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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.

LOWELL — On the morning of the Division 2 dual-meet final four, it was hard to imagine that anybody was doing more than sleeping off the effects from a couple of hard-fought bouts the night before and mentally preparing for the title runs ahead.

READING — North Andover was the team of the day but, with apologies to Central Catholic star Ryan O’Boyle, senior Jason Ricketts was the man of the hour at the Division 2 state meet last night at Reading High School.

BEVERLY — On a day when most results went as predicted, Central Catholic’s Ben Tavitian pulled off the biggest upset.

Seeded third entering the Division 2 North Sectional, the Raider senior was last night’s only winner not seeded either first or second. While he might not have been considered a premeet favorite, Tavitian breezed into the finals, needing fewer than 3 minutes to record a pair of pins and earn a spot in the title match where he posted his third fall of the day in 2:34 over top-seeded Peter Salem of Dracut.

North Andover's wrestling team tuned up for Saturday's Division 2 sectional with a 49-21 rout of Masconomet, which won the Cape Ann League Open last Saturday when the Knights (17-2) opted for the Methuen Tournament. John Pollard had a key 6-4 decision at 195 for the Knights. Zane Melillo returned from sickness to record a 47-second pin at 132.

A key decision by Hector Reynoso gave Lawrence a three-meet sweep on the day.

The premier dual meet of the Cape Ann League schedule didn't quite pan out as advertised, at least as far as the score was concerned.

North Andover, the defending Division 2 state champion, locked horns with Division 3 titlist Triton in Byfield and took home a 48-17 decision that was commanding only in numbers.

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.

Good wrestlers and plenty of them. That's what earned North Andover the Marshfield Holiday Tournament title over 31 other schools yesterday.

The Scarlet Knights had the most finalists (five) in the tourney and finished with a pair of individual champions, freshman Fritz Hoehn (138 pounds) and junior Ryan Neals (182 pounds). With 230.5 points, North Andover bested runners-up Norton (220.5) and North Attleboro (168) for the victory.

WEST NEWBURY — Thanks to 106-pound sophomore Eric Kerr, North Reading/Lynnfield batted .500 yesterday at the Pentucket Holiday Wrestling Toutnament. The Black and Gold finished second to Tri-County in the 19-team tournament, the second time this year it was runner-up in a large tournament (also at Wakefield), and Kerr captured the 106-pound crown for North Reading/Lynnfield’s first individual tourney champ in two years. During that span, the veteran coach Craig Stone’s team had also not won a crown. “He (Stone) wants the team to win first, that’s most important,” said Kerr. “But he has high expectations for me so I know he’s happy for me, too.” Kerr held a lead in the third period against Georgetown’s Charlie Galanis before pinning him at the 4:34 mark. In the semifinals, Kerr eked out an impressive 2-0 win over Timberlane sparkplug Tyler Fitzpatrick, who eventually took third. Losing in the finals for North Reading were 182-pounder Bud Flaherty and 220-pounder Tom Arseneault, who lost a heartbreaking 1-0 victory to Norwood’s Quincy Wilson. Arseneault seemed to have gotten back points in the third period thanks to a cradle move, but the official denied them and Wilson got an escape with one second remaining to get the win. Although disappointed with how that match turned out, Stone was far from upset with his squad’s runner-up finish. “I don’t have a problem finishing second,” said Stone. “We were fifth last year and graduated five sectional placers.”  Timberlane’s B team, which was defending champion, fifth, thanks to second-place finished by Jake Kappler (120), Derek Bohle (126) and Mike DiGregorio (145). DiGregorio was winning for most of the match before getting turned and pinned with just 15 seconds remaining. Host Pentucket finished eighth as Tom Funk continued to wrestle well, taking top honors at 113 and capping his day with a 10-0 major decision. Winning his weight class with an impressive performance was Georgetown’s Luke Rabel. He had three straight pins, including two within 40 seconds. before beating Kappler 7-1 in the finals. It was his first tourney crown and improved him to 12-3 on the year. Scheidegger on roll Sanborn’s Jon Scheidegger doesn’t particularly like losing weight, but the way he’s wrestling, he thinks it’s worth it. The 152-pound junior captured his third tournament crown of the year, crushing Exeter’s Ross Dannar with a 17-0 technical fall. He regularly trains with Dannar at Exeter and are good friends. “He’s been my drilling partner since I started,” said Scheidegger. “We know everything about each other. ... He beat me once last year, but I think I’ve gotten stronger.” For the year, Scheidegger is now 15-1, his only loss coming to Timberlane’s Luke Morrier at 160, a weight which would be much more convenient. “I definitely have to lose weight and it’s not always easy — I weighed 11 pounds over (152) on Christmas Eve,” said Scheidegger. “But I like putting in the hard workand I like my chances.” Sanborn’s other wrestler, Tristan Leek, finished third at 132, getting a five-point move in the closing seconds against Pentucket’s Jeff Funk to steam a 7-4 decision.