Gonzalez reaches state final
Woonsocket senior helps Novans finish off best season in program history with trip to 170-pound title match
PROVIDENCE — Woonsocket senior Rogelio Gonzalez personifies the growth of the Villa Novan wrestling program over the last four seasons.
When Gonzalez was a freshman, the Novans went just 6-11 in dual meets and scored just 40 points on their way to a 19th-place finish at states.
Gonzalez continued to work on his craft; he was a junior-varsity state champion as a sophomore and came up a win short of earning a medal at the state meet last season. In his final opportunity to reach the podium, Gonzalez helped the Novans earn their best finish in school history.
The quiet captain ground out three close victories to reach the 170-pound state title match against La Salle’s Jacob Harrison Saturday night. Gonzalez earned an escape late in the third period to send the match to overtime. The Novan nearly won the match with his signature move – a throw by to an ankle pick – but Harrison avoided the takedown and recorded his own moments later to secure a 3-1 sudden-victory win.
“Coming a match away from placing last year to the finals this year, great improvement,” Gonzalez said after receiving his medal. “I like how I took it one match at a time and I didn’t overlook anybody – just wrestled. Obviously, he was way bigger than me, but I didn’t let that bother me.”
“Unbelievable match,” Woonsocket coach Matt Morrow said. “To be able to stand up late in the third period and take it to overtime and nearly get a takedown in the championship match is great. He still has one more week to go and I’m so proud of him. He never got a medal before and he was in the state final. This is truly special.”
Gonzalez isn’t the only Villa Novan returning to the Providence Career & Technical Academy Friday night to compete at New Englands because fellow senior Elijah McDowell followed Morrow’s gameplan by winning four matches to make his second trip to New En- glands as the Novans finished ninth with 77.5 points.
While Ponaganset secured its first team title with 196 points and three champions, the Novans were the second-best D-II team behind II-A champion Hope, which crowned a state champion to finish seventh with 88.5 points.
“I’m very proud of all the underclassmen and all of my fellow seniors who helped this team go 14-1 and have this outcome at the state tournament with four medals,” Gonzalez said. “I couldn’t be happier.”
Gonzalez and Harrison each received trophies for competing in the best finals match, but the opening two minutes were a cagey affair with the Ram trying to use his power to bully Gonzalez, while the Villa Novan tried to use Harrison’s aggressiveness as an opportunity to score a takedown.
Harrison earned an escape early in the second period and he rode Gonzalez for over 90 seconds in the third before Gonzalez escaped to send the match to overtime. Gonzalez got behind Harrison early in overtime, but he couldn’t put him to the mat for the match-winning takedown before Harrison responded with a takedown to claim the title.
“When I wrapped up his knees I thought he was going to go to his butt for two, but then he ended up picking up and swinging behind me,” Gonzalez said. “It was an unfortunate turn out. Yes, that’s how I wanted to wrestle that match. Now, I need to keep the momentum going into New Englands and try to place there.”
McDowell, a state finalist last season, ran into eventual state champion Seth Brown of Coventry in the semifinals. The Villa Novan dropped a 9-0 decision, but the gameplan all along was to win four matches and reach New Englands. McDowell pinned Smithfield’s D.J. Lombardo in just 74 seconds before earning a satisfying victory over Hope’s Darnell Dunston in the consolation final.
Dunston defeated McDowell in overtime in a controversial match two weeks ago, but Saturday night the Novan earned an 11-5 decision to keep his season alive.
“We wanted him to win four matches and finish one hell of a career at New Englands,” Morrow said. “We’ll see what happens there.”
McDowell became the second wrestler in school history to reach 100 wins and the next member of that prestigious group – which also features 2016 state champion Julien Jerez – might be junior Jordan Dutcher. The 120-pounder only lost to one wrestler over the weekend, as he dropped an 8-6 overtime decision to Cranston West freshman Chris Gomez and then a 3-2 decision to Gomez in the consolation final. Gomez defeated Dutcher five times this season.
Senior Mouhamed Seck finished sixth after advancing to the 220-pound semifinals. Following a loss to state champion Reuben Hancock, Seck suffered a pair of defeats in the consolation bracket to finish sixth.