High School Notebook: South Hadley wrestling team comes into its own

South Hadley's Jaime Medina, left, tosses Franklin Tech's Jackson Morey, right, during the high school wrestling match at South Hadley high school, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, in South Hadley. STAFF PHOTO / DANIEL JACOBI II
Published: 01-30-2025 5:45 PM |
In just its third season as a standalone program, the South Hadley wrestling team is on the come up.
During their most recent meet against Franklin County Tech on Wednesday, the Tigers nearly took down the unbeaten Eagles in a thrilling match.
“We’ve improved since the beginning of the season,” South Hadley head coach Byron Joy said. “We’re starting to hit our stride and where we want to be. We got the postseason coming up soon so hopefully we’ll be running on all cylinders by the time we get there.”
The Tigers lost, 36-34, on Wednesday after winning the opening three matches of the night.
South Hadley filled every weight class in the meet, marking a significant benchmark of the success of the program. Franklin Tech, on the other hand, did not have a wrestler for the 175-pound match, giving the Tigers an automatic win via forfeit.
“Just having the numbers and kids on the mat and having them be dedicated and work on their development,” Joy said on where he’s seen the most progress in the program. “That’s where it is, kids that are dedicated to the sport. Wrestling season is a grind. Five, six days a week and it’s great that they’ve been able to stick with it and put the hard work and time in. I think slowly but surely, we’re getting to a place where we want to be.”
South Hadley won seven matches against the Eagles and four of them were via pin. Of those four, half were from eighth-graders Zack Willette and Javier Rosado, while the other half were from juniors Will Drew and Jasiel Ramos.
The Tigers final 10 points came from decision victories by PJ Lavelle, Jackson Erali and Adrian DeBeer, all juniors.
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South Hadley’s 14-person junior class has been there since the program went solo and have been vital to the team’s success. Although, Joy has seen contributions throughout every class on this year’s Tigers squad
“I’m very happy with our 103-pounder Zack [Willette], our 113-pounder [Rosado], they’re eighth-graders and they’ve just shown up this year, they’ve worked very hard in the room,” Joy said. “Of course our 120-pounder PJ Lavelle is one of our top guys,” Joy said. “Our 126-pounder Ryan Lachance is a brand-new wrestler this year but he gets better every time he steps on the mat.
“Our 165, Eli [Yakolov], he has just come back from some injuries so he’s getting there,” Joy said. “Of course our 215 and our heavyweights are guys that we expect a lot of. They’re all working hard and coming along.”
South Hadley (3-2) will look to claim win No. 4 on the year next Wednesday, Feb. 5, when it travels to Athol for its final dual-meet of the regular season.
Make it five straight wins for the Eagles now following its 5-3 victory against Taconic on Wednesday.
Easthampton’s offense has been at the forefront of its turnaround as the Eagles have averaged nearly five goals a game (4.8) during their win streak.
Easthampton went winless through its first seven games, but its recent hot stretch has brought its record up to 5-6-1.
The MIAA tournament is now within reach for the Eagles, who look to qualify for the statewide tournament for the third year in a row.
The Purple Knights’ boys and girls swim teams are having impressive seasons in the pool.
Each squad has only lost one dual meet to date and took care of business against the Renaissance School on Wednesday.
The Holyoke boys (6-1-1) were led by Steven Plotniak, who won the 200-yard individual medley (2:19.95), and was part of the Purple Knights winning 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard free relay teams.
Hannah Raymond and Laura Brown spearheaded the Holyoke girls (7-1) victory, each winning two individual events.
Raymond took the 100-yard backstroke in 1:09.00 and the 50-yard free in 27.59 seconds, while Brown was first in the 100-yard fly in 1:07.16 and the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:20.34.
The Purple Knights boys won by a score of 83-57 and the girls won 121-12.