RallyNorth.net

At the beginning of the year, Salem junior Beau Dillon was in the dumps.

DANVERS — It was a good first day for local wrestlers at the All-State wrestling meet, with a pair of semifinal showdowns set for this morning.

Of particular interest will be the138-pound matchup between Central Catholic's Tyler Glynn (50-2) and Haverhill's Jake Nicolosi (47-4). They met back in December at the WIlmington Tournament with Glynn prevailing.

Sophomore Jack Carbone continues to wrestle well for North Andover, recording a 5-2 decision at 195 as the Knights beat Tewksbury 42-34.

St. John's Prep's wrestling team defeated Framingham in the finals, 54-18, to capture the Commonwealth Cup tournament. North Andover's Quinn Alexander won both of his matches.

North Andover standout 126-pounder Joey Valentino hasn't had many tests this year but he got one Saturday and he passed it. In a 48-18 win over Danvers, he wrestled Max Leete, who was third in New England at 113 pounds last year and bumped up a weight to take on Valentino. But Valentino controlled the match and won 3-1 and now stands at 29-0 on the year.

Lewy Baez prevailed with a 3-2 decision in a key 182-pound match to highlight Central Catholic's 42-22 victory over North Andover. Anthony Mears had a pin with 10 seconds left at heavyweight for the Raiders (13-1). Sean Milovanovic (113) and Jack Carbone (170) had impressive one-point wins for the Knights.

Timberlane ventured out to an old tournament and came in first at the John Gorman Invitational in Cumberland, R.I.

The Owls used their depth, placing eight wrestlers, to pile up 199 points, eight more than runner-up Bristol East. Pinkerton came in fourth with 131 1/2 points and North Andover came in 12th.

Sophomores Jared Hiller and Cam Watson both came from behind to record third-period pins to spark North Andover to a 46-24 win over Lowell.

Missing six starters due to injuries, North Andover struggled at the rugged Sprimgfield duals, going 1-3, but the Knights did edge Salem, N.H. 37-36. Unbeaten Joey Valentino got a major decision in the final match for the one-point win and also bumped up a weight to 132 to beat West Springfield standout Calvin Curtis, 12-5. 

Rapidly improving 106-pounder Michael Crowe had a second-period pin and Justin Sheehan had a third-period pin to highlight unbeaten  Methuen's 56-22 win over banged-up North Andover.