Black & Blue Wrestler Qualifies For All-States

This article was submitted by Mike Stamison.

Jake Powell took 5th place in the 113-pound weight class at the MIAA Division 3 State Wrestling tournament held this past weekend at Taconic Regional High School. Powell finished the tournament with a 3-2 record and advances, for the second time in his high school career, to the MIAA All-State Wrestling tournament, which will be held on Feb. 24-25 at Salem High School.  

Marblehead junior Sean Taylor, the only other member of the “Black & Blue” wrestling team to advance to the Division 3 State Wrestling tournament, finished his 2011-12 season with a 1-2 record at the tournament.   

Taylor, who was the No.2 seed in the heavyweight class, won his first match of the tournament with a pin at 16 seconds, lost his second match, and then faced Max Williams of Franklin Tech, the No. 1 seed, in his last match of the tournament, losing 1-0.

"Sean had his year come to an end,” said of the Swampscott-Marblehead co-operative wrestling team. “He had a tough year, as he was out for a large portion of it. That being said, we talked after he was eliminated by Williams, and he is going to train and go to camps this offseason, and both Taylor and be gunning for state titles next year.”   

Powell, who was the Division 3 North champion, entered the semifinals with a 2-0 record. He defeated Greg Berube of Cohasset in his first match, with a pin at one minute of the first period and registered an 11-5 decision over Trevor Bengston of Southwick in his second match.  

Powell lost 20-10 to Jake Dorman of Foxboro after suffering a shoulder injury in the second period of that semifinal match. Dorman, who was the Division 3 South champion, went on to claim 2nd place in the 113-pound weight class at the tournament.   

Powell wrestled back to earn 5th place after losing 5-1 to Nick Peduzzi of Pioneer Valley, the Division 3 Western Mass. champion, in his fourth match, and then beating 2-0 Josh LaCosse of Franklin Tech in his fifth and final match of the tournament.  

"Jake showed a lot of heart, getting injured in the match to Dorman,” said Stamison. “He continued, and actually stacked Dorman, unfortunately his shoulder blades were out of bounds, so the pin was not called. He lost that match to Dorman, then came back to wrestle well against the No. two seed, Peduzzi of Pioneer Valley, losing 5-1. He then beat LaCosse of Franklin Tech 2-0 to secure 5th place. Jake wrestled well, despite being in a huge amount of pain, and definitely earned the respect of his competitors in the gym on Saturday. With the two weeks off he will be 100 percent at All-States."  

Stamison added: "Regardless of what happens at All-States, Jake's season is one of the best if not the best season put together by a member of our program. Wrestling mostly at 113, bumping up to 120 a few times, he is a combined 30-7 on the year, and should be able to add a few more wins in Salem in two weeks."  

Powell is the only local qualifier from Division 3 for the All-State wrestling tournament. Powell’s first match at All-States will be against Steve Giampapa of Burlington, who he has defeated earlier in the season.