Yet again it was a battle throughout between the Flyers and Redhawks, but thanks to wins in the last two matches — both of which ended up being pins — it was Framingham that earned a 40-30 victory in the end.
NATICK — Whenever the Framingham and Natick wrestling teams square off, two things are essentially guaranteed: the atmosphere is going to be electric and the action is going to be intense.
The neighboring Bay State Conference rivals are among the area's top squads and whenever they go head-to-head, they always draw a packed gym, with the usually close meet often decided by the last couple of matches.
And when the two teams met Thursday night in the regular season finale for both, there was added motivation, with the Bay State Conference title on the line.
Yet again it was a battle throughout between the Flyers and Redhawks, but thanks to wins in the last two matches — both of which ended up being pins — it was Framingham that earned a 40-30 victory in the end.
The Flyers had already clinched the Bay State Conference Carey Division title, but this win officially gave them the best league record.
Had Natick won, the Redhawks would have had the best league record.
“This feels great,” Framingham coach Jon Kanavich said after his team finished its regular season 17-4 overall and 10-1 in the BSC. “In wrestling season, teams that have depth will do well and it was good to see our guys come in here and not only win in the end but also improve. This past weekend, we wrestled at the state duals and I think that helped focus our team.
“It's always great to come in and wrestle Natick because it's a pageant. There's a lot of drama and it's always fun. It's not fun losing here, so we'll take winning here any day of the week. It was good.”
As for Natick coach Bob Anniballi, he was pleased with the way his team wrestled, but he was even more pleased with something else.
“I know we've been dominant in the league over the years, but we're not the same Natick this year,” he said after his team concluded the regular season 12-7-1, 7-2-1 in the BSC. “We're a very young team and we've gone through a lot as a team. I'm thrilled with the way the kids battled, but I'm most happy with the way the kids put themselves in position to defend the title considering we had some real close matches and gutted out some wins.
“Credit to them, they came and they brought it.”
Down 22-9 through seven matches, the Redhawks won four of the next five matches — three of which came by pin — to take a 30-28 lead with two matches remaining.
That's when Framingham's Huguens Pierre took to the mat at 138 pounds, and with a 7-1 lead in the second period he was able to pin Natick's Justin DeJesus to give his team a 34-30 lead.
“As soon as I got on the mat, I knew I was going to take my chance and get the lead for the team,” Pierre said. “I tried to get the first takedown, which I did, and from there it just worked for me. I just knew I was going to work hard to win. Once I got the pin, it felt awesome.”
In the night's final match, Natick's Justin Foster needed either a technical fall or a pin to give his team the win, but Danilo Da Silva had other ideas for the Flyers. Da Silva was able to pin Foster in the first period, officially giving Framingham the victory.
“It feels great to beat them at home for the title,” Da Silva said. “It felt really good to seal the win for my team. It was a relief when I looked back and saw all my teammates screaming and smiling. I was looking to get a pin with just basic moves and I was able to do that.”
Thanks to back-to-back pins from Liam Beauregard and Anthony Graves at 106 and 113, respectively, the Redhawks found themselves down just one at 22-21.
A first-period pin from Framingham's Josue Bullux at 120 put the Flyers up 28-21, but Jeff Marsh brought Natick back within one with a second-period pin at 126. Then Jacob Opela — one of four captains for the Redhawks — scored a 7-1 win over Willie Brou at 132 to give his team a 30-28 advantage.