The Duxbury wrestling team started last weekend’s Division II State Tournament at North Andover High School with eight grapplers competing against teams from 41 area schools. However, after two days of competition, only three of those wrestlers advanced to All-States this Friday and Saturday in Salem.

Senior captains and South Sectional champions Colin McKenzie (140 lbs.), Johnny Barrett (152), and Tyler Genereux (171) went 2-0 to advance to the State semi-finals in their perspective weight classes before losing tough matches to their Westford Academy, Dracut, and Tewksbury opponents.  The semi-final losses were especially difficult for McKenzie and Genereux, who were both previously unbeaten in 35 matches.

The #1 seeded McKenzie appeared to be Duxbury’s best hope of bringing home a State championship, but Westford Academy’s Brendan McEnaney landed two headlocks for a takedown and back points that proved to be the difference in a gut-wrenching 16-14 loss in a match that had McKenzie scoring five takedowns and two reversals.

The level-headed McKenzie quickly put the loss behind him, beating Somerset’s Matt Taber, 8-3, in the consolations before facing Quincy’s Paul Reggiannini (#2 seed), who was hoping to avenge a 7-6 loss to the Duxbury wrestler earlier in the season. With a one-minute first period in the consolations, McKenzie went right to work, getting the first takedown for a 2-0 lead. However, Reggiannini tied the match at 2-2 with a reversal, and went ahead with back points before catching the Duxbury senior in a banana split, giving him the third-place win with a second-period pin. McKenzie advanced to All-States with his fourth-place finish.

In the 152-lbs. semi-final match, Johnny Barrett took the mat against Dracut’s Matt Dehney. The lanky Duxbury senior captain proved to be tough to take down, sprawling his way out of two Dehney takedown attempts. With no score after one, Dehney chose bottom and earned a one-point escape. The Dracut wrestler extended his lead to 3-0 with a takedown late in the second period and ended up the eventual winner with a 4-0 decision when Barrett was called for stalling on bottom.

Barrett was pinned in the consolation round by North Andover’s Derek Timpe, who took the Duxbury captain to the mat in a headlock. However, he did finish on a high note when he wrapped up Natick’s Chris Funnell with his legs, pinning him in the second period. The win earned Barrett a trip to All-States with a fifth-place finish.

The 171-lbs. weight class was touted by MASSWRESTLING as the strongest at the D2 States, and senior captain Tyler Genereux, who was still hampered by a toe injury suffered prior to Sectionals, wouldn’t dispute that.

The Duxbury senior faced Tewksbury’s Joel Altavesta in the semi-finals, who got the first takedown with a high single, giving him a quick 2-0 lead.  Genereux nearly escaped from bottom twice, but Altavesta proved to be tough on top. The Tewksbury senior captain chose bottom to start the second period, and earned a two-point reversal. Genereux got two points back on an illegal hold and an escape, but Altavesta got another takedown and back points to take an 8-2 lead into the third period. Genereux again escaped from bottom, but needed to hit a homerun to beat the eventual State champion, who went on to an 11-3 major decision.

Genereux had a golden opportunity for a chance to win the bronze medal when he faced Silver Lake’s Sean Doherty in the consolation round. Genereux had beaten the SL senior with a major decision in an earlier match, but Doherty was riding high after upsetting the #2 seed. The Laker captain took a surprising 4-0 lead midway through the second period after a costly mistake by Genereux, who never fully recovered from his earlier loss and came up on the short end of a 9-6 decision.

Things did not improve for the Duxbury senior when he faced Reading’s Ross DeMattei in a hotly contested match that had the scored tied 1-1 at the end of regulation.  DeMattei got his point on an illegal hold, but the call was made when both wrestlers were out of bounds. DeMattei’s good fortune continued in sudden death overtime when he was awarded two points and the win despite his obvious lack of control. The disappointing loss gave Genereux a sixth-place finish with the hope of improving on his performance next weekend at All-States at Salem High School.