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Lowell High assistant George Bossi, who holds the state record for wins as a head coach (608), looked over the mats last weekend at the New England Tournament and sighed in what might have been resignation.

Timberlane's young wrestling team matured quickly during the season and | paced by heavyweight champion Brian Nicoll and 103-pound runner-up Cam Sullivan, both juniors | it grew up completely yesterday at the New England Tournament.

The dice came up with a pair of nines for the Timberlane wrestling team at the Division 1 state meet yesterday, and they were big winners.

The Owls, thanks to a shocking 9-for-9 performance in the semifinals earlier in the day, cruised to their ninth straight Division 1 crown in resounding fashion.

It's now official. The powerhouse Timberlane and Lowell wrestling teams remain undefeated after battling to a classic 27-27 tie in Lowell Saturday afternoon.

Timberlane scored the last 14 points of the meet to tie the score, but | using National High School Federation rules | Lowell was declared the winner by criteria because it finished with one more pin than the Owls.

Technically, Timberlane fell from the ranks of the unbeaten yesterday, but you might be hard pressed to convince many of the Owls that it happened.

And, as it turns out, the Owls may have only added a tie to their record, not a loss, although Lowell disputes that. In a barnburner of a dual meet between the defending Division 1 state champions of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the Owls (14-0-1) rallied from a 27-13 deficit with four straight wins to tie the meet, 27-27, only to temporarily drop the decision on the third criteria, which | by federation rules | is number of pins.

This was not, said Timberlane coach Barry Chooljian, your typical Timberlane-Salem dual meet.

In a rivalry that witnessed two of the greatest dual meets in area history, a 31-30 Salem win in 2000 that broke a 103-meet Timberlane winning streak in New Hampshire and a 34-33 barnburner in 2003 that snapped a 49-meet Owls' winning streak, you come to expect great meets.

Anyone who has watched a lot of high school wrestling knows what to expect from most heavyweight matchups.

Two very large young men well over 235 pounds, some still sporting a fair amount of baby fat, push and shove, trying to outmuscle each other and rarely shooting for a takedown. Eventually there may be a pin, but boring 2-1 decisions are just as common.

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.

On a night in which both teams were at less than full strength, Timberlane showed why it still has the top wrestling program in New Hampshire.

Pinkerton was missing three starters last night, including standout sophomore Ian Beck (sore shoulder), and Timberlane also didn't start three regulars, whether because of sickness (standout freshman Matt Morris) or because head coach Barry Chooljian wanted them rested for the rugged Eastern States Classic, which begins today.

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.