The Duxbury wrestling team finished its regular season with two come-from-behind victories over Catholic Memorial and Whitman-Hanson to go 3-0 and win the championship trophy as they hosted their annual team tournament on Saturday.

The Dragon wrestlers started the morning off with a convincing 57-24 win over Southwick Tolland, with senior captains Colin McKenzie (140 lbs.), who wrestled in the 145 lbs. weight class, and Tyler Genereux (171) getting the first of their three wins on the day to finish the regular season undefeated. Both wrestlers won by technical fall, which is wrestling’s version of the mercy rule with a differential of fifteen points over his opponent.

Other significant winners were juniors Tim Donoghue (103), Colin Connolly (125), and John McGeady, freshman Brendan Gillis (112), and senior captain Justin Carroll (130), Kyle Scola (135), Zach Sanchez (140), and Pat Murphy (189). Murphy was named the outstanding wrestler for his key wins over CM and Whitman Hanson to seal the championship for the Dragons.

After cruising by Southwick, Duxbury found themselves down 19-0 against Catholic Memorial after the first five matches. CM sophomore Ricardo Vieux got the visitors off to a fast start by securing a surprising 10-5 decision over Tim Donoghue in the 103 lbs. weight class. Vieux, who is outstanding on his feet, earned four takedowns to give CM a 3-0 lead.

Freshman Phil Ishigi kept the momentum on CM’s side when he outlasted Brendan Gillis for a 14-4 major decision in the 112 lbs. match-up despite Gillis’ numerous attempts to take Ishigi down. The four points gave CM a 7-0 lead, and things weren’t looking good for the hosts when senior captain Geovani Lopez took the mat against freshman Mikkel Linskey in the 119 lbs. weight class. However, Lopez could only muster a 4-0 decision against the feisty freshman, giving Duxbury something to build on.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, CM secured a pin in the 125 lbs. match-up to give the visitors six more points before Duxbury senior captain Justin Carroll faced off against CM senior captain and seventh-ranked Demetri Vieux. Despite wrestling well, Carroll lost a 7-2 decision and only gave up three team points.

Duxbury senior Kyle Scola, who is probably one of the strongest wrestlers pound for pound in the league, got the first in a series of four consecutive pins by Duxbury to give the hosts a 24-19 lead. Also pinning for Duxbury were McKenzie (140), Sanchez (145), who is one of the Dragon’s most improved wrestlers, and Johnny Barrett (152, captain). McGeady, who was back on the mat after being sidelined for a week, won a 7-0 decision over sophomore Francis Hawley in the 160 lbs. weight class, while Genereux (171) won again by technical fall over CM backup Zach Ward, and Murphy (189) won a 6-3 decision over sophomore Richard Broderick that proved to be a decisive win, as Duxbury was forced to forfeit at 215 and heavyweight. The Dragons escaped with a 35-32 victory, and would face Patriot League foe Whitman-Hanson in the finals, having beating them by a narrow margin earlier in the season.

The Duxbury grapplers knew that they had to bring their “A” game if they were going to get by W-H, giving up not one, but two weight classes this time.

With a Whitman-Hanson forfeit at 112 to open the match, Duxbury was off to a 6-0 lead. Linskey, who had been pinned by W-H’s Alex Perry in their first meeting, only gave up three points on Saturday when he found himself on the short end of a 3-1 decision.

A Whitman-Hanson pin at 125 and a three-point Panther decision at 130 set up a dramatic turn of events in the 135 lb. weight class when Duxbury’s Kyle Scola was disqualified for retaliating against W-H sophomore Joe Peterson. Scola was cruising 5-0 when the referee awarded the match to Peterson, giving the Panthers six points, much to the dismay of the Duxbury coaching staff, who argued the call to no avail.

With the score now 18-6 in favor of the visitors, the Dragons had to dig deep to pull off the win. The Panthers had the momentum and looked to be in position to add to their lead when they sent senior captain James Peterson to the mat against Sanchez in the 140 lbs. match-up. Fortunately for Duxbury and Sanchez, the third time was the charm.  After losing to Peterson in his first meeting, and then again at the W-H Tournament, Sanchez turned in a stellar performance on Saturday with an 11-3 major decision.

Senior captains Barrett (152) and McKenzie (145) kept Duxbury on the right track with a major decision by Barrett over W-H’s Aaron Wiltshire and an 8-3 McKenzie decision over W-H senior captain Synjen Morrocco.  McGeady (160) won his third match of the tournament with a critical pin, and Genereux finished the day with a 13-3 major decision over W-H senior Pat Devlin.

With the score 28-18 in favor of Duxbury, Head Coach Kyle McCarthy made a critical decision that would ultimately enable his team to win the match. The Duxbury coach would send sophomore Alec McKenzie to the mat against W-H senior Will Forbes in the 189 lb. weight class. Forbes had pinned Pat Murphy in their earlier meeting, and without a 215, Duxbury had to roll the dice. They were willing to give up a pin in order to get a win at 215.  The gamble paid off when Murphy, who is undersized at 189, won the match despite giving up over 40 pounds to W-H’s Tom Condon. The 6-3 decision earned Murphy the tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler Award, and the Dragons celebrated with an exciting 31-30 win heading into the Sectionals on Saturday.