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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.

This is turning out to be quite the successful transition year for Londonderry.

A transition year is what first-year coach Jim Marron envisioned, but it's become much better than that. The Lancers are currently 9-1 and finished first at both the Alvirne and Bow tournaments and second at the Haverhill Tournament.

Kyle D'Urso's pin at 140 turned the tide for Londonderry, which had been struggling against Exeter in the early goings, and the Lancers ended up cruising to a 51-25 victory. Corbin Kennedy (189), Tom Manley (215) and Kevin Handy (heavyweight) all won by pin to secure the victory and improve Londonderry to 9-1.

It was a great day for Lancers at the Haverhill Invitational yesterday.

And it was a particularly good day for the Lawrence Lancers, who captured their second straight Haverhill Invitational title, rolling up 199<1/2> points to edge the runner-up Londonderry Lancers (174<1/2>) for top honors.

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.

It was a Braveheart evening yesterday at the Pentucket Tournament.

Despite resting five standout starters, Greater Lawrence charged into first place to win its second title in three years with 146 points, slipping past local rival and defending champion Lawrence (141<1/2>), which led heading into the final round.

Timberlane remained undefeated (6-0), crushing Londonderry 60-12. Jarad Smith was cited as Wrestler of the Meet for a 1-0 decision over Cody Byrd at 152, Nick Scali impressed with a pin at 160 and freshmen Matt Morris (119) and Nick Lawrence (130) continued to look good, both recording 17-1 technical falls. Matt Tardif had a solid 6-0 decision at 215.

2006-07 record: 8-5

Returning starters (6): Cody Byrd, Jr., 145; Kyle D'Urso, Sr., 140; Scott Worth, Sr., 171; Joel Cotton, Jr., 171; Justin Oliverio, Sr., 130; Scott McGowan, Soph., 112

Promising newcomers: Jason Gagne, Sr., 145; Shane McInnis, Sr., 160; James Chase, Frosh., 130; Andy Janowicz, Frosh., 119; Joe Maio, Frosh., 125; Jesse Park, Jr., 130/135; Corbin Kennedy, Sr., 189; Nick Lanchester, Sr., 215; Tom Manley, Jr., 215; Kevin Handy, Sr., 285