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Lemieux, Londonderry end Owls' D1 state title streak at 15

Sunday, February, 22 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

NASHUA — It couldn’t have been sweeter for Londonderry senior Jean-Luc Lemieux Saturday night at the Division 1 state wrestling meet.
Gaining revenge for his first loss in New England in two years, two weeks ago in a heartbreaking dual-meet loss to Timberlane, Lemieux blanked Dan Scalzo 7-0 in the 138-pound championship match. That gave him his fourth state title in his memorable high school career.
“Everything that could go wrong last time (against Scalzo) did go wrong and I was pretty upset about it,” said Lemieux. “I didn’t come to wrestle and I felt responsible for us losing. My coach said I shouldn’t, but I did. I was pretty determined to beat him today.”
After a scoreless first period, Lemieux got a takedown, causing him to clap and jump for joy. He added a near fall in the second frame and another takedown in the final period.
“That (first takedown) was definitely the tuurning point” said Lemieux, who improved to 43-2 on the year and was named the tourney Outstanding Wrestler.
But the win over Scalzo wasn’t the sweetest part of it all.
“Beating Timberlane was even better than me winning because everyone on the team has been working toward this,” said Lemieux. “It’s just great to have someone else on the podium (with the team title).”
Yes, the Lancers came in first with 188 points, snapping Timberlane’s streak of 15 straight Division 1 titles. The Owls were second with 175 points followed by Concord (152 1/2) and Pinkerton (143).
Joining Lemieux with titles for the Lancers were Kyle Byrd, who had a dramatic late takedown for a 3-1 win over Pinkerton’s Tyler Wilson in the title match, improving his record to 41-2, and Mahdi Achab, who held on for a 4-3 decision over Pinkerton’s Seamus Dolan in the 170-pound finale.
Finishing second for the Lancers were 132-pounder Ryan Cabezas, who fell 3-2 to Nashua North’s Cam Bennett, and Richard Bilodeau, who wrestled a superb match before falling to unbeaten Dylan Barreiro of Pinkerton, 4-1.
The Lancers also had three thirds, a pair of fourths, a fifth and a sixth place.
“Those were great wins by Jean-Luc and Kyle but the bottom line is that it was a great team effort,” said Londonderry first-year coach Jason Cucolo. “We brought 12 wrestlers and all 12 placed. That says it all.”
Timberlane certainly didn’t go down without a fight, matching the Lancers with three champs and a pair of runners-up.
Winning titles for the Owls were Derek Bohle at 132, Ryan Peters at 145 and Brian Lonergan at 182.
Bohle escaped with a tough 3-2 win over Concord’s Alex Kamau in the finals and Lonergan needed a late takedown to beat Concord’s George Tarwu 3-2. Peters, who improved to 38-2, had a workmanlike 10-0 major decision over Bedford’s Yurii Gromokov.
In addition to Scalzo, Cam Altobelli was a runner-up at 152 and three Owls finished fourth.
“I was happy with the way we competed and some of our younger guys did very well,” said Timberlane coach Barry Chooljian. “We just needed a little bit more. But we had 11 guys place for Meet of Champions and we’ll go back and try to win that.
“I tip my cap to Londonderry. I thought they wrestled a very good tournament.”

ASTROS, SALEM SHINE
While ultimately not in the running for the team title, both Pinkerton and Salem had something to shout about.
Pinkerton led the tournament with seven finalists and got champions in 113-pounder Shayne McCann, who won his finals match 12-5, and Barreiro. McCann improved to 42-1 on the year with Barreiro now at 39-0.
Joining Tyler Wilson and Dolan as runners-up were 106-pounder Derek Wilson, 220-pounder Joey Lydick and heavyweight Deene Hill. Only two of the seven finalists are seniors.
“We’ve been preparing our kids to believe they’re as good as anyone in their bracket and they showed it today,” said Pinkerton coach Dave Rhoads.
As for Salem, they had two finalists and both came through with gold medals. Avery Santiago won an exciting 7-6 decision over Altobelli at 152 and Mike Poulin rode tough in the third period to beat Lydick in the 220-pound finals, 1-0.

N.H. Division 1 States
Team scores: Londonderry 188, Timberlane 175, Concord 152 1/2, Pinkerton 143, Bedford 113 1/2, Alvirne 89, Exeter 78, Nashua North 67, Salem 66 1/2, Keene 65, Memorial 35, Manchester Central 31, Nashua South 29
Winners and local placers:
106: 1. Mark Hoyt (Con), 2. Derek Wilson (Pink), 4. Kevin Robischeau (Lon), 5. Barret Kappler (Tim); 113: 1. Shayne McCann (Pink), 3. Craig Santos (Lon), 4. Robbie Pinault (Tim); 120: 1. Ben Dow (Bed), 3. Tyler Byrd (Lon), 4. Cody Lewis (Tim); 126: 1. Cam Bennett (NN), 2. Ryan Cabezas (Lon), 6. Eric Daigle (Pink); 132: 1. Derek Bohle (Tim), 5. Andrew Chase (Lon); 138: 1. Jean-Luc Lemieux (Lon), 2. Dan Scalzo (Tim), 6. Dylan Chaffee (Sal); 145: 1. Ryan Peters (Tim), 6. Colin Reardon (Lon); 152: 1. Avery Santiago (Sal), 2. Cam Altobelli (Tim), 3. Jake Barr (Lon); 160: 1. Kyle Byrd (Lon), 2. Tyler Wilson (Pink), 5. Dylan Tremblay (Tim); 170: 1. Mahdi Achab (Lon), 2. Seamus Dolan (Pink), 5. Jacob Post (Tim); 182: 1. Brian Lonergan (Tim), 4. Sebastien Roszczenko (Lon); 195: 1. Dylan Barreiro (Pink), 2. Richard Bilodeau (Lon); 220: 1. Mike Poulin (Sal), 2. Joey Lydick (Pink), 4. Ryan Cole (Tim); HVY: 1. Bobby Heald (Bedford), 2. Deene Hill (Pink)