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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Before the season, it didn’t seem possible. Even yesterday morning, it didn’t seem likely that a young Timberlane squad could overcome heavily-favored Mount Anthony to capture an unprecedented fifth straight New England title. But it’s apparently not wise to doubt the Owls. Led by senior star Zach Bridson, who defeated summer training partner Christian Monserrat of Methuen in a dramatic 113-pound final for a second New England title, and with terrific contributions from senior Luke Morrier and junior Adam Corey, Timberlane stormed to 77 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Daniel Hand of Conn. (68 1/2) and Mount Anthony of Vermont (67) in third.

A trio of Lawrence wrestlers advanced to the second day of the All-State tournament. Hector Reynoso (106), Marionel Garcia (180) and Janer Reyes (heavyweight) all advanced to Day 2.

LOWELL — Methuen made perfection seem quite easy yesterday at the Division 1 dual-meet championships.

The Rangers completed an unblemished 20-0 season in rousing fashion, first by defeating Springfield Central 33-22 in the semifinals before disposing of nearby rival St. John's Prep 36-20 for the state championship.

WEYMOUTH‑ Methuen didn’t have the most entries at the Division 1 state tournament but with three titles, the Rangers left with the most champions.

Sophomore Christian Monserrat (113 pounds), junior Paul Sughrue (126) and senior C.J. Doherty (145) each capped off four-match runs in the weight classes en route to first-place finishes yesterday at Weymouth High School. Each won for at least the second straight time. Both Monserrat and Sughrue will be gunning for their second straight All-State title in two weeks.

CHELMSFORD — The third time was no ho-hum affair for Methuen senior C.J. Doherty here last night.
The standout 145-pounder captured his third Division 1 North sectional crown, but this one was special, and particularly enjoyable, for a couple of reasons.
First, by dominating Shawsheen’s Brian Ward in the finals with a 15-0 technical fall, Doherty proved that his lone setback of the season, last week in the finals of the Methuen Tournament, may have been a fluke.
And, more to the point, winning an individual sectional title is much more fun when your teammates can join in the celebration.
Doherty was one of four champions and one of 10 Rangers overall (top four placers) who qualified for Saturday’s Division 1 state meet at Weymouth. Methuen captured its second straight sectional crown with 223 1/2 points.
St. John’s Prep was second with 184, edging Lawrence by one point while Chelmsford was fourth in the 14-team field with 165.
The top four teams qualify for the Division 1 dual-meet state tournament, which will be held at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell Feb. 19-20. Methuen, with a 17-0 dual record, will likely be the top seed.
“It makes the season a lot more fun when you have 13 others on your team who want to win and so many are going on,” said Doherty. “I like knowing the team is there for me and I want to be there for the team.”
Doherty was certainly there yesterday, determined to wipe away any memory from last week.
“I didn’t come out (in the finals last week) as I could have,” said Doherty, who improved to 28-1. “I’ll use that experience so no one can touch me again.”
Remaining undefeated on the year were 113-pounder Christian Monserrat and 126-pounder Paul Sughrue. Monserrat (29-0), for the second time this year, fell two points behind St. John’s of Shrewsbury’s Peter Robinson before recovering for a 6-2 decision. Sughrue (34-0) pinned St. John’s Jared Costa in the second period.
Costa, the son of head coach Manny Costa, lost for only the second time all year.
Joining the terrific trio with a gold medal was 160-pounder Jack Khoury. He prevailed in the surprise weight class of the tournament, defeating Andover’s Nick Marcotte 6-2 in the finals to improve to 26-5.
Finishing second for the Rangers was 182-pounder Scott DelRossi, who lost a tough match to MVC foe Marionel Garcia of Lawrence, 6-4. Garcia had a reverse and takedown in the third period to improve to 34-3, while DelRossi dropped to 30-3.
Taking third for the Rangers was 120-pounder Sarith Has, who beat Haverhill’s Orlando Rojas for the second time on the day, 6-0, and 132-pounder Anthony Andronaco. Jason Pendergast (138), Ryan Savastano (152) and heavyweight Anthony Giorgio — in his first tourney action of the year since returning last week from an injury — all took fourth.
“We had a lot of good stuff happen for us today,” said Methuen coach Bill James, who was named the Division 1 North Coach of the Year. “To have 10 guys going to State is a really great day.”
Lawrence had three champions and the Lancers served notice that they’ll be formidable attempting to defend as dual-meet state champions. In addition to Garcia, Hector Reynoso prevailed at 106, defeating St. John’s Prep’s Louis Bornstein in the finals, and 132-pounder Edgardo Rios had his fourth pin of the day in the finals to complete a banner day.
Finishing second for the Lancers was heavyweight Janer Reyes, who dropped a 1-0 decision in the finals to Chelmsford’s Lou Ferrer. They had split matches during the regular season.
Adrian Sosa was third at 138 for Lawrence, pinning Pendergast in the consolation finals, while Mike Mena was fourth at 220.
Parris Williams finished third at 152 for Haverhill while Andover freshman Tyler Ferris was third at 106.
Westford 120-pounder Connor Peacock was named the tourney Outstanding Wrestler.

Methuen's wrestling team (17-0) wrapped up the Merrimack Valley Conference title and its first unbeaten dual-meet season in at least 25 years with a 42-21 victory over Central Catholic. Heavyweight Anthony Giorgio, who got hurt in the first meet of the season, returned for a 5-4 decisionwhile Christian Monserrat remained unbeaten with a first-period pin at 113. C.J. Doherty and Scott DelRossi also had first-period falls.  

The unbeaten Methuen wrestling team (16-0) clinched at least a tie for the Merrimack Valley Conference crown with a 43-23 win over Chelmsford (16-3). Mike Mouawad had the fastest of five first-period pins for the Rangers with a 1:22 fall at 145 pounds.

Methuen head wrestling coach Bill James picked up his 300th career win as the unbeaten Rangers (13-0) — sparked by a pin from freshman 106-pounder Cuong Nguyen — defeated Billerica 54-21. James, who also coached at Ipswich, Hamilton-Wenham, Bishop Guertin and Nashua, is 183-52-1 in 11 years at Methuen.

Methuen came out of the gate fast in its 48-18 wrestling win over Lowell as freshman Cuong Nguyen authored an impressive first-period pin to kick-start a crushing run of 11 straight Ranger victories.

Methuen completed a banner holiday season for local wrestling teams by capturing the Framingham Tournament for the second straight year.

Led by New England finalists Christian Monserrat, Paul Sughrue and C.J. Doherty, all of whom were repeat champions, the Rangers finished with 223 points in the 21-team field, comfortably ahead of runner-up Cumberland, R.I. (199 1/2) and Framingham (192).