Nauset-Cape Tech Wrestling Takes Second At League Championship

NORTH EASTHAM – Nauset-Cape Tech wrestling junior Chase Matczynski had just pinned his Barnstable opponent in his final match of the Cape and Islands League Championship on Saturday when head coach James Rosato looked to the rest of the team.

“Who taught him that?” Rosato asked, wondering where Matczynski had learned the move he just used to win a crucial bout amid the multi-match faceoff between the two schools to decide the league winner.

As it turned out, senior captain Owen O’Reilly did, just two days prior. The move was a pin from a front headlock called “assassin.”

“I was just play-wrestling with him the other day, and I hit that move on him, and he was like, ‘Hold on, show me that,’” O’Reilly said. “And I taught it to him, and then I saw him setting it up when he was out there, and then he got him, and he pinned the kid with it. So that was super sick to see, like a move that I just taught him, he got and he mastered it, and he was able to pin his kid in a really tight match.”

The win by Matczynski put the Warriors ahead 24-18, though Barnstable eventually responded to win the matchup overall and capture the league championship, securing second place for Nauset-Cape Tech.

“I think we did really good,” O’Reilly said. “I'm really proud of everyone. It was a long season, tough season, but everyone wrestled as hard as they could. That's all I can ask of them. Everyone put 100 percent effort in, so I'm really proud of everyone, even though we lost that at the end. But it was close. We kept it close. We were in the fight for sure.”

Before falling to Barnstable in the final, Nauset-Cape Tech racked up wins inside their home gym Saturday against Falmouth (48-18), Sandwich (42-30) and Martha’s Vineyard (42-30). The Warriors also went 5-1 in dual meets this season.

Junior Chaz Thomas had a distinctly critical victory in the 190-pound class to extend Nauset-Cape Tech’s lead against Barnstable. Thomas trailed by points but hit a huge reversal to get the pin at the end of the match.

Sophomore Jack Peno, senior Duante Gray, senior Freddie Ricks, senior Sam DaSilva and O’Reilly also earned wins throughout the day.

“Everyone did pretty well,” Rosato said. “Other than a few mistakes that we're trying to shore up, I think everyone performed well.”

Next up for the Warriors is sectionals, then states.

“That’ll be cool just to see our improvement as a team,” O’Reilly said.