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PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Before the season, it didn’t seem possible. Even yesterday morning, it didn’t seem likely that a young Timberlane squad could overcome heavily-favored Mount Anthony to capture an unprecedented fifth straight New England title. But it’s apparently not wise to doubt the Owls. Led by senior star Zach Bridson, who defeated summer training partner Christian Monserrat of Methuen in a dramatic 113-pound final for a second New England title, and with terrific contributions from senior Luke Morrier and junior Adam Corey, Timberlane stormed to 77 points, comfortably ahead of runner-up Daniel Hand of Conn. (68 1/2) and Mount Anthony of Vermont (67) in third.

A trio of Lawrence wrestlers advanced to the second day of the All-State tournament. Hector Reynoso (106), Marionel Garcia (180) and Janer Reyes (heavyweight) all advanced to Day 2.

WEYMOUTH‑ Methuen didn’t have the most entries at the Division 1 state tournament but with three titles, the Rangers left with the most champions.

Sophomore Christian Monserrat (113 pounds), junior Paul Sughrue (126) and senior C.J. Doherty (145) each capped off four-match runs in the weight classes en route to first-place finishes yesterday at Weymouth High School. Each won for at least the second straight time. Both Monserrat and Sughrue will be gunning for their second straight All-State title in two weeks.

CHELMSFORD — The third time was no ho-hum affair for Methuen senior C.J. Doherty here last night.
The standout 145-pounder captured his third Division 1 North sectional crown, but this one was special, and particularly enjoyable, for a couple of reasons.
First, by dominating Shawsheen’s Brian Ward in the finals with a 15-0 technical fall, Doherty proved that his lone setback of the season, last week in the finals of the Methuen Tournament, may have been a fluke.
And, more to the point, winning an individual sectional title is much more fun when your teammates can join in the celebration.
Doherty was one of four champions and one of 10 Rangers overall (top four placers) who qualified for Saturday’s Division 1 state meet at Weymouth. Methuen captured its second straight sectional crown with 223 1/2 points.
St. John’s Prep was second with 184, edging Lawrence by one point while Chelmsford was fourth in the 14-team field with 165.
The top four teams qualify for the Division 1 dual-meet state tournament, which will be held at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell Feb. 19-20. Methuen, with a 17-0 dual record, will likely be the top seed.
“It makes the season a lot more fun when you have 13 others on your team who want to win and so many are going on,” said Doherty. “I like knowing the team is there for me and I want to be there for the team.”
Doherty was certainly there yesterday, determined to wipe away any memory from last week.
“I didn’t come out (in the finals last week) as I could have,” said Doherty, who improved to 28-1. “I’ll use that experience so no one can touch me again.”
Remaining undefeated on the year were 113-pounder Christian Monserrat and 126-pounder Paul Sughrue. Monserrat (29-0), for the second time this year, fell two points behind St. John’s of Shrewsbury’s Peter Robinson before recovering for a 6-2 decision. Sughrue (34-0) pinned St. John’s Jared Costa in the second period.
Costa, the son of head coach Manny Costa, lost for only the second time all year.
Joining the terrific trio with a gold medal was 160-pounder Jack Khoury. He prevailed in the surprise weight class of the tournament, defeating Andover’s Nick Marcotte 6-2 in the finals to improve to 26-5.
Finishing second for the Rangers was 182-pounder Scott DelRossi, who lost a tough match to MVC foe Marionel Garcia of Lawrence, 6-4. Garcia had a reverse and takedown in the third period to improve to 34-3, while DelRossi dropped to 30-3.
Taking third for the Rangers was 120-pounder Sarith Has, who beat Haverhill’s Orlando Rojas for the second time on the day, 6-0, and 132-pounder Anthony Andronaco. Jason Pendergast (138), Ryan Savastano (152) and heavyweight Anthony Giorgio — in his first tourney action of the year since returning last week from an injury — all took fourth.
“We had a lot of good stuff happen for us today,” said Methuen coach Bill James, who was named the Division 1 North Coach of the Year. “To have 10 guys going to State is a really great day.”
Lawrence had three champions and the Lancers served notice that they’ll be formidable attempting to defend as dual-meet state champions. In addition to Garcia, Hector Reynoso prevailed at 106, defeating St. John’s Prep’s Louis Bornstein in the finals, and 132-pounder Edgardo Rios had his fourth pin of the day in the finals to complete a banner day.
Finishing second for the Lancers was heavyweight Janer Reyes, who dropped a 1-0 decision in the finals to Chelmsford’s Lou Ferrer. They had split matches during the regular season.
Adrian Sosa was third at 138 for Lawrence, pinning Pendergast in the consolation finals, while Mike Mena was fourth at 220.
Parris Williams finished third at 152 for Haverhill while Andover freshman Tyler Ferris was third at 106.
Westford 120-pounder Connor Peacock was named the tourney Outstanding Wrestler.

