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READING — Area wrestlers claimed three individual all-state titles here yesterday.

One came relatively easy.

Another was a little tougher.

But the third might have come with a very heavy price.

Methuen's Darius Franklin opened the second period of a scoreless 182-pound classic between longtime rivals with a quick move to his feet from the down position. But Lowell nemesis and top-seed Malik Settles immediatley brought the sixth-seeded Franklin back to the mat.

Unfortunately, Franklin's head bounced hard off the mat after the ferocious slam, leaving the Ranger senior on his stomach near the center of the mat.

And there he remained motionless except for some movement in his left leg until paramedics arrived, rolled him onto a stretcher about a half hour later and wheeled him to an awaiting ambulance.

"Thery're taking him to I think Winchester Hospital to be evaluated," said concerned Methuen coach Bill James. "Obviously it is an unfortunate situation. (Settles) lifted him up and kind of lost control and landed him in an awkward position.

"I think he was ( unconscious) for a period of time and obviously he wasn't moving for a bit. Beyond that, it's up to the doctors to tell us what's going on. But obviously he's pretty hurt."

There were optimistic signs, however, the longer he lay on the mat.

"He was talking a little bit," said James, who remained at Franklin's side the entire time. "Towards the middle and the end (of his stay on the mat), he knew what day it was and he knew where he was at, so that's good.

"(The trainors) just wanted to talk to him and make sure he was fairly alert. I just wanted to make sure he stayed awake and keep him talking. We'll have to figure out what was going on."

As for the match outcome, Franklin earned the title by injury default as a result of an illegal slam. Settles had defeated Franklin the previous two weekends at the Division 1 North Sectional and state tournaments.

"When you lift a person up, you have to return him to the mat with care," James said. "And since (Settles) didn't do that ... Darius ended up winning the match. But obviously we'd much rather out there healthy, so anything else isn't important right now."

Desfosses dominates again

Central Catholic's Brandon Desfosses remained perfect for his senior season with a workmanlike 7-1 decision over Davey Goodall of Chelmsford in the 152-pound final. The top seed in all three postseason tournaments, Desfosses ran his record to 43-0 on the season and 153-17 in his career.

"I've just kept taking it one match at a time," Desfosses said of living up to his top billing. "Once you get to these stages everyone you face is good. So you have to wrestle everyone smart."

At Reading, Desfosses won his four matches by a convincing 33-8, including a tough 3-1 decision over No. 4 seed Reece Millington of Haverhill, who finished sixth.

"I knew my semifinal match was going to be a real tough one going against the kid from Haverhill," Desfosses said. "But I think I stayed smart wrestling against him, and then in the finals I just laid everything out."

Carnevale a champ

St. John's Prep heavyweight Jay Carnevale of North Andover needed overtime, but used an escape to eke out a 2-1 decision over Hopkinton's Josh Sokol, who also finished second last year.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Carnevale (61-1, 137-32) said of his electric move to open the overtime for the escape. "But that's what practice is for. When it matters most you rely on what you know."

Wehring runnerup

Methuen's other title contender was 126-pound hopeful Billy Wehring, who finished third last year. This time through, the senior improved one position after dropping a 3-0 decision to Foxboro's Matt Kelley, who was the 113-pound champ last year.

"He was just a scrambler," Wehring said of the victor. "He had some good moves. I would have liked to do a little bit better, but I'll be happy with what I did."

Wehring (52-4, 194-22) reached the finals with a sudden 2-0 overtime victory against top-seeded Josh Lee of Burlington

"It was 0-0 going into overtime," he said. "We were both having a hard time scoring. But I ended up catching him and getting the takedown."

On a day when Central's Dennis King won his 400th meet, Methuen's Bill James won his 400th as the Rangers rolled to four more wins to improve to 28-1 on the year.  James, who previously coached at Ipswich, Hamilton-Wenham, Bishop Guertin and Nashua, is 284-64-1 at Methuen.

Methuen remained unbeaten (23-0) by rolling to the title at the Duxbury duals, scoring at least 56 points in every meet. The Rangers were particularly strong in the heavier weight, going unbeaten from 160 pounds and up. Saul Cabrera (220) and heavyweight Liam McDonnell were both 4-0 with four pins on the day. Dan O'Connell (26-0) and Travis Manick (23-0) remained unbeaten.

Methuen freshman Jarmany Colon had his best day of the season, going 3-0 with three first-period pins as Methuen improved to 18-0 with an easy sweep of Taunton, Middleboro, Silver Lake and Brockton.

Methuen twins Travis Abdallah and Trevor Abdallah both had pins in the first period to highlight the Rangers' 51-9 romp over Dracut. Methuen improved to 14-0.

Methuen improved to 13-0 with an overwhelming sweep of a home five-team meet, scoring at least 57 points in all four meets and blasting a solid Lowell squad 60-18. Billy Wehring, Travis Abdallah, Dan O'Connell, Will Travers, Chris Saba and Liam McDonnell were all 4-0 with four pins on the day.

Murderous

Methuen just got a lot stronger in the upper weights.

Wrestling in his first meets of the season, Eagle-Tribune All-Star Darius Franklin went 3-0, with two wins at 182 and another at 195 to highlight the Rangers' title at the BC Dual Tournament, where they won all four matches handily.

Methuen's rising wrestlers swept Leominster, Acton-Boxboro and Haverhill to improve to 4-0. Billy Wehring had three first-period pins and Jarmany Colon and Will Travers had key pins in a 39-30 win over the Hillies.