HOLYOKE – Holyoke’s seniors bore the weight of executing at key weight classes, as the Purple Knights took down Monument Mountain 39-36 in their final home wrestling match of the season Wednesday.
They trailed the Spartans 30-18 after five matches and a forfeit by each team. Holyoke knew it would gain an extra six points from a forfeit at 195 pounds, but the pressure to mount the comeback fell on its upper weight classes.
Anthony Cruz started Holyoke on the way back by besting Luke Hartshorn 10-1 at 182 pounds.
“I took it upon myself to get him out in space, clear my mind, calm down and when it came to the match get prepared and ready to wrestle,” Cruz said. “I knew my team was depending on me tonight.”
That, coupled with the 195-pound forfeit, made it 30-27.
Holyoke’s 220-pound senior Richie Rodriguez always tries to give people a good match. He put on a show in his final home contest, pinning Sam St. Peter in the second period after coming close in the first.
“I made sure to put everything in there no matter who it is. I have to go in there and wrestle my best and try to the best of my ability,” Rodriguez said. “If I don’t, that means I’m failing myself, I’m failing my coaches and I’m failing my opponent.”
The fall gave the Purple Knights a nine-point cushion to clinch the match.
Monument’s Westley Vansant pinned Chris Perez in the heavyweight match to end the evening.
Ethan McClain (126 pounds), Manuel Fernandez Guzman (135 pounds) and Russel Rivera (160 pounds) also won via pin for the Purple Knights.
“As seniors, it’s their last time and I’m sure they wanted to put a really nice period at the end of the sentence,” Holyoke coach Vin Silano said. “The fact that they were able to persevere through, fight more and just remember their training, I think it’s really important.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.