Marblehead Wrestler Medals at Baystate Games

The following article was written by Swampscott resident Bob Powell:

Sean Taylor of Marblehead and Jake Powell from Swampscott both took home wrestling medals in the 30^th annual summer Bay State Games last weekend.

Powell, 16, took third place in the scholastic wrestling competition in the 112-pound weight class, and Taylor, 18, of Marblehead took fourth place in the 285-pound weight class, or what is commonly referred to as the “heavies.”

Powell, wrestling for the Graybird Wrestling Club of Boston University, defeated Greg Gomperts of the Dungeon Wrestling Club 8-5 in the match that decided third and fourth place finishers. Powell was 4-1 over the two-day tournament that was held at the University of Massachusetts-Boston Clark Athletic Center July 8 and 9.

In his first match, Powell defeated Cody Brunelle 15-1, for a win by major decision. In his second match, Powell pinned Ben Defronzo in the second period, a win by fall. On Sunday, he lost 11-2 to the grappler who ultimately took first place in the 112-weight bracket, Chris Sullivan.

Taylor, who weighs 260 pounds and who also wrestles for the Graybird Wrestling Club, had to compete against some of the country’s top heavyweight wrestlers to claim his fourth place medal, with a 3-2 record over the two-day tournament.

His trip through the “heavies” went through the number two high school wrestler in the country, Terrance Jean Jacques, as well as his brother Corey. They were, somewhat predictably, Sean’s only losses. Taylor won his first match 3-0 against Darian Belizaire from Summit Wrestling in Framingham. He defeated Kevin Painten, 3-1, in his second match, winning at the 2:17 point of a running sudden death. Terrance Jacques pinned Taylor at 50 seconds in his third match. And then Taylor defeated Kevin Beane, 8-0, in his fourth match. In his fifth and final match, Taylor was up 4-1 against Corey Jacques, but Jacques reversed a roll to pin Taylor at 12 second of the second period.

Taylor and Powell are high-performance teammates on the Marblehead/Swampscott high schools, or what many call the “Black & Blue” wrestling team.

Because of their respective sizes, the two grapplers are fondly referred to as the “bookends” of the team. Both Taylor and Powell are expected to be among the top wrestlers in their weight classes in Massachusetts during the coming 2011-2012 season.

Powell will be a junior at Swampscott High School this fall and Taylor will be a junior at .