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Central falls short of Division 2 dual title

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.

Pagliarulo had four wins on the day, including his third pin to lead off the North Attleboro meet, to improve to 41-2 on the year. And, with the three wins, Central improved to 22-2, a substantial upgrade after last year's 12-7-1 campaign.

"This is the first time I've reached 40 wins and the team has really done great," said Pagliarulo. "I'm pretty happy with the way things have gone."

The finish was the highest ever in the tournament according to head coach Dennis King and it would have taken a lot to beat North Attleboro, which improved to 24-1 with the title. Its only loss was to Vermont power Mount Anthony.

Pagliarulo's first-period pin at 126 pounds against North Attleboro was followed by a 6-1 decision by Joe Sanchez at 132, giving Central a quick 9-0 lead. The Rocketeers tied it up with two wins but wins by Brandon Desfosses and Donovan Nolan put the Raiders ahead 16-9.

Nolan improved to 40-1 for the season and Desfosses is still undefeated at 30-0.

But North Attleboro won the next five weight classes to take a commanding lead and o5sd pin was followed by a