Last Wednesday, the Wayland wrestling team went up against Pembroke in the Division 3 Dual Meet State Finals. It was Wayland’s 3^rd Trip to the finals in the last 3 years; however, this year was the first that the Warriors managed to come away with first place.

“The third time is the charm,” said head coach Sean Chase.

The match was not without a little bit of drama, since the last time these two teams met in the regular season, they came to an even tie of 30-30.

The Warriors managed to win with a final score of 28-27. Wayland started off ahead 12-0 with pins from sophomore Carter Shearer (103) and Senior Ryan Malloy (112). Shearer’s pin came with only 7 seconds left in the match, earning Wayland precious extra points.

Next up was senior captain Greg Eng. Eng lost a close match to eventual state individual finalist Mike Bunszell. Fellow captain Max Garelick won the next match at 125 pounds, and junior RJ Bolivar had a huge win against Pembroke’s senior captain Matt Vito, at 135 pounds.

At 130 pounds, Griffin McGrail faced a tough opponent in Geoff Bullock. Bullock was arguably the best wrestler on Pembroke’s team. Although Griffin lost the match, he succeeded in staying off his back and preventing a pin. If McGrail had been pinned, Pembroke would’ve earned six points as opposed to only four for winning on points.

The story is the same for senior Sam Bagel and freshman Will Gunshenan. Bagel faced the 4^th ranked 145-pounder in all of Massachusetts and Gunshenan, a first-year wrestler, was up against another of Pembroke’s senior captains. Both of them managed to prevent pins and lost only by major decisions.

If any of those three wrestlers had been pinned, the Warriors would’ve lost. Combined, they saved 6 points. Said Coach Chase, “In the championship teams that I’ve been a part of,what I’ve learned is that it’s [winning] not about superstars. Your superstars always perform. It’s ultimately about those who don’t normally get recognition that rise to the occasion and outperform.”

By the time the match reached 171 pounds, the Warriors were trailing 21-18. Jean Mbdimbu pulled off a major decision at 171 and Jack McCullough had a decision at 189, bringing the score up to 25-21 Wayland. After Kep Edwards bumped up to 215 to wrestle a top-notch wrestler with 20 pounds on him, Wayland was down 27-25.

It all came down to senior captain Abe Freedberg, bumping up from 215 to Heavyweight to wrestle Pembroke’s Nick Burton. Whoever won the final match would go on to win the state title. Last time the two had met, Freedburg won in double overtime. He was cool, calm and collected as he downed Burton again, 7-5, to win the championship for Wayland.