The new-look Patriot League featured one of the most competitive and surprising wrestling match-ups of the season last Wednesday night in Quincy when the Dragons took on the Quincy Presidents and the Duxbury Dragons.

Despite an eight-point deficit with two matches to go, Quincy rallied at home to win in dramatic fashion, 37-36, in front of a full house at the Dungeon Wrestling Club.

The come-from-behind win by the Presidents negated the efforts and perseverance of senior captains Colin McKenzie and Tyler Genereux, who were both battle tested in their individual matches, but refused to let their first personal losses of the season be at the hands of a league opponent.

Quincy got off to a good start when they sent senior heavyweight Taylor Radcliffe to the mat and he went unopposed, giving the hosts an early 6-0 lead. Tim Donoghue continues to be frustrated when opposing coaches choose to bump up their 103 lb. grappler, rather than have them face one of the South Shore’s best in the Duxbury junior. That was the case on Wednesday night, giving the visitors an easy six points.

Fortunately for Duxbury, freshman Brendan Gillis spoiled Quincy’s game plan when he got the first takedown, and eventually recorded a first-period pin over freshman Selma Ghoudey in the 112 lb. weight class.

Fellow freshman Mikkel Linskey may not have gotten the win or the pin in the 119 lb. weight class against Quincy senior Tyler Balcam, but the scrappy underclassman earned a moral victory by refusing to get pinned in a hard-fought 13-1 loss that could have affected the outcome of the match.

With the score 12-10, Quincy junior captain and #4-ranked Josh Gerry wasted little time getting six points and giving the Presidents the lead when he pinned junior Colin Connolly in 19 seconds in the 125 lb. match-up.

That match set up two consecutive forfeits by Quincy in the 130 lb. and 135 lb. weight classes, giving the Dragons their biggest lead of the night at 24-16, and setting the stage for the highlight match between #4-ranked Paul Reggiannini at 145 and #5 ranked Colin McKenzie in the 140 lb. weight class.

Reggiannini cut down to 140 for the match, and got the first takedown and a 2-0 lead. McKenzie escaped to cut the lead in half, but another Reggiannini takedown had the Duxbury senior captain down 4-1 at the end of the first period. McKenzie earned a one-point escape at the start of the second period, but still trailed 4-2 going into the third and final period. The two wrestlers quickly exchanged reversals to the delight of the crowd, but the Quincy senior captain couldn’t McKenzie from escaping from bottom twice in the last minute of the period, giving the Duxbury star a thrilling 7-6 win.

With the momentum seemingly in Duxbury’s favor, Zach Sanchez faced off against Quincy senior Scott Griffin. Unfortunately for Duxbury, Sanchez fought an uphill battle from the start when Griffin mounted an early 6-1 lead. The Dragon senior would get within three points in the second period, but that was as close as he would get before getting pinned in the third period.

With a 27-22 lead, senior captain Johnny Barrett made quick work of Quincy sophomore Tommy Meng with a first period pin, giving the Dragons some breathing room with four matches to go.

That set up a shocker in the 160 lb. weight class when Quincy senior captain Dan Quinn faced off against Duxbury junior John McGeady. McGeady started strong with a first-period takedown, but Quinn quickly reversed, sunk his legs in, and turned the junior grappler to earn a critical pin.

With the score now 33-28, senior captain Tyler Genereux was hoping to silence the crowd when he took the mat against senior captain Zach Manning in the 171 lb. weight class. Genereux got the first takedown, but Manning got an escape before the Duxbury captain took Manning to the mat again. The Quincy captain would get another escape closing the gap to 5-2 at the end of one. Down by three, Manning chose bottom, and got a rare two-point reversal against Genereux, cutting the lead to 5-4. Feeling confident after a quick escape, Genereux went for another takedown, but a costly move gave Manning the two points, tying the match at 6-6. With ten seconds remaining in regulation, the #9-ranked Genereux escaped with a dramatic 7-6 win to remain unbeaten.

In the 189 lb. weight class Duxbury senior Pat Murphy took the mat against Quincy senior Steve Kamb. After giving up a takedown, Murphy escaped only to have Kamb take him down again. Murphy fought for the escape, and cut the lead to two, but another takedown by Kamb put the match out of reach for the Dragon senior, who came up on the short end of a 6-2 decision.

That set up the final match of the night and Quincy’s last chance at stealing a victory. The Dragons put their fate in the hands of senior Jake Roumacher in the 215 lb. match-up against Quincy senior Liam Keough. With a 5-point Duxbury lead, the Dragons could only lose the match if Roumacher got pinned. The Quincy grappler was determined to do just that, as he took Roumacher down in a headlock, pinning him and dashing the Dragons’ hope of a Patriot League crown.

On Saturday, the Dragons beat Waltham and The Brooks School of Andover before losing  a close contest to host North Andover.  Winning all three of their matches were McKenzie (145), Genereux (171), senior captain Justin Carroll (130), and senior Zach Sanchez (140).