RallyNorth.net

Methuen and St. John's Prep recorded a pair of All-State champions apiece yesterday at Salem High School. Christian Monserrat and Paul Sughrue became three-time titlists for the Rangers while North Andover's Ian Butterbrodt and Haverhill's Corey Jean-Jacques were victorious for the Eagles.

Brooks junior Andrew Konovalchik of North Andover placed sixth at the Prep School Nationals at Lehigh University. The talented 160-pounder went 4-3 in the two-day competiton. In the consolation quarterfinals he beat Blair Academy's highly touted Jack Wedholm at the buzzer on an ankle pick to earn a takedown and win a 6-5 decision.

NEWTON CENTRE — When you've never lost to a Massachusett opponent in your high school career, even a state divisional title can leave a guy a bit jaded.

"Basically, it's just another tournament," Methuen junior Christian Monserrat said after winning his third consecutive Division 1 championship yesterday at Newton South High School. "It's another step toward my goal of winning New Englands."

Qualifying for another All State tournament on Saturday at Salem High School, Monserrat remained undefeated on the season with a workmanlike 21-3 technical fall over DJ Lemiux of St. John's Prep for the 126-pound crown. Monserrat is now 50-0 on the season and 148-2 for his career. His only two losses have been in the New England finals the past two years.

For the tournament, Monserrat had three technical falls and a pin, but not even being undefeated against state foes gets Monserrat worked up at this point of his stellar career.

And it certainly doesn't alter his focus.

"It's a good accomplishment, but I'm just trying to stay unbeaten and trying to achieve my most-prized goal which is to win New Englands," he said. "Losing (the past two years) just makes me work harder and want to beat everyone mentall and physically and to put pressure on everyone else.

"Actually I think of myself as the underdog. I have to go into (a match) with the mindset of dominating and trying to kill everyone, but you can't get too cocky. You have to come out and stay humble to accomplish your goals smoothly."

Not to be outdone, teammate Paul Sughrue also won his third consecutive divisional crown with a tough 5-1 decision over Framingham's Johnny Do. Sughrue, 48-1 on the year, led 4-1 after the first period then after an escape late in the second, he held off Do's takedown attempt the final 10 seconds of the period.

And like his younger mate, the Methuen senior remains set on just one ending.

"It's another step closer to my dream of being a New England champ," said Sughrue, who registered two technical falls and a major decision in earlier matches. "I have to train harder every day. I can't take a day off."

The youngsters might not see the bigger picture at this stage of their careers, but Methuen coach Bill James knows how special his stars are.

"They have big goals, and it's fun to coach kids like that who want to be the best," he said. "They both have had great accomplishments, and they're two of the greatest wrestlers we've had in our program."

In arguably the night's most exciting match, North Andover's Ian Butterbrodt of St. John's Prep scored all his points in the final 27 seconds to defeat Haverhill's Sami Al-Ziad 3-2 for the 220-pound crown. Al-Ziad, who dropped an 8-1 decision to Butterbrodt in the north sectional final, took the lead on a takedown with 25 seconds left in the first. Butterbrodt, who had the up position in the final frame, picked up a stalling point with 27 seconds remaining then turned the Haverhill sophomore and picked up two back points with a mere five seconds left.

MARSHFIELD — North Andover's "Fabulous Five,' as they were called in the North Sectional last week, delivered again yesterday at the Division 2 state tournament.

The Knights sent five wrestlers to the finals and all five came away with individual titles, lifting the team past sectional champ Winchester for the state crown.

In Division 3 competition at Wakefield, Lynnfield/North Reading sent Eric Kerr (113) and Tom Arsenault (220) to the semis while Pentucket advanced Tom Funk (120), Josh Wesolowski (132) and Jeff Funk (145). 

North Andover stands in second place with 73.5 points, just behind Winchester's 76, but is sending six wrestlers into the Division 2 semifinals. Danielle Coughlin (106), Peter Taylor (113), Zane Melillo (132), Fritz Hoehn (152), Brad Drover (160) and Ryan Neals (182) will all battle today for state championships at Marshfield High School.

Lawrence's Sonily Pena provided the Cinderella story in Day 1 of the Division 1 state wrestling tourney at Newton South.

As the 13th seed at 132 pounds, Pena pinned South champion Guillermo Novao of New Bedford in 2:59 then stopped Lincoln-Sudbury's Jake Galligani — Central runner-up — in 1:07 to make the semis.

 








WINDHAM – Chris Ferri had just won his first state wrestling champion. But, remarkably, that’s not what left the Windham senior most excited.


“It means a lot to win,” Ferri said after a convincing 8-1 182-pound decision over John Stark’s Alex Lavalliere. “But I knew if I’d won, Windhamwould’ve clinched it. That was very important”


In this case, it just happened to be the Jaguars’ second consecutive Division III state title, which came one year after the wrestlers claimed the school’s first-ever championship in any sport.


Windham, which trailed John Stark by five points heading into the medal round, received wins in three of its five championship matches and another three third-place bouts to finish with 164 points – three more than they compiled a year ago.


John Stark was second at 153 while Plymouth with 145 was the only other school with more than 67 points.


Other Windham champions last night were seniors Jeff Armstrong at 113 and 138-pounder Dylan Swiderski.


Ferri, who improved on last year’s second-place finish, wasn’tthe only Jaguar to come up big against a John Stark opponent. Armstrong, a 106-pound champ as a junior, won his second straight title by pinning his Generals’ rival in 3:39. Windham also had a huge consolation win from 195-pound senior Corey Alberico, who defeated John Starks’ Al Long 10-3.


Windham got second-place finishes from Zach Sprague (120 pounds) and David Crichton (heavyweight) while freshman Peter Caron (106) and junior Devin Marino (126) also qualified for New Hampshire’s Meet of Champions with third-place finishes.


Sanborn’s Jon Scheidegger once again provided the most impressive showing by an area wrestler with three pins in a total of 3:10 to claim his third straight state title and second consecutive at 152. The senior, who looks to improve on second-place finishes at the Meet of Champions and New Englands, needed only 86 seconds to get past Plymouth’s James Nolan in the finals. It also marked his ninth tournament title of the season.


“Any wrestling match is still exciting,” said Scheidegger, who remained perfect on the season at 38-0 and raised his career mark to 141-32. “But there’s definitely more pressure on me (than three years ago). I haven’t lost yet, and it puts a bigger target on my back. I feel like I should be winning every match. Now I’ve got to win state’s next week.”


The only other local champion was Pelham junior Jared Boyden, who claimed the 106-pound title by pinning Winnisquam’s Login Patten in 1:50.

Other area wrestlers to advance to the Meet of Championswere Sanborn junior Tristan Leek (second at 138) and Pelham senior Matt Blanchard (third at 182).

.Timberlane made it 14 straight Division 1 titles as the Owls rolled up 233 points to easily beat runner-up Pinkerton with 146.

Eric Kerr won the title at 113 and grabbed his 100th career win in the process to highlight Lynnfield-North Reading's championship at the 11-team Division 3 North sectional. The top North Reading High athlete was Joe Morse, who took third at 106.