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Blue Devil Classic

The names change, but the script remains the same at the Blue Devil Classic, the traditional season-opening local wrestling tournament.

Once again, Concord, N.H., rolled to the team title yesterday, its sixth straight, while local teams Pinkerton, Central Catholic and Salem showed some superb individual talent and projected promise of better days ahead.

Concord crowned four champions and placed 11 wrestlers in the top three while scoring 217 points, far ahead of runner-up Ludlow (149<1/2>). Pinkerton (142), Central (140<1/2>) and Salem (128) took the next three places.

Central, which was actually leading the tournament early, did well considering that the Raiders were missing standouts Mike Leavitt (189) and Curtis Davis (215), both of whom are still recovering from football but should be ready this week for a key dual meet against North Andover.

In addition to impressive finalists Mike Farragher (125) and Jack DiBurro (130), Tom Lacroix (140) and Darwin Almonte (152) also took second place.

Farragher was sharp until meeting up with two-time New England champion Trevor Dearden in the 125-pound finals while Haverhill's DiBurro had an outstanding tournament and nearly knocked off Salem standout Alex Pittera in the championship match.

"I thought we did fairly well with the guys we had missing," said Central assistant Tim Lattrell. "Jack wrestled really well and we had some freshmen look very good."

One freshman, 103-pounder Mike Armano of Methuen, was fourth at 103 and another, Simon Dillea of Haverhill, advanced to the semifinals at 145.

While Salem has gotten off to a slower start than coach Ryan Carr would like, he was more than pleased with his three champions | Dearden, Pittera and 160-pounder Corbin Decker.

Decker, who was named the meet's Outstanding Wrestler, was involved in the most anticipated match of the finals, against standout Pinkerton sophomore Ian Beck, who was a New Hampshire runner-up at 140 as a freshman last year.

Taking a tenuous 2-1 lead into the third period, Decker got a takedown and controlled most of the third period to take a 4-2 decision. He was also a winner at the Blue Devil Classic last year, but this year's title was far more impressive.

"That's one of the best matches I've seen Corbin wrestle," said Carr. "He was very intense and under control. It's a great way for him to start the season."

Pinkerton had one champion, as freshman David Owens followed three pins with a 3-2 decision in the 112-pound final while Cameron Jaworski (119), Will Cordeau (130) and Corey Beck (140) all came in third. Among three fourth places for the Astros, 171-pounder J.P. Zarba won the tourney award for most pins (4) in the least amount of time (7:40).

Malden Catholic, crowning three champions, finished seventh in the 16-team field. It is being coached this year by former Salem, N.H., coach Mike Bolduc of Methuen.