RallyNorth.net

Methuen Invitational

Sunday, January, 27 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

Methuen senior John Sughrue didn't get the match he would have preferred, but he had plenty of consolation yesterday at the Methuen Invitational.

Because he moved up a weight class to 130 pounds this year, there was no showdown with Salem star Trevor Dearden, but both Sughrue and Dearden came away big winners.

Dearden won the 125-pound crown by defeating Cranston West's rugged Shawn Giblin 6-0 in the finals for his third tourney crown at Methuen and Sughrue had a 37-second fall in the 130 finals to capture his second title. They then shared the tournament Outstanding Wrestler award.

Sughrue was one of four champions and five finalists for the Rangers, who won their own tournament for the second straight year, scoring 192 points. Cranston West was runner-up with 172 and Lawrence was third at 142<1/2>.

"It would have been nice to wrestle him (Dearden), but there's nothing I can do about it," said Sughrue, who improved to 34-0. "It's nice to win, but it's even better when the team wins."

It was indeed a satisfying win for Methuen because it prevailed despite forfeiting three weight classes due to injuries.

Joining John Sughrue with gold medals were Eric Buonagurio at 112, Kevin Sughrue at 140 and Andrik Cruz at 145. Th overlooked Buonagurio, who improved to 24-2, defeated Lawrence's Hugo Dominguez 12-7 in the finals, Kevin Sughrue squeezed out a key 3-2 decision over Cranston West's Nick O'Connell and Cruz defeated Tewksbury's Jim Tarpey 8-0, avenging a dual-meet loss to the MVC opponent.

Finishing second for the Rangers was 189-pounder Matt Murray, who hurt his ankle in the finals against Nashua North's rugged Mike Grillakis.

Also for the Rangers, Nate Gioacchini finished third at 103 and Bobby Kelm was fourth at 125.

"I'm real happy with the kids who wrestled," said Methuen coach Bill James."On paper, last year's team was a little stronger so to win this while giving up three weight classes I think is a great accomplishment. Some of our younger kids are starting to come on."

Lawrence coach Rob Niceforo was also pleased with his team, which he said had one of its best performances of the season.

Heavyweight Pedro Cruz led the way for the Lancers by winning his weight class with a pin in 1:02 in the finals and got votes for the OW. Dominguez provided a second and both Anthony Almanzar (135) and Elvis Garcia (140) came through with fourth places.

For Salem, which finished sixth in the 18-team field, 135-pounder Alex Pittera joined Dearden in the winner's circle with an impressive tournament. He had his third first-period pin of the day in the finals.

"Alex seems to be peaking at the right time," said Salem coach Ryan Carr. "It's a good time for him to start clicking on all cylinders."

Corbin Decker came in second at 160 for the Blue Devils despite wrestling Cranston West's talented Alfred Raymond tough in the finals, losing 8-5. Also, heavyweight Ryan Stanