Plymouth South pulls away from Burlington, earns berth in Div. 2 state wrestling finals

PLYMOUTH – Once Plymouth South got through the meat of the Burlington lineup, the rest was there for the taking.

The host Spartans won five of the last six matches to win 55-21 in a Division 2 state semifinal Wednesday afternoon. Plymouth South (18-1) will vie for the state title Thursday when it travels to undefeated Natick.

“This was the longest short year we’ve ever had,” said Plymouth South coach Marc Loranger. “Between losing kids to spring sports, finding trainers, things we don’t typically have to worry about in the winter we’re worried about in the spring.”

Plymouth South jumped out to a quick 18-0 lead thanks to pins by Shea McKenwin (106 pounds) and Cole Freeman (120) sandwiched around a forfeit win by Devlin Coffey (113).

Burlington finally got on the board when Joe Perna received credit for a forfeit at 126. After Plymouth South’s Kagan Roper won his match at 132, twins Zack and Cam Soda engineered pins at 132 and 138, respectively, to cut the deficit to 22-18, but that was as close as the visitors would get as the final points came from Tim Vadnais at 195 long after the match was decided.

Mike Banzi won his match at 152, followed by a forfeit for Brady Hall at 160. All-Scholastic Lucas Pinzino helped salt away the match with a pin at 170. Dakeri Bryant (182), Carter Reynolds (220) and Anthony Loranger (285) accounted for the remaining points.

“We weren’t sure if we were even going to have matches this year,” Pinzino said. “Having the team duals was exciting for us.”

While the season was full of unknowns being in uncharted waters, Loranger said the one thing he could count on day in and day out was the resiliency displayed by his troops.

“The kids kept coming back, we didn’t lose anyone with summer around the corner,” Loranger said. “I’m more proud of the kids sticking around more than anything. Just the dedication they have to come in for practice, morning weigh-ins and we’re almost in July.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3duwi2H