WAKEFIELD — Despite filling out only 10 of 14 weight classes, the Lynnfield/North Reading wrestling team finished strong Saturday at the 19th Annual Anthony Lisitano Memorial Wrestling Tournament at Wakefield High School, placing ninth out of 17 teams.
Junior captain Timothy Leggett was the Pioneers’ top performer, winning the gold medal at 132 pounds.
Leggett barely broke a sweat in his first three bouts with one first period pin (3:27) and two second period pins (1:13, 3:09) en route to the championship match against Arlington’s Taisei Akatsu. With a 10-9 lead in the third period, Leggett pinned Akatsu just 32 seconds into the final period to clinch the victory.
“He almost pinned me twice and was definitely the toughest match I had all day,” said Leggett, who failed to place last year. “But I had my chance in the third period and threw him for the pin, but it was a challenging match. It feels great to come out on top.”
Junior captain Sean McCullough placed third at 182 pounds. He was eliminated in the semifinals of the championship bracket in a very close match by Pentucket’s Jason Young, who took a 2-1 decision. McCullough rebounded to win the third place match against Methuen’s Anthony Romano, pinning Romano in 54 seconds.
Junior captain Stuart Glover placed fourth at 126 pounds. He lost his first round championship match to eventual winner, Troy Forgitano (pin, 1:37), but worked his way through the consolation bracket with two wins before dropping the third-place match to Wakefield’s Nick Roberto by a 4-2 decision.
Junior Greg Camier also placed. He was eliminated from the championship bracket in the semifinals by eventual winner, Derek DiMascio of Wakefield in 52 seconds, then dropped the match for fifth to Wakefield’s Nathan Ickes (pin, 4:31).
Nik Marotta (8th place, 170 pounds), Gerry Callagy (8th place, 195 pounds) and sophomore Christian Real-Costa (8th place, 106 pounds) also placed.
“It was good team effort today,” said Leggett. “We were missing some weight classes, but of the matches we did wrestle, everyone wrestled really well.”