RallyNorth.net

NORTH ANDOVER — When you get to this stage of the year, it doesn't matter how you finish things off. Not as long as you cap the season with a title on the biggest of stages.

Dylan Barreiro's last victory of the campaign might not have been the prettiest, but the Pinkerton junior will now always have the tag of 195-pound New England champion.

Trailing 1-0 entering the final period, Barreiro took advantage of penalty points — one for stalling and another for starting before the whistle — to pull out a 3-1 win over Connecticut champ Khamri Thomas.

"He was backing up on me," said Barreiro, who ran his season record to 46-0. "He has a defensive style, and I have an offensive style, so I kept pushing the pace."

In the final, Barreiro tied the bout with 1:19 remaining and picked up the point for Thomas stalling shortly after. After avoiding being taking down with 6 seconds left, Barreiro received the final point when Thomas broke for a quick takedown before the whistle with 5 seconds remaining.

"It was a heck of a day overall," said Barreiro, who will take a 113-14 record into his senior season. "Once I got to the semis, I knew I just had to keep going and keep going. But with (Thomas') defensive style, I knew the championship would be low scoring."

In earlier matches, Barreiro opened action with a pin in 76 seconds followed by major decision scores of 11-1 in the quarters and 14-6 in the semifinals.

"Confidence is my game," Barreiro said. "I've been training and working my (butt) off, and now I finally got to my goal."

Butterbrodt finishes in style

Two-time defending champion and St. John's Prep senior Ian Butterbrodt, a North Andover native, capped his sterling career with a pin in 1:49 of Mt. Anthony's Jack Luciano at 220 pounds.

"My goal is always the same, at least at any good tournament," Butterbrodt replied when asked if he prepared any differently for this weekend. "My coach tells me to go to a room ... tell your family to stay away, so I won't see all the T-shirts with 'Team Butterbrodt' on them."

It was the third time Butterbrodt bested Luciano. The first meeting was a 1-0 decision, but the second outing was a prelude to the third.

"He's a tough kid," Luciano said. "I've wrestled him a couple times and given him a pretty decent match, but he's just so tough. Going out I knew what to expect, but I was really hoping for something more than I put out.

Finishing his high-school career as the state's all-time leader in victories with 223, Butterbrodt recorded earlier decisions over the Connecticut and Maine champions before routing the Vermont champ in the finals.

Other area placers

In one of the top consolation comebacks, defending New England champ Jean-Luc Lemieux of Londonderry rallied from an opening-round upset to the fifth-place finisher from Massachusetts to finish fourth at 138. Lemieux had won five consolation matches, including four pins en route to a 5-3 loss to the Rhode Island champ.

"Overall, I don't think (yesterday) was that bad," said Lemieux, who finished the year 49-5 one year after a 50-0 finish. "I didn't expect to do well after my first match, so just placing today was good for me."

Brian Lonergan of Timberlane, who lost in the semis, also rebounded to finish fourth at 182.

Another semifinal casualty was Pentucket's Josh Wesolowski, who finished fifth after a 10-8 victory over

"In the back of my mind, I knew this was going to be my last high school wrestling match," Wesolowski said. "I have all my coaches and family here, so I knew I had to get a win. I just did what I had to."

Another fifth-place finish went to Richard Bilodeau of Londonderry, who scored a 6-3 decision over Dan Wensley of Wakefield.

NASHUA — Before the season, Timberlane boasted three impressive streaks in New Hampshire — consecutive dual-meet wins (95), Division 1 state crowns (15) and Meet of Champions titles (11).

Jon Ferri won an individual state championship in the 220 weight class to help Windham take second place at the Division 2 state meet.

"He wrestled at 182 for most of the year but it was better for our team if he went up two weights," said coach Tom Darrin. Ferri finished in second place in the 182 weight class last year at this same meet.

Windham's wrestling team put some of the finishing touches on another excellent dual-meet season (16-5) with a 60-14 romp over Merrimack. Bailey Alton (160) and Jon Ferri (182) both had pins in the first minute for the Jaguars. 

Pinkerton had three champions crowned on its way to finishing fourth at the Capital Classic in Concord, which was won by Bishop Hendricken, R.I.

Placing first for the Astros were Shayne McCann (113), Tyler Wilson (160) and undefeated Dylan Barreiro (195). Joey Lydick (220) and Deene Hill (285) both came in third.

Sam Cavallaro, Peter Caron and Vinnie Marino all won both matches at the start of the lineup but that wasn't enough for Windham, which settled for a split, whipping Campbell (53-27) but falling to Division 1 poer Concord (46-24).

Windham thought that it might struggle a buit in the heavier weights this year, but the Jaguars have done the opposite 

In Saturday's sweep of a home quad meet against Bishop Guertin (51-12)m Salem (47-21) and Tewksbury (48-21), five players from 160 pounds to heavyweight were unbeaten with Bailey Alton, Brennan French, Jon Ferri and heavyweight Jean Mazraani all going 3-0. Impressive 220-pounder Patrick Hume was 2-0.

Windham's wrestling team remained undefeated with a quad-meet sweep and one of its wins was 44-22 over Reading, the former team coached by head coach Tom Darrin. and Adam Messina, Jon Ferri and Mike Tanguay were all 3-0 on the day for the Jaguars (5-0).

Freshmen Adam Messina at 120 and Marc Bedient at 126 had back-to-back first minute pins to highlight Windham's 30-0 wrestling win over undermanned Manchester West.

Central Catholic gave an encouraging performance at the Blue Devil Classic in Salem, but perennial champion Concord overtook the Raiders down the stretch for the title of the 11-team tournament.