RallyNorth.net

Lawrence romps in Division 1 sectionals

Saturday, February, 05 By Jeff Hamrick

NORTH CHELMSFORD — Wrestling might be as individual a sport as there is, but the 50 or so beaming Lawrence wrestlers posing for a team picture yesterday afternoon sure did look like an ecstatic team.

And after its incredible performance in winning the Division 1 North Sectional Dual Tournament at Chelmsford High School, it had ever reason to be.

“It shows they’ve been working hard,” Lancers’ coach Rob Niceforo said after Lawrence won its three matches by a combined 128-57, including a 46-23 rout of St. John’s Prep for the title. “It shows they apprecite it and they’re happy. It’s nice to see, and they deserve it.”

After cruising to victories over Merrimac Valley Conference opponents Andover (43-13) in the quarterfinals and Methuen (41-19) in the semifinals, Lawrence found itself trailing St. John’s Prep 23-18 after the first nine weights in the championship. But 171-pound senior Juan Rodriguez ignited the Lancers (23-2) with a quick pin in 1:16 over Teaghan Costello that sparked his teammates.

Rodriguez (29-3 after winning three matches yesterday) received his motivation when Lawrence native Jamie Morey of St. John’s Prep pinned Marionel Garcia with 3 seconds left for a victory that surprised even Morey, who who was trailing 3-2 with 53 seconds remaining.

“They’re both friends of mine, but (Garcia) never should have gotten pinned,” Rodriguez said. “It was a good move (by Morey), but he never should have gotten the pin. I was pretty pumped up after that.”

Rodriquez’ was the first of four straight pins for Lawrence as 189-pound senior Jesus Flores took care of David Kou in 3:15, 215-pound senior Joshua Espinal needed only 1:20 to dispatch Winslow Estevez and junior heavyweight Janer Reyes knocked off Haverhill native Casey Jean-Jacques in 5:18. By the time the run was over, Lawrence had turned its five-point deficit into an insurmountable 42-23 advantage.

“Those pins motivated me a lot and boosted my confidence up,” said Espinal, who won all three of his matches. “Winning means a lot, especially for us seniors who’ve been here for four years. At the beginning of the year, we thought we could do it, but we still had to prove it. Right now, I’m concentrating on the dual meets. Worring about the individual stuff comes second.”

Other winners for Lawrence, which advances to Wednesday’s state semifinals, were 103-pounder Elvis Geneo, Kyle Gerena at 112, Jon Cruz at 119, Edgardo Rios at 125 and Shaquille Fuentes at 145.

Other local victors for St. John’s Prep included North Andover’s TJ Crabtee, who claimed a 9-1 victory over Juan Herrera at 140, and Lawrence’s Samson Lam, who eked out a 2-0 win over Anthony DeLeon at 152. Crabtree’s victory upped his season record to 39-0.

“I’m going undefeated and winning all-states,” said Crabtree, who was 51-9 and took sixth at New England last year. “If I’m undefeated through Massachusetts going into the New Englands, I’ll feel good.”