Riley-Anne Tarmey had a pretty good idea what she was going to face.
Coming into this weekend’s Division 3 North Sectional meet, there was a solid chance that the 106-pound final would be a rematch of last year’s — which pitted Tarmey against then-junior Fahad Khan of Watertown. And sure enough, when it was time to crown a weight class champion on the main Dracut High stage, it was the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds once again squaring off.
But for the second year in a row, Tarmey had to “settle” for a silver medal.
Which is still an impressive feat for the Triton junior and two-time Daily News All-Star, whose second-place finish (following a close 10-5 decision loss to Khan in the finals) led the Vikings to eighth overall out of 14 teams at the Sectional with 102.5 points. Tarmey rolled to the title bout with an 11-0 technical fall followed by an 8-3 decision in the semifinals, and has posted a stellar record this season while competing nearly exclusively against boys. She will now be a favorite to defend her Division 3 State Championship title from last year at next weekend’s meet.
“We had a good day, probably the best team effort of the year,” said Triton coach Shawn McElligott. “Overall we brought 13 wrestlers, and seven of them placed with us having no seniors. So I was pretty pleased with the effort.”
Placing inside of the top-4 in your weight class punches your ticket to States.
And Triton had three boys who were able to do just that.
With the most impressive performance arguably coming from Jordan Ortiz at 175, who mounted a furious third-period comeback but still fell by a close 10-8 decision in his opening match. But the captain would respond with three straight pins to reach the consolation bracket final, where he would take down Francis Johnston of Marlborough by a 10-1 major decision to finish third and earn a bronze medal.
“Jordan wrestled his best career tournament today,” said McElligott.
Then moving on, the Vikings had another third-place finish coming from 132-pounder Austin Scolamiero. The junior earned a pin followed by an 18-2 technical fall to reach the semifinals, where he would fall to top-seeded and eventual champion Jack Lightfoot of Tewksbury. But Scolamiero responded with a 52-second pin to reach the consolation bracket final, where a dominant 15-0 first-period technical fall completed his 4-1 day.
The final Viking punching their ticket to States is Ben Imlach, who finished fourth at 150. Two decision victories got the junior to the semifinals, but a loss to the No. 3 seed sent him down to the consolation bracket. Imlach responded with an 8-2 decision victory to reach the finals, where he unfortunately had to forfeit.
Finally, the upper-weight trio of James D’Amato (190), Ben Woodfin (215) and Mike Haidaczuk (285) all placed sixth for the Vikings. D’Amato went into the event unseeded in his weight class, but went 3-3 on the day with two first-period pins and a 10-4 decision victory.
PENTUCKET: Zaneski’s silver highlights sixth place for Panthers
The Pentucket/Newburyport co-op team also had a strong Division 3 North Sectional meet, finishing sixth with 122 points.
And in total, six Panthers punched their ticket to next week’s State Meet.
Top among them being Cooper Zaneski, who placed second at 175. The No. 2-seeded football standout earned two first-period pins to reach the finals, where he dropped a hard-fought 15-6 major decision to Gloucester senior Joe Allen. Then right behind him was fellow football star Jackson Miller, who earned the bronze medal at 165. Miller opened his tournament with a pin, but fell to the consolation bracket following the second round. But the No. 4 seed would earn a pin and two straight decision victories to reach the finals, where he earned revenge over Jack Cincotta of Marlborough (who sent him to the consolation bracket) with a 10-3 decision win to complete a 5-1 day.
Then also earning spots at States for the Panthers by finishing fourth were: Damian Houle (120), Martin DeJesus (144), William Lewis (215) and Connor Flynn (285). Finally, 150-pounder Aiden Rumsey placed fifth, and will be an alternate next week.