Last week, Martha’s Vineyard High School wrestling team was named Cape and Island League champions.
The victory over Barnstable was the first in the program since Varsity’s reestablishment last year after decades of inactivity. The three-school competition had plenty of dramatic drama, leading up to the final heavyweight match. Vineyard Xander Laiacona decided Barnstable’s Maxwell Fernandez 4-3 for his first varsity victory.
Towards the final match, Odin Robinson was 3-0 in each match with each other, and Jordan Souza also pinned his opponents and set up the Vineyarders to bring home the title. Additionally, Isaac Lefebvre and Xeandre Miller each won the match with a pin after initially scoring points.
Senior Scarlet Marino on the free throw line. – Tim Johnson
Meanwhile, the Cape and Island League indoor track championship saw several vineyard athletes on the podium at each event.
Madison Mello earned top honors and threw a shot, finishing first place at 34’05.25, more than three feet above runner-up. Silver medalists include Louis Costa, with the boys 4×200 relay team consisting of Enzo Ray, Lucas Martins, George McDau, Costa and Reis in the 600-meter hurdle at 1:28.5 and 55-meter hurdle at 8.41. It ended at 1:41.46.
Other winners were Broden Vincent, who finished third in the mile at 5:12.94, and Arjuna Begle, who finished fifth in the 1000m at 3:33.19.
The swim team continued to roll it at the South Sectional Championship on Sunday at MIT in Cambridge. The competition began with the 200-yard Medley Relay Squad by Grady Stalgren, Michael Calheta, Kaua de Assis and Ronan Mullin, and had to drop three seconds from the time to compete in the state championship. Stalgren finished at 1:49.13 with a 28.28 backstroke, Calheta A 32.95 breast milk, Mullin A 25.08 fly split and De Assis A 22.82 fleece split, setting a new school record.
Freshman Carlotta Roberts brings in a ball-up court. – Tim Johnson
Mullin then set a new individual school record with 100 flys of 100 seconds at 55.37. Soon he had to return to the pool and start a 200 free relay team and drop over a second and a half to compete in the state championship. He finished his leg at 24.38, then Moses Thompson at 25.09, Anthony Pruciano at 24.99 and De Assis took them home at 23.08 with a total of 1:37.54 and hit the qualifying mark.
“Overall, it was a great day for this boys team. They worked really hard and it paid off,” coach Jen Pasafeem said.
The boys scored 21 points, taking 26th out of 41 teams. This is the best vineyard has ever had a section. Next is the state championship this weekend at Boston University.
Last week, the boys basketball team began stretching five consecutive road games before their final home conflict with Greater Lowell Tech to end the season. They defeated Cape Cod Academy 66-61 and Christray Boston 42-31 in their seventh and eighth victory of the season. They need to secure at least two more wins to punch tickets to the playoff tournament.
The women’s team also entered the final stretch of the season, earning their sixth and seventh victory over Cape Cod Academy 54-41 and Monomoi 50-38. In a clash with Cape Cod Academy, Agatalo Driguez led the vineyard to the victory with 27 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steels and three blocks.
There is still a chance for the girls to make the playoffs, and a victory over Monomoi will give them good momentum going forward. Nantucket then comes to the vineyard for a tip-off on Sunday at 1pm. Then on Monday, the girls will go to Nantucket and play the whaling ship again on Wednesday before finishing the regular season at San John Paul II and Hyannis.
The Girls Hockey team recently involved three wins, surpassing their opponents 17-4 with two shutouts. Most recently, they scored 6-0 against Barnstable with two goals: Elle Mone, Abby Geary, Ava Mikos, Colby D’Arcy and Mackenna Metell.
Dennis Yarmouth beaten 6-4, with Mikos and each on the lamp twice. Geary and Hannah Wannsiewicz also took part in the scoring action. And finally, another shutout victory for Nauset, Metell, D’Arcy, Geary, Mikos and Mone, all netting the pack for the vineyard.
With the league title within impressive distance, the girls have four games left to win the crown. Their next home game will face Marshfield on Saturday at 3pm
After beating Nantucket 4-1 last week, the boys hockey team recently dropped some intimate teams as they fight to find their footing. However, Adrian Albergiani scored two goals as Hunter Johnson and Griffin Callahan added insurance against the whaling ship.
At home this weekend, the Vineyarders will play Dovershireborn at 7pm on Saturday, playing either Lynfield or Essex Tech on Sunday. The pack drop time for that game has not been determined yet.
