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Central gets the matchups

ANDOVER — Jackie Dehney had already proven herself in tournaments, starting with her season-opening title at the Blue Devil Classic.

On Wednesday night, the Central Catholic freshman girl showed her value in dual-meet showdowns with an impressive major decision that helped the Raiders surge past Andover, 40-33, in a Merrimack Valley Conference showdown.

In a strategic move, Central Catholic moved several of his top wrestlers, in particular Jimmy Glynn and Mike Glynn, up a weight class, which meant that Dehney would also move up, from 120 to 126 and face Sean Hellman, one of Andover's best lighter weights.

Dehney not only relished the challenge, but she attacked it, dominating from the start before winding up with a 15-5 major decision, twice barely missing a pin.

"I was fired up for the match," said Dehney. "I love dual meets ... the crowd gets behind you and you're doing it for the team."

The victory improved Dehney's season record to 21-7 and was of no surprise to Central Catholic coach Jamie Durkin, whose club improved to 15-2 and 7-2 in the MVC, which puts them in a tie with Chelmsford for the Division 1 lead.

"We were confident she'd win, even at 126," said Durkin. "In fact, we were counting on her for six (a pin). She's a lot stronger than she looks."

Andover coach Mike Bolduc felt that Dehney's win was pivotal and knew that defeating her would be a long shot.

"She (Dehney) is tough and we knew if it was a decision, she'd probably win it," said Bolduc. "What we were hoping is that Sean can catch people (with a pin) and we thought he had a shot at that."

Dehney's win was the fourth of seven straight for the Raiders with the Glynn's expected victories pivotal. Jimmy Glynn bumped up from 106 to 120 and recorded a 23-second pin and unbeaten Mike Glynn bumped up a weight to 145 where he overcame Jonathan Davila, 7-2, in what was an entertaining match.

Prior to Jimmy Glynn's match, Nick Spero (106) and James Bohenko (113) recorded first period pins while, before Mike Glynn's match, Stephen Donovan (132) delivered a third peiod pin and Nate Vachon  (138) came through with a 15-5 major decision.

In the first match of the night, at 220 pounds, Central Catholic junior Anthony Mears improved to 30-2 with a first period pin.

Trailing 41-6, Andover made the score close by winning the last five matches of the night.

Kelvin Davila started the string at 152 with a 12-5 decision over Matt Shaw. Davila dominated the match but Shaw got a late point to avoid a major decision.

Elias Maita (160), Connor Sheehan (170) and Sean Ballou (182) followed for Andover, all with pins in the first minute, and Brendan Major took a forfeit at 195 to end the evening. Earlier in the match, first-year heavyweight AJ Heidtke gave the Warriors a third-period pin.

With the loss, Andover stands at 13-2 and 7-2 in the MVC, which leaves them in a tie with Tewksbury for the Division 2 lead.

"We knew it was going to be tough, especially when we saw where the Glynns would be wrestling," said Bolduc. "But we're not too disappointed and I thought Jonathan (Davila) wrestled Mikey (Glynn) really tough."