech’s Eagle Holiday Classic in Turners Falls on Monday.
Junior Tanner Finch raced his way through the 145-pound bracket, winning all of his matches via pinfall, and senior Ito McMillan didn’t have much trouble either at 152, winning all three of his matches to be crowned champion.
Finch capped his title with a hard-fought victory in the final against Tyler Bedard of Leominster.
With just seconds to go in the second round and Finch holding an 8-3 lead, he slammed Bedard to the ground and got the pin with one second remaining to claim the crown.
“I was pretty pumped,” Finch said. “I’m pretty sore, we just had a tournament a few days ago. It was an aggressive match. I got a few elbows to the face so I just got mad. I saw 12 seconds left so I got up and threw him down.”
It’s been a blazing hot start to the year for Finch, whose confidence is sky high through the early portion of the winter.
“It’s really motivating,” Finch said. “I haven’t lost a match yet so that really boosts my confidence a lot for later in the year. This sport is 75 percent mental. If you go into the match thinking you’re going to win, you have a great shot of winning. If you go in thinking you’re going to lose, you’re going to lose.”
McMillan has also enjoyed success in the early portion of the season. He won his first match Monday by pin and then defeated Tanner Smith of Smith Vocational by technical fall in the semifinals. The senior defeated Sam Cormier of Monument Mountain in the 152-pound final via forfeit, as Cormier was forced to exit after hurting his ankle.
McMillan has high hopes for his team this year.
“It feels good to come out as a champion,” McMillan said. “I’m really looking forward to our team this year. I feel real good about the season. I want to win the league. At Western Mass., I hope we get half the team to place and go to states together. I’m feeling good. I’m at my natural weight. I’m real confident, I feel healthy, stronger and quicker.”
With head coach Don Gordon returning to the Frontier program after a few years away, McMillan said the veteran mentor has supplied knowledge and helped the team develop during the early portion of the winter.
“I like him as a coach,” McMillan said. “He knows what he’s talking about. He might be soft spoken but he gets the point across and tells you what to do. He’s old school and I like it.”
Victor McNutt took third at 138 for the Red Hawks while teammate KC Mattson also placed third at 170.
The host Eagles were down a few wrestlers Monday, including defending WMass champion Kyle Brunelle, but the club still managed to get two wrestlers onto the podium.
Colin Pettis took second place at 126 after pinning Holyoke’s Carmac Norton in the semifinals, and Josh Brunelle earned a 3-2 decision over Ely Cormier of Monument Mountain in the semifinals but fell to Mount Everett’s Zack Lupiani in the finals at 132 to give Franklin Tech a pair of runner-up showings.
“We were low on numbers today,” Franklin Tech coach Mike Aiken said. “We had some guys injured but we’re happy to have a couple kids place second.”
It was a successful day for Mohawk Trail as well, with three wrestlers receiving medals at the tournament’s conclusion.
Dylan Wooldridge won a match to make it to the finals at 170, and he settled for second place after falling to Mason Willard of Hampshire.
Nate Wooldridge won three matches to take third at 182, and Elliot Gougeon won a pair of matches to take third at 120.
Hampshire placed first as a team in the tournament, followed by Monument Mountain in second and Connecticut’s East Lyme High School in third.
The Mahar Regional School wrestling team went a perfect 5-0 at the John Applin Memorial Dual Tournament in Fitchburg on Monday.
A 54-29 win over King Phillip captured the championship for the Senators.
During the tournament, Peter Tattan and Jon Mahony both captured their 100th wins for the Mahar wrestling program.
Mahony went 5-0 on the day with two forfeits. Tattan had a dominant 5-0 day, winning all of them via pinfall.
Mahar defeated Nashoba Tech, 53-30, highlighted by a Luke Chiodo pin at 138 pounds in 43 seconds. At 160, Todd Chiasson also won by fall in just 12 seconds. Gracin Bisceglia scored a 55-second pin at 195.
In a win 42-29 over Tri-County, Issa Gilmore (106), Mahony (113), Jeff Kidwell, Henry Ndayisaba (152), Anthony Nye, Tattan and Bisceglia all picked up victories by fall.
Mahar took advantages of several forfeits in a 78-6 win over Worcester Tech.
Gregory Lehmann won at 132 pounds for the Senators along with Brooke Mitchell (285) and Anthony Nye (170).
In a 60-24 win over Essex Tech, Anya Roberts won at 182 pounds by fall (3:35).
In the win over King Phillip, Gilmore, Mahony, Kidwell, Domanic Cacciolfi, Lehmann, Ndayisaba, Chiasson, Nye and Tatton all picked up wins.