RallyNorth.net

Reggies wallop Central to claim title

Thursday, February, 14 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

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).

Yet Sharpe was razor | pardon the expression | sharp in the Division 2 North dual-meet sectional yesterday to help punctuate an overwhelming performance by the defending Division 2 dual-meet state champion Reggies. After whipping Tewksbury 52-22 in the semifinals, they pinned 11 opponents to obliterate Central Catholic 69-12 for the championship.

Greater Lawrence will host a dual-meet state semifinal Tuesday, likely against either Franklin or Natick.

Prior to the championship meet, Central soundly defeated Westford, 49-28, in the other semifinal. But it proved no match for the Reggies in the finale.

"We could have wrestled a little better, but they (Greater Lawrence) are just too good for us," said Central Catholic assistant Tim Lattrell. "They've got to be the best (Division 2) team in the state."

With the Reggies' semifinal meet starting at 135, Tewksbury led 22-16 lead through 215 pounds. But Sharpe made a quick move and an accompanying pin in the second period to turn the tide and start a run of six straight pins.

"I knew our lightweights would come through, but I didn't want to wait for them," said Sharpe. "I've been getting better and I wanted to show it."

Head coach Tony Sarkis has noticed Sharpe's improvement. "He's come so far," said Sarkis. "If you saw him as a freshman, you would have never thought he'd be varsity, much less help us out like he has. He's won some big matches." Sharpe's development, plus the emergence of Wadscar Gomez at 130 pounds, the recent return of Ray Diaz to the lineup and the return last night of veteran 145-pounder Isaac Sosa have made the Reggies devastating.

Sarkis said that "our lineup this year is definitely better than last year. We don't have any big weakness."

The first four Reggies in the lineup are virtually unbeatable in dual meets. Buco, Guzman, Ortiz and Nadeau all had two pins last night as did DelaRosa, who wrestled at 160 after barely missing the weight limit at 152. Buco's and Nadeau's pins were all in the first period.

Also, Jonathan Delossantos enjoyed a wild 22-12 major decision at 140 to open the Tewksbury meet and had a 44-second pin against Central. Freshman 135-pounder Joe Pizzuto capped off the rout of Central with a pin in the final match of the night.

"This makes another first for us," said Sarkis. "We've never beaten Central, so to win an inner-city meet like this is a big thing for our kids."

For Central, Dave Kando (171) and Mike Leavitt (215) both had pins against Greater Lawrence and were 2-0 on the day. Against Westford, Brian Lawrence gave the Raiders some momentum in the very first match. Trailing 4-2, he recorded a third-period pin to put Central up, 6-0.

Raider senior Alberto Nunez had a pin at 215 against Westford and, dropping to 189, gave a good effort against Victor Sosa in the finale, falling 10-6.