RallyNorth.net

Senior heavyweight Chris Sharpe is understandably one of the overlooked members of the Greater Lawrence wrestling team.

His 23-6 record is more than respectable, but it doesn't match up with the likes of unbeaten Miguel Guzman (35-0 at 112), Franchesco Ortiz (35-0 at 119) or Chris DelaRosa (34-0 at 152), or even Matt Buco (35-1 at 103), Brian Nadeau (25-4 at 125) or Saul Orellana (32-2 at 135).

Six days after the New England Patriots failed to make history, the Greater Lawrence wrestling team made a lot of it yesterday at the Division 2 North Sectional at Beverly High School.

The Reggies, who are the defending Division 2 dual-meet champions, overwhelmed the 12-team field to finish first with 278 points, placing seven in the finals, crowned four champions, placed all 14 wrestlers (top six) and advanced 12 to next week's Division 2 state meet at Reading.

PLAISTOW, N.H. | Much to Mike Leavitt's delight, Central Catholic gave Timberlane a mild scare last night.

The unbeaten Owls (11-0) prevailed 37-24, but the Raiders (8-3) had a brief early lead and gave Timberlane its toughest match of the season.

Looks can indeed be deceiving, as Methuen sophomore heavyweight Shaun McCarthy helped demonstrate last night in the Rangers' convincing 39-27 victory over Central Catholic. With Methuen ahead 3-0 after the first match, a 7-3 decision for unbeaten Steve Saba at 215, McCarthy | all 5-foot-8, 215 pounds of him | stepped onto the mat to face a much larger (by at least 55 pounds) Dan Caniff at heavyweight. It did not look like a good matchup for the Rangers.

Heavyweight Brian Nicoll put an exclamation point on an impressive statement made by the Timberlane wrestling team yesterday at the 54-team Lowell Holiday Tournament.

The Owls, who finished second last year by a point and a half, came back with a vengence to claim their third team crown in four years with 241 points, comfortably ahead of runners-up Concord, N.H., and Winchester, who tied with 210. Pinkerton (120) was sixth, Central Catholic (111) came in eighth and Salem, N.H. (102<1/2>) tied for 10th.

Central Catholic, trailing 26-3, roared back to nip Pinkerton 33-32 as part of a quad-meet sweep that included Dracut (51-21) and Lincoln-Sudbury (45-31). Dave Kando was 3-0 at and had a key pin in the comeback, avenging a loss to J.P. Zarba in the Salem Tournament. The Raiders (4-0) only won six weight classes, but five were by pin. Mike Leavitt and Haverhill's Curtis Davis | both nearly in top shape following football | were both 3-0 on the day.

LAWRENCE | The wait was well worth it for Central Catholic seniors Dave Kando and Alberto Nunez.

With the Raiders trailing North Andover 26-22 with just two matches remaining last night, Kando and Nunez | wrestling in the first varsity dual meets of their career | prevailed in a pair of barnburners, 12-10 in overtime at 171 and 5-4 on a late controversial call at 189, to give Central a heart-stopping 28-26 decision.

2006-07 record: 16-6-1, didn't compete in North team sectionals

Returning starters (10): Mike Farragher, Sr., 125; Mike Leavitt, Sr., 189; Brendan Dowling, Jr., 119; Darwin Almonte, Sr., 152; Curtis Davis, Sr., 215; Jimmy Nguyen, Jr., 130; Shain Jowett, Jr., 160; Jack DiBurro, Jr., 135/140; Tommy Lacroix, Soph., 135/140; Zach Lattrell, Soph., 189

The names change, but the script remains the same at the Blue Devil Classic, the traditional season-opening local wrestling tournament.

Once again, Concord, N.H., rolled to the team title yesterday, its sixth straight, while local teams Pinkerton, Central Catholic and Salem showed some superb individual talent and projected promise of better days ahead.