Andover's wrestling team won its first meet of the season, 39-37 over Everett. Shiv Chawla, Joey Solimini and Nick Marcotte all recorded pins for the Warriors and Ben Dykstra had a technical fall. Jack Reilly and James Burke had pivotal one-point decisions. 

It was just a matter of survival for Pentucket. Wait until the lightweight matches started and the Sachems would be OK.

And that's what happened last night as the meet started at 160 pounds and Andover took four of the first six classes. But 113-pounder Tom Funk started a run of seven straight Pentucket victories en route to a 43-21 Sachem triumph.

Dan Connolly recorded three pins at 160 and Jake Coparale notched three victories at heavyweight as North Andover swept a five-team meet. Josh Zano scored four victories at 152 to help Whittier to a 1-4 record on the day.

With six wrestlers still alive in the championship bracket and another six fighting through the consolation round, Timberlane is well positioned to improve its second place position in today's conclusion of the Lowell Holiday Tourney.

SALEM — With some modification, the recent tradition continued for the Central Catholic and Pinkerton wrestling teams yesterday at the season-opening Blue Devil Classic.
While both have had fine dual meet teams over the last decade, both teams have been more noted for their standout individuals. Based on yesterday’s performance, that pattern may be repeated, although they both showed some added depth that may eventually translate into superior dual-meet strength.
Concord came in first for the eighth time in 10 years with 216 points, with surprising Nashua South (155 1/2) a distant second, while Central Catholic (152) and Pinkerton (147) took the next two spots thanks to some outstanding individual performances that included three champions apiece.
Central’s champions were defending New England champion Ryan O’Boyle, who pinned Salem’s John Rheaume in the 126-pound finals, 120-pounder Pat Lacroix and 132-pounder Chris Lacroix, the latter of whom captured his first tournament crown with an 11-7 decision over Spaulding’s Ed Davis in the finals.
The Astros’ gold medalists were veterans Tanner Burke, who had a second-period pin at 152 pounds, and 145-pounder Zack Daigle, while freshman Jean-Luc Lemieux joined the standouts with a dominating performance at 106.
Lemieux had three first-period pins, including over Andover freshman Tyler Ferris in the finals, and gave notice that he’ll be a force throughout the season. He’s a defending middle school champion who was third in New England last year.
“He (Lemieux) has a lot of skill and I expect a lot out of him and another freshman, Tyler Wilson,” said first-year Pinkerton coach Dave Rhoads. “The difference is that he has so much experience.”
Which is putting it mildly.
“I’ve been wrestling since I was 3-years-old at the Manchester YMCA,” said Lemieux, who has wrestled for the Derry Boys and Girls Club, Dough Boy and Smitty’s Barn. “I’ve always been active and I love it.”
Not surprisingly, Lemieux wasn’t nervous in the least by wrestling in his first high school tournament.
“I’ve wrestled in a lot of tournaments ... it didn’t seem that different,” said Lemieux, whose season goal is to qualify for New England.
Pinkerton also had a runner-up in 182-pounder Kevin Ell, who was pinned by Concord strongman Walters Ndi in the finals, and four third-place finishers.
In the 220-pound class, Central had the runner-up in Manny Suarez and third-place finisher in Ben Tavitian, who had a strong tournament. Tavitian had three pins within the first minute.
“For a first tournament, I thought we looked pretty good,” said Central coach Dennis King. “It was good to see Chris take first and Ben and Manny looked very good.”
Host Salem, which finished fifth, was led by 170-pounder Phil Smith, who defeated teammate Cody Sharpe 14-8 in the finals. Sharpe will eventually wrestle at 160.
Finishing second for the Blue Devils in addition to Rheaume and Sharpe were Ryan Bolduc (113) and Zach Hicks (138).
Concord, which returns 10 starters from an 18-1 squad, had three champions and 11 placers. Individually, Manchester Memorial heavyweight Steve Dwight was as dominant as expected with four straight pins.