The Golden Eagles traveled to Marlboro Wednesday night to participate in the Mass State Dual Meet Championship Finals. This marked the fourth time in the five years since the tournaments inception that the Golden Eagles have gone all the way to the finals of the team championship. The team was the first ever dual meet champion in 2006, but since has not been able to win that elusive last meet. This year was another ride to the big dance, only to come up short in the end. Franklin proved to be too strong for the Golden Eagles as they bowed 38 – 20 to take the runner-up trophy in division one. This year the tournament was handled differently than in past years. All three divisions held their finals at the same time on three mats in the same gym. It was a little like a three ring circus. There was action on every mat and at different times the crowd would roar from different sections of the bleachers. It made for a very exciting evening of wrestling. It seems that the MIAA may have just found the proper format for the tournament. There were many teams that participated in the tournament and the results were final before the divisional state individual tournaments.

The team knew going in that this contest was going to be difficult to win. Franklin is a tough team with a great coaching staff. In the end, Central won 5 matches. There were some close matches, but not enough of them. Getting wins for the Golden Eagles were Daniel Salgado (Major at 112), Peter Hager (Pin at 119), Bemnet banks (140), Manny Ocasio (152), and Nate Collins (189). The job was made more difficult last week when Estavon Gonzales (171) suffered a torn cartilage in his chest. He was unavailable for the finals match which forced Coach McLaghlin to bump many of the wrestlers up one weight class to fill the void. The only guys wrestling in their usual weight class were Tyrique Dowdell (103), Daniel Salgado (112), John Lebron (135), Nate Collins (189), Nate Shea (215) and Jeff Barcher (285). Wrestling up a weight class were Peter Hager (125), Kadar St. Phard (130),Manny Ocasio (152), Anthony Brooks (160), and Anthony Williams (171). Filling in were Ellison Robinson at 119 and Kashaun Ruiz at 145. In the end the lineup just wasn't strong enough to defeat a very strong Franklin team.

This match marks the end of the dual meet season. The post season is rapidly coming to a close with D1 states this Friday and Saturday, All States next Friday and Saturday and the New England Championships the following Friday and Saturday. Central will be sending 8 wrestlers to the D1 state championships. They are Tyrique Dowdell (103), Daniel Salgado (112), Peter Hager (119), Bemnet Banks (140), Manny Ocasio (145), Anthony Brooks (152), Anthony Williams (160), and Nate Collins (189). The tournament starts this Friday with wrestling starting at 12:00 noon.