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Lariviere twins dazzle N.E. mat foes |
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Monday, 09 March 2009 |
NEW HAVEN, Ct. – Rhode Island wrestlers made a major impact at the New England championship meet on Saturday evening, winning three individual titles and getting a 2-3 finish in the team race from Cranston West and Cumberland High.
Cranston West’s Sean Giblin, a four-time state champion, earned Outstanding Wrestler honors after destroying the 135-pound weight class. Cumberland’s Shai Lariviere breezed through the 103-pound division while winning his first New England title. Twin brother Shoneil finished third at 112 pounds following a controversial loss in the semifinals to the eventual champion, Corey Melo of New Bedford.
East Greenwich’s Alex Hayek was the third individual champ from Rhode Island, besting Cranston West’s Nick O’Connell in the 130-pound final.
“It was a great tournament for Rhode Island,” Cumberland coach Steve Gordon admitted on Sunday. “We had two of the top three teams and three individual champions. We should have had four. Shoneil got robbed. In his semifinal match, the kid from New Bedford (Melo) literally ran from Shoneil for six minutes. He just kept backing up and backing up.
“The ref hit him (Melo) with a warning for stalling and then penalized him a point but he let him keep running until the match was over. The kid did the same thing in the finals, too. And he won.”
Shoneil Lariviere showed his mettle in the consolation bracket, pinning his first opponent in 50 seconds and then winning the third-place match by a 15-5 margin over Mount Anthony’s Mike Bradley, who was the No. 1 seed from Vermont.
Shai Lariviere dazzled the crowd on both Friday and Saturday with his speed and arsenal of moves.
“Shai was absolutely phenomenal,” Gordon said. “We were actually concerned about his quarterfinal match against Sam Shames from Newton North but Shai totally dominated, winning by a score of 8-2. He won by an 11-3 score in the semifinals over Robert Lonergan, the No. 2 kid from Connecticut, and then he beat Zach Bridson of Timberlane by an 8-2 score in the finals.
Shai’s only loss all season came against East Longmeadow’s Chad Roberts back in the Cumberland Invitational. Roberts was sailing along in his half of the bracket on Saturday, leading Bridson by a 15-7 margin in the third period of their semifinal round match.
“Then he made a big mistake and got pinned,” Gordon said.
Cumberland got one win apiece from Jaron Parent at 119 and Taylor Dougan at 152 before they lost in the consolation phase of the tournament. Derek Paul at 189 lost in the first round, as did Woonsocket’s 140-pound state champion, Justin Switzer. Franklin’s Daniel Telhada bested Switzer 15-2 and went on to win the weight class. He finished fourth in the Mass. State meet two weekends ago.
Timberlane (N.H.) won the team race with 110 points. Cranston West earned second place with 98.5 points, followed by Cumberland (58) and Lowell (56).
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 14 March 2009 )
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