RallyNorth.net

Pelham’s Maslanek shines in Div. 3

BY JEFF HAMRICK

sports@eagletribune.com

MILTON — A few months ago, Joey Sanchez seriously considered bypassing his senior year of wrestling. After all, the Mass Maritime Academy baseball recruit had proven enough on the mat, winning a division title as a freshman before finishing second the next two years.

But after grappling with his decision before recommitting right before the season start, the Central Catholic senior elected to give wrestling one last go.

Saturday afternoon at Milton High School, Sanchez reaped his rewards, earning his way back atop the Division 2 podium. Seeded second at 145, Sanchez recorded two early pins and a quarterfinal shutout before knocking off top-ranked Brevin Cassella of Nashoba 3-1 in overtime.

"That kid earlier in the season beat me (2-0), so it was definitely something I wanted to get back at," said Sanchez, who won at 106 as a freshman and finished second at 132 and 126 the past two years. "I've been here before, so (going into overtime) I had calm nerves."

Central Catholic, which finished second 3.5 points behind team champ North Attleboro with 105.5 points, also received a championship at 106 from sophomore Mike Glynn. Four of the six area wrestlers to reach title matches won, and one of the losses was by Tyler Glynn, who dropped the 126 title to North Andover's Joey Valentino.

Other champions were CJ Cincotta of North Andover at 152 and Greater Lawrence's Malib Pastrana at 195. North Andover finished seventh in the team race.

In the 145 final, Sanchez recorded a first-period escape, but gave one up with 31 seconds left in the third that forced overtime. But he was able to run his season record to 43-5 on a takedown near the edge of the mat with 27 seconds left.

"It's all a blur right now," Sanchez said. "My coaches were telling me this was my last chance here if you want to be a state champ. So, that definitely gave me more energy to go and take him down."

And now, Sanchez, a center fielder on the diamond, has a chance to finish his wrestling career with an all-state title this weekend.

"I made up my mind about two days before the first practice I decided that I wanted to come back and be with my boys," he said. "I sat down and really thought about it."

Valentino wins second

The 126-pound  finale between Valentino, who won at 120 last year, and Central's Tyler Glynn was one of four rematches between Division 2 North finalists a week earlier. In addition to Valentino, Mike Glynn, Cincotta and Pastrana each repeated wins by decision.

Valentino (48-0) used back points to take a 5-1 lead in the second period against Tyler Glynn (a 106-pound champ last year) and held on for a 5-2 decision.

"I just wrestled like it was a regular match," Valentino said. "This year (winning) is a big one, but the first (title) I guess is the most special ... I just wrestled (Glynn) the same way. I was aggressive and just wrestled my match."

Cincotta wins clan's second

A few years since older brother Stephen won a division state crown, CJ Cincotta claimed one of his own with a convincing 10-5 victory over Reading's Darren Driscoll. Last year, Cincotta (46-1) finished third at the same weight.

"I had more goals this year," said Cincotta, who claimed decisions over Driscoll in the regionals and three times last year as well. "I worked harder in practice. And that extra work and drive just makes you want to win more. So, I wasn't going to let anyone beat me today."

Pastrana ends Greater Lawrence drought

Winning the school's first division state title in eight years, Pastrana reached the finals with three pins. In the title match, the Reggie senior easily knocked off Dracut's Andrew Desmarais 14-4.

"I was more defensive this time (against Desmarais)," said Pastrana, who took a 10-5 decision in the regionals. "He had to earn every point he got. This time I was blocking down on defense and on offense I was getting good shots."

Before Pastrana (40-1) won yesterday, the previous Reggie Division winner was Matthew Bucco at 119 in 2010 according to Greater Lawrence coach Juan Nieves.

Familiarity at 106

In the first title match of the afternoon, Mike Glynn knocked off Dracut's Dante Rossetti 8-3. Rossetti now accounts for six wins on Glynn's 45-2 season record.

Solid finals for locals

Of the 12 area wrestlers in place matches, 10 won.

Third place winners were Nate Vachon (120) of Central Catholic and Christian Hernandez (170) of Greater Lawrence. Whittier's Andrew Buzzell also advanced to All States by finishing fourth at 220. And in fifth place were North Andover's Ethan Ford (113) and Jamil Nickerson (120).

DANVERS — The late season momentum continued for Central Catholic Saturday as the Raiders captured the Division 2 North title in convincing fashion.

Led by champions Mike Glynn (106) and Joey Sanchez (145), the Raiders piled up 213 1/2 points to easily outdistance runner-up Burlington (156.5). North Andover was three points back in third place.

Phillips finished fourth out of 11 teams at Saturday's Prep Class A league meet with 118 points, and had eight wrestlers finish in the top-6 of their respective weight classes. They were: Matt Suri, Marisol Nugent, Nick Marsi, Jack O'Neil, Eamon Garrity-Rokous, Pierce Bausano, Pablo Sanchez and Adam Cohen. Phillips Exeter won the meet for the second straight year with 193 points, just edging out Northfield Mount Hermon (192).

Plymouth tried to hide Alex Hamel, the No. 3 ranked wrestler in the state at 160 pounds, from Salem's Tristen Cabinta, the No. 1 ranked 160-pounder, by bumping him up a weight class. But Cabinta followed him up to 170 and earned a pin, and James Gibney beat Plymouth's backup at 160 to help the Blue Devils earn a 45-29 win. Salem also beat Winnacunnet easily to go 2-0 for the day.

METHUEN — When finally given the chance, junior Matt Cabezas and senior Dan O'Connell delivered big time Saturday afternoon at the Division 1 North sectional.

Thwarted by injuries for two straight years, and knocked out Wednesday from a blow in his match against Central, O'Connell delivered a convincing 9-3 decision over Westford's Jake Morash for the 182-pound title.

PLAISTOW — It's usually the dramatic pins that gets the crowd excited in wrestling pins, but not Friday night.

Trailing 16-6 in a battle of unbeatens, Timberlane pulled off three straight close decisions to grab the momentum and then recorded seven straight pins to roll over Concord 57-16.

Jamil Nickerson and Ryan McDonald remained hot as North Andover's wrestling team wound up its dual-meet season with a 49-16 win over Billerica.

Unsung 170-pounder Ian Sargent had a second-period pin and heavyweight Christian Parker had a fall in the third period as Windham won a tough battle over Hollis-Broookline, 43-34.

Andover's wrestling team defeated Lawrence for the first time in its history, 33-32, to improve its record to 13-8. Heavyweight Payton Heidtke clinched the win with a 4-3 decision over Jon Velilla. Kevin Kiely had a 30-second pin for the Warriors.