TURNERS FALLS — It was about as good of an opening to the dual meet season as the Franklin Tech wrestling team could have hoped for. 

Hosting Hampshire Regional on Wednesday night, the Eagles found themselves tied at 30 after Hampshire's Luke Johndrow secured a pin at 165 pounds. Tech went on to take the next four matches however, scoring two via pin and two wins via forfeit, to pull away with a 54-30 victory. 

“It’s our first dual so it’s nice to win in front of people I know,” Tech's Atlithonatiu Gonzalez Jayne said. “It’s nice to get a win in general. I smile a lot but coming off that mat is the greatest feeling in the world. It’s the hardest I’ve smiled all day.” 

Of the 14 weight classes, eight were contested on Wednesday with Franklin Tech winning five of them. 

After Hampshire went up 12-0 via forfeit, Eagle Carsten Couture put Tech on the board by pinning Raider Nikita Bukhouk 51 seconds into the first period. 

Getting a win in front of the home fans was something Couture said fired him up. 

“It’s great getting a win during a home meet, ”Couture said. “We wanted to make a statement. We think we’re going to have a pretty good team this year.” 

Franklin Tech’s Landon Purington secured a pin over Tristan Somes with eight seconds left in the first at 132, and at 138, Eagle Camryn Laster pinned Ethan Moulton 31 seconds into the match. 

At 175 Franklin Tech’s Jackson Morey came up with a pin with 47 seconds remaining in the first period against Gavin Gorman, while Gonzalez Jayne closed things out by earning a pin 36 seconds into his match against Sam Matthews at 215. 

With a young group, Gonzalez Jayne said he’s hoping to see his team continue to grow and develop during the remainder of the season. 

“We’re a young team and we’re getting our numbers up,” Gonzalez Jayne said. “We have the talent. Now it’s about putting the hard work and effort in. We've been doing that in practice and it’s showing on the mat.” 

Hampshire’s Taylan McColgan and Eagle Maxon Brunette wrestled in one of two matches that reached the second period. Trailing 2-1 after two minutes, McColgan flipped the tide and picked up a pin 28 seconds into the second period to give the Raiders their first win of the day. 

At 150 Hampshire’s Adin Clifford took a 5-0 lead over Wyatt Whitman after two minutes before closing things out with a pin 46 seconds into the second period. Johndrow had the final win of the day for the Raiders, pinning Ian Doyle 54 seconds into their match at 165. 

With this being the first match of the year, Couture said he’s hoping this is the first of many victories for the Eagles. 

“We just want to keep winning our matches,” Couture said. “We want to keep winning. That’s always the goal.” 

Mohawk Trail 22, Gateway 21 — Mohawk Trail's Logan Moore picked up a 12-4 victory over Lucas Gilbert for the Warriors' lone win on the day, but it was enough to allow the Warriors to walk away with a victory in Buckland on Wednesday. 

Daniel Gougeon and Wade Purington also competed for Mohawk Trail, which won enough matches via forfeit to secure the dual victory.

Frontier 48, Northampton 24 — The Redhawks won all six matches that took place to walk away with a victory over the Blue Devils at Goodnow Gymnasium on Wednesday. 

Ber Calhoun opened things up with a pin over Leif Knechel at 113. Jocelyn Antes then secured a second period pin over Ezequiel Torres at 120 before Wyatt Finch pinned Jesse Boudreau 46 seconds into the match at 132. 

Konnor James pinned Kiichi Como in the second period at 150, Edward Mieczkowski followed that with a second period pin over Robert Slysz at 175 before Javion Cabrera closed things out with a first period pin over Cam Richardson at 285.

Girls basketball

Frontier 39, Amherst 31 — Whitney Campbell led the way with 10 points while Hailey Hutkoski tossed in eight points and swiped five steals, helping the Redhawks secure a key road win over the Hurricanes on Wednesday. 

Frontier led 21-8 at the half. 

Olivia Machon (six points), Claire Kirkendall (five points) and Skyler Steele (three points, 10 steals, five assists) helped Frontier earn the win.

Lenox 62, Mahar 35 — The Millionaires defense held the Senators to three points in the first quarter and just nine in the second quater, allowing them to take a 29-12 lead at the half which led to a victory in Orange on Wednesday. 

Nevaeh Scribner knocked down four 3’s to finish with 14 points, Hayden Comeau tallied 10 points, Irati Martinez scored seven points while Alivia Patch added three points for Mahar. 

Reniassance 54, Franklin Tech 35 – The Eagles dropped their first game of the season on Wednesday night in Springfield.

Franklin Tech (3-1) trailed 15-5 after one quarter but still found itself in the game entering the fourth. Down 36-29 in the final quarter however, the Eagles were outscored 18-6 to put the game out of reach.

Kyra Goodell led the Eagles with nine points, while Hannah Gilbert followed with seven points and Lea Chapman added five points and 16 rebounds.