Wrestling makes it to States

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Anthony Cammalleri

WA wrestler goes head to head with his opponent

Alisha Sabnis, Advertising Manager

Starting on Friday, February 17 2017, Westford Academy Boys’ Wrestling competed in the MIAA State Championships at Methuen High School. This is a two day event and ends on Saturday, February 18. Fans from all over the state were cheering on their teams continuously throughout the match. 

“I feel good, hopefully things go our way,” said Coach Rich.

Senior Cam Eldridge competed in the 160 pound group against Williams from Lincoln Sudbury. Williams was able to snatch the first point of the match in the first round. However, Eldridge recovered and kept his opponent pinned for the second round, making the score 2-0 in favor of the Ghosts before entering the final round. Eldridge quickly defeated him with a final score of 6-2.

Eldridge started his second match with both wrestlers fighting hard. The first round started even with the score being 2-2 but Eldridge was able to pull it up to 7-4.

Junior and captain of the team, Max Chernauskas, wrestled in the 170-pound group against Bernadin Senatus from Cambridge. Chernauskas was able to gain 2 points during the first round, starting off in the lead. He had a rougher second round when he got pinned by Senatus which tied the score 2-2, bringing the match to a final round. The third round was more challenging for both wrestlers. Senatus was injured near the end of the match and Chernauskas was able to snatch a win with a score of 10-2.

Chernauskas started his second match off strong, leading 2-0 against Dohnovin Harvey from Springfield Center. By the second round, he was leading 4-0 and ultimately won the match 6-0.

Junior Luke Donovan was next, competing in the 138-pound group against Collin Johnson from Bridgewater. He was able to gain 2 points during the first round for a 2-0 lead. He continued to stay ahead with a score of 4-0 as the match progressed to the second round. In the end, Donovan finished with a perfect 10-0 win.

Luke Donovan won his second match against Alan Rivera from Moore with a final score of 3-2.

Junior Andrew Pehdrahita from the 152-pound group started his match with a lead of 2-0 against his opponent, Shox Majedov from West Springfield. He was also able to win his second round, which concluded his match with a score of 5-0.

Piedrahita’s second match was against Ben Potts from Barnstable. It started off well with Piedrahita gaining 2 points during the first round.

Freshman Stephen Donovan competed in the 106-pound group against Antonios Sevastos from Mansfield. He had a few rough rounds but was able to put up a good fight. By the end of the round, he was eventually defeated with a score of 0-6.

During his second match, Stephen Donovan was up against his opponent, Sotomaya from Ludlow. He had a rough start with a score of 0-2 during the first round and then 0-4 in the second. Donovan was eventually defeated with 1-8. This was the only defeat for WA so far.

Cam Eldridge, Andrew Pehdrahita, and Max Chernauskas were able to make it up to the semi-final round.