Saunders, LaChapelle lead locals at state wrestling

Lucas Saunders of Compass School and Springfield's Matt LaChapelle ended their wrestling seasons with victories Saturday, each placing third at the VPA state championships.

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2017-02-27 / Sports Saunders, LaChapelle lead locals at state wrestling «» http://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/LaChap.jpghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/Saunders.jpghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/Snide.jpghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/Webster.jpghttp://www.eagletimes.com/sites/www.eagletimes.com/files/imagecache/full/Wallace.jpg By TIM TAYLOR sports@eagletimes.com VERGENNES, Vt. — Lucas Saunders of Compass School and Springfield's Matt LaChapelle ended their wrestling seasons with victories Saturday, each placing third at the VPA state championships. Saunders, competing as an independent at 106, edged Mt. Mansfield's Luke Bliss 3-2 in the consolation finals while LaChapelle turned back Josh Beayon of Otter Valley, 6-4, in the 170-pound bout. Also finishing on a winning note was Bellows Falls' DJ Snide, who placed fifth at 195. Saunders would face a familiar foe in the third-place bout when he took on Mt. Mansfield's Luke Bliss. Saunders pinned Bliss in 4:37 in Friday's quarterfinals, but the rematch wouldn't be quite as easy. Still, he would prevail, 3-2. Saunders would face top-seeded Hunter Verge of St. Johnsbury in the semifinals and lost by fall in 2:29. In the consolation semifinals he made quick work of Champlain Valley's Jacob Graveline, scoring a pin in 1:28. For LaChapelle, it was the end of a day full of grueling battles. It started with an 8-4 semifinal loss to Mt. Anthony's Austin Pendergast. LaChapelle would twice tie the match before falling behind 6-4 late in the second period and giving up a late takedown in the third. The Cosmo grappler came back to outlast Mt. Abraham's Dylan Little 11-8 to set up a clash of 22 -match winners with Beayon. After a scoreless opening period, LaChapelle would score an escape in the second, then add a takedown 30 seconds into the third period for a 3-0 lead. Beayon came back with a quick reversal, then gave LaChapelle an intentional escape and a 4-2 lead. With 52 seconds remaining in the match LaChapelle added another takedown. He gave up a stalling point and an escape, cutting his lead to 6-4, but fended off Beayon over the final 25 seconds for the win. It was a much different day than the tournament's opening day, Friday, for LaChapelle. He drew a first-round bye then won by injury default in the quarterfinals after Mill River's Caleb Elliott was injured winning his first match. Snide defeated Harwood's Alick Lord for the second time in the tourney to take fifth, scoring a fall in 1:38 in his final high school match. He had beaten Lord 11-4 Friday to advance to the semis, where he lost to top seed and eventual champion Jacob Griggs of Champlain Valley in 4:50. Snide lost by fall in 44 seconds to St. Alban's Ki Tedford in the consolation semis. Springfield had a pair of sixth-place finishers in Skylar Wallace at 220 and Jayson Webster at 285. Webster went 1-3 on the weekend, pinning Spaulding's Nathan Gueidon in 1:34 in the quarterfinals. Wallace went 0-3. The Cosmos' Mo Stettner fell one win shy of pacing, going 2-2 on the weekend. She edged Burr & Burton's Kole Blanchard 5-3 in the opening round, then dropped a 15-0 technical fall to top seed and eventual champ Daniel Bliss of Mt. Mansfield in the quarterfinals. In the consolation bracket, Stettner pinned Vergennes' Troy Provencher in 3:42 before ending her high school career with an 8-4 loss to Mt. Abraham's Gary Conant. The state tournament was a good learning experience for several of the Cosmos wrestlers. In addition to LaChapelle, Wallace and Webster, Trent Lewis-Briere (126), Gillian Guy (138), Tim Bapp-Cederholm (145), Brandon Bennett (152), Mason Olney (182) and Matt Prosser (195) gained valuable state tournament experience they could use next season. Bapp-Cederholm and Olney would record first-period falls along the way.