Pound for pound, the Silver Lake wrestling team proved they have some of the best wrestlers in the state.
Last weekend, many of the team’s wrestlers made the trek up to Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough to compete in the Division 2 State Wrestling meet. In order to make it that far, the wrestlers needed a top-6 performance in their respective weight class at the South Sectional meet the week before.
By the end of Saturday, the Lakers had advanced two wrestlers to All-States, which will take place this upcoming weekend at Reading Memorial High School.
Though they were underdogs headed in — a No. 7 and No. 16 seed respectively, Alec Snell (145) and Grant Laws (285) were able to each place sixth in their weight classes at the state meet.
Over the two days, Snell won three of his six matches in a tough bracket. Laws finished the bracket with the same record.
In all, the Lakers sent four wrestlers to states. Zachary McCarthy (106) and Gavin Hamilton (182) were the other two members of the team to compete. The two dropped both of their matches, but will likely have another shot at it next year as McCarthy is a freshman this season and Hamilton is a junior.
Overall, the Lakers accumulated 18 points at the meet, which tied them for 31st along with Wellesley.
The week before at sectionals, the Lakers came in seventh in the south bracket and had six top-6 finishers. Snell had the top performance, coming in second while McCarthy, Hamilton and Laws each came in fourth for their weight classes. Dan Walsh (113) wrestled his way to a fifth place finish at sectionals and Pat Ganley (120) came in sixth.
What stood out at states though is that Snell was able to beat Hingham’s RJ Harrington at 145 pounds in an 8-4 decision. Snell fell to Harrington in the sectional finals, so the win served as redemption for the Lakers.
If the Lakers have a top-6 performer at All-States, then they will advance to All-New England’s the following weekend.