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READING — Area wrestlers claimed three individual all-state titles here yesterday.

One came relatively easy.

Another was a little tougher.

But the third might have come with a very heavy price.

Methuen's Darius Franklin opened the second period of a scoreless 182-pound classic between longtime rivals with a quick move to his feet from the down position. But Lowell nemesis and top-seed Malik Settles immediatley brought the sixth-seeded Franklin back to the mat.

Unfortunately, Franklin's head bounced hard off the mat after the ferocious slam, leaving the Ranger senior on his stomach near the center of the mat.

And there he remained motionless except for some movement in his left leg until paramedics arrived, rolled him onto a stretcher about a half hour later and wheeled him to an awaiting ambulance.

"Thery're taking him to I think Winchester Hospital to be evaluated," said concerned Methuen coach Bill James. "Obviously it is an unfortunate situation. (Settles) lifted him up and kind of lost control and landed him in an awkward position.

"I think he was ( unconscious) for a period of time and obviously he wasn't moving for a bit. Beyond that, it's up to the doctors to tell us what's going on. But obviously he's pretty hurt."

There were optimistic signs, however, the longer he lay on the mat.

"He was talking a little bit," said James, who remained at Franklin's side the entire time. "Towards the middle and the end (of his stay on the mat), he knew what day it was and he knew where he was at, so that's good.

"(The trainors) just wanted to talk to him and make sure he was fairly alert. I just wanted to make sure he stayed awake and keep him talking. We'll have to figure out what was going on."

As for the match outcome, Franklin earned the title by injury default as a result of an illegal slam. Settles had defeated Franklin the previous two weekends at the Division 1 North Sectional and state tournaments.

"When you lift a person up, you have to return him to the mat with care," James said. "And since (Settles) didn't do that ... Darius ended up winning the match. But obviously we'd much rather out there healthy, so anything else isn't important right now."

Desfosses dominates again

Central Catholic's Brandon Desfosses remained perfect for his senior season with a workmanlike 7-1 decision over Davey Goodall of Chelmsford in the 152-pound final. The top seed in all three postseason tournaments, Desfosses ran his record to 43-0 on the season and 153-17 in his career.

"I've just kept taking it one match at a time," Desfosses said of living up to his top billing. "Once you get to these stages everyone you face is good. So you have to wrestle everyone smart."

At Reading, Desfosses won his four matches by a convincing 33-8, including a tough 3-1 decision over No. 4 seed Reece Millington of Haverhill, who finished sixth.

"I knew my semifinal match was going to be a real tough one going against the kid from Haverhill," Desfosses said. "But I think I stayed smart wrestling against him, and then in the finals I just laid everything out."

Carnevale a champ

St. John's Prep heavyweight Jay Carnevale of North Andover needed overtime, but used an escape to eke out a 2-1 decision over Hopkinton's Josh Sokol, who also finished second last year.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Carnevale (61-1, 137-32) said of his electric move to open the overtime for the escape. "But that's what practice is for. When it matters most you rely on what you know."

Wehring runnerup

Methuen's other title contender was 126-pound hopeful Billy Wehring, who finished third last year. This time through, the senior improved one position after dropping a 3-0 decision to Foxboro's Matt Kelley, who was the 113-pound champ last year.

"He was just a scrambler," Wehring said of the victor. "He had some good moves. I would have liked to do a little bit better, but I'll be happy with what I did."

Wehring (52-4, 194-22) reached the finals with a sudden 2-0 overtime victory against top-seeded Josh Lee of Burlington

"It was 0-0 going into overtime," he said. "We were both having a hard time scoring. But I ended up catching him and getting the takedown."

BEVERLY — You know how high expectations must be for a team when a 60-point rout in the sectionals leaves a coach unsure of his squad's success.

But that was the result of Central Catholic's lopsided run through the Division 2 North field yesterday at Beveryly High School as four Raiders claimed crowns en route to a 216.5 point finish.

Lawrence heavyweight David Morales, who had been injured all year until last week, had a first-period pin to highlight Lawrence's 48-30 win over North Andover. 

Tom Pagliarulo had no complaints Saturday afternoon after the Central Catholic wrestling team fell just short of winning the Division 2 state dual-meet title.

How could he? The senior captain from Haverhill certainly did his part as the Raiders won three straight meets, including an impressive 40-22 victory over Natick in the semifinals before succumbing to powerful North Attleboro, 39-22, in the finals.

Senior Brooks Robinson had a pivotal 7-5 decision at 152 for North Andover, which nudged past Marlboro 40-33. Also for the Knights, junior heavyweight Isaiah Metheny had a key 6-4 win as North Andover improved to 11-9-1.

North Andover won two of three meets in a quad at Keene, losing only to Vermont power Mount Anthony. Jack Perry was 3-0 for the Knights and had an impressive 9-6 decision over former New England placer Calvin Call of Mount Anthony. Nolan Boudreau was 2-0 at 160.

Freshman C.J. Cincotta prevailed with a 6-4 decision in overtime which proved to be the difference as North Andover nipped Haverhill, 37-36.won a 

North Andover's Joey Valentino improved to 19-3 at 106 pounds while placing first at the Chelmsford wrestling tournament Saturday and Jack Perry finished second at 126 as the Knights came in fifth as a team.

Needing a pin to clinch a tie, sophomore Kelly Howard delivered with a third-period fall at 220 pounds as Andover deadlocked North Andover 39-39. Also, Pat Meagher had a key 8-4 decision at 152 to start a string of seven straight wins, four by forfeit.