West’s Taylor wins wrestling gold at States
West High’s Colin Taylor outpointed Winnacunnet’s Colton Stevens, 17-10, in the 144-pound final, Saturday afternoon at the Division II State Championships at Goffstown High.
MULTIPLE LOCATIONS — West High’s Colin Taylor outpointed Winnacunnet’s Colton Stevens, 17-10, in the 144-pound final, Saturday afternoon at the Division II State Championships at Goffstown High.
Taylor, who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 4 Stevens in a match for ages.
Stevens jumped in front early, with a takedown just 17 seconds into match. Taylor made a quick escape and later scored a takedown of his own to hold a 4-3 lead after one period.
Taylor kept his composure through the second period, receiving both a caution warning at the start of period and a stall warning 30 seconds in.
Stevens was able to score an escape, tying the match, 4-4, entering the third.
Stevens took a bottom position to start the third and made a quick escape to grab a 5-4 lead. But Taylor answered with a takedown, with 1:00 to go, seizing a 7-5 advantage.
But Stevens wasn’t done, he fought his way to a 2-point reversal to tie the match, suffering a cut in the process.
The score remained 7-7, sending the match to a 1:00 sudden death. Taylor started on the bottom. Still, neither wrestler could score a point, leading to the next phase of overtime — two, 30-second periods, with each wrestler taking a turn choosing start position.
Taylor started Period 5 on the bottom and wrestled the best 30 seconds of his life. He made an escape and scored a takedown and four-point near fall to take a 15-7 lead entering Period 6.
Sensing that he needed a pin, Stevens chose to start on top. Taylor made a quick escape to go op 16-7 but Stevens answered immediately with a takedown with 21 seconds remaining to pull to within 16-10.
That would be as close as he would get , as an escape by Taylor accounted for the final score.
Taylor’s run to the final was impressive. He had a first-round bye, before pinning Finn Murphy of Bishop Guertin, at 1:25 of the second period, to advance to the semifinals.
Taylor met more resistance from No. 3 seed Cole Brandt of Souhegan, in the semifinals. Taylor jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a takedown in the first period. It stayed that way until midway through the third period, when Taylor scored another takedown and turned it into a pin at 1:25 of the period.
As a team, West placed 9th with 74 points. Goffstown won the team title with 196.5.
West’s Angel Diaz also had a sensational day at the states, placing third at 106. After falling to eventual champion Willem Pierce of Goffstown in the semis, Diaz bounced back with a first-round pin of Souhegan’s Kyle Sukcharoenphon and then destroyed Wesley Steinruck of Bishop Guertin by technical fall (16-0) in the bronze medal match.
Ryan Perkins (165), Kendrick Nunez (132), Jhystoni Rivera (157), Jayden Nartey (215) and Anthony Digaetano (175) each placed 6th in their class.
DIVISION III
Trinity High
Trinity High was represented by Casey Horne at the Division III State Championships at Contacook.
Horne wrestled well, placing third at 138 pounds.
Horne, the No. 5 seed, got a first-round bye, before winning an epic 17-15 decision over Blake Cyr of White Mountains in the quarters.
The semifinal bout against top seed Dylan Griffin of Winnisquam proved much more difficult, with Griffin taking an 11-2 decision.
That loss dropped Horne into the Consolation Semis, where he earned a hard-fought 3-0 victory over Brodie Moore of Raymond.
That victory sent up what should have been a classic rematch against Cyr for the bronze medal. But Cyr forfeited, handing third place to Horne.
DIVISION I
Memorial
Memorial scored 29 points at the Division I States at Londonderry High.
The Crusaders’ top performer was Jayden Kulian, who placed 4th at 285.
After a first-round bye, Kulian, the No. 4 seed, battled No. 5 Wesley Chesser of Spaulding in a thrilling quarterfinal.
Trailing in the third period, Kulian dig deep and came up with a take down, then turned it into a pin, with just 11 seconds remaining in regulation.
That win set up a battle with top-seed Evan Ray of Keene on the semis. What might have been a competitive match never developed. Just 34 seconds into the match, the wrestlers were locked up in a standing position. Kulian tried to shift his weight and go for a throw but Ray countered and fell flat on top of Kulian for a takedown and a pin.
In the Consi-semis, Kulian bounced back to defeat Matt Benn of Bedford, 5-3.
But in the third place match, Kulian was pinned by Concord’s Wayne Gutierrez-Sakakeeny in 41 seconds.