RallyNorth.net

It's hard to underestimate the job that Tony Sarkis has done with the Greater Lawrence wrestling program. The record alone is staggering.

The Reggies have won nine straight Commonwealth Conference meet titles, they're two-time defending Division 2 dual-meet state champions, they've won 50 straight dual meets and they're 152-10-2 over the last eight years. Moreover, this year's club placed three wrestlers | Miguel Guzman, Franchesco Ortiz and Chris DelaRosa | at the New England Tournament.

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.

Thanks to an impressive 1-2 punch, Greater Lawrence retained its Division 2 dual-meet state title last night, extending its winning streak to 50 straight meets.

The Reggies used their well-known murders' row in the lower weights to stagger North Attleboro with a powerful jab, zooming to a 23-0 lead after just four weight classes. Then they counterpunched with a crew of unsung heroes to hold off North Attleboro, 36-32, in a showdown of unbeatens.

Natick had no false illusions about defeating host and defending champion Greater Lawrence in the Division 2 dual-meet state semifinals yesterday.

With a young team and a pair of injured starters, Natick coach Bob Anaboli was looking mainly to be competitive against the unbeaten Reggies.

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).

Defending state champions Lowell (20-0-1) and Greater Lawrence (21-0) are strong favorites to capture the North dual-meet team sectionals today and tomorrow.

In Division 1, host No. 1-seed Lowell faces No. 4 St. John's Prep at 6 p.m. today while No. 2 Chelmsford takes on No. 3 Methuen. The winners will meet at 8 p.m. Lowell has defeated all three teams handily and doesn't figure to face much competition.

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.

How do you spell dynasty, again?

In Commonwealth Conference wrestling, it's definitely spelled R-E-G-G-I-E-S as Greater Lawrence proved once again yesterday at Whittier Tech by winning its seventh straight CAC meet. The Reggies have also won eight consecutive CAC regular-season titles.

Bring on the postseason!

That's the battle cry for the Greater Lawrence wrestling team because, like the New England Patriots, the postseason is the only thing keeping it from perfection for the second straight season.

There are few vocational students as dedicated to wrestling as senior 152-pounder Chris DelaRosa, who was 44-4 last year and placed fifth at the New England meet.

"He just works his rear end off in practice every day," said Greater Lawrence coach Tony Sarkis, whose team is ranked No. 1 in the state for all divisions. "He never lets up, it's unbelievable."