Lancers prevail for title; Holt shines

Sat, Jan 05, 2008 10:00 AM @ Haverhill
Team	Final
Haverhill Invitational
Lawrence	199
Londonderry	174
Hollis-Brookline	157
Winnacunnet	133
Quabbin	97
St. John's Shrewsbury	97
Pentucket	88
Wilmington	79
Greenfield	62
Swampscott	62
Whittier	59
at Haverhill	50
Georgetown	41
Mt. Wachusett	40
Worcester Academy	11

Haverhill, Pentucket, Lawrence, Londonderry » Deborah Hammond, Staff Photographer

Lancers prevail for title; Holt shines

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Sunday, January, 06 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

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.

Pentucket was a surprising seventh in the 16-team field. Lawrence had nine semifinalists and four finalists, coming away with three champions. Elvis Garcia (140), Jose Varela (189) and heavyweight Pedro Cruz, despite all being seeded second, came away with the gold. Varela had an impressive first-period pin in the finals.

Jorge Aquino (103) came in second for Lawrence and Pedro Rodriguez (130) and Aaron Blanco (145) all came in third. "It's the best we've wrestled all year," said Lawrence coach Rob Niceforo. "The kids weren't happy with the way they wrestled at (the) Pentucket (tournament) and they came here determined to do better. It was a real team victory."

Londonderry, meanwhile, also had four finalists and came away with one champion as standout Cody Byrd finished first at 145, marking his second tournament crown of the season. Finishing second were Kyle D'Urso, who lost by a point in the finals to Garcia, Scott Worth (160) and rapidly improving Tom Manley (215).

Londonderry also had thirds from James Chase (103), Joel Cotton (171) and Corbin Kennedy (189).

Pentucket had a second from Andy Lane, who injury defaulted to Winnacunnet standout Josh Huber in the 119 finals, surprising Brian Pigott (171) and Ben Stasiuk (189).

Host Haverhill only had one champion, but he was an impressive one. Tom Holt rolled to the crown at 125 without giving up a point the entire tournament. He had two pins and captured 3-0 and 14-0 decisions.

Victor Peters of Winnacunnet was named the tournament Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 125-pound crown and pinning returning state champion Steve Sughrue of Wilmington in the finals.

For Georgetown, the Nemeroff brothers both placed, Jay coming in third at 160 and Dean taking fourth at 135. Anthony Eugenio was fourth for Whittier at 112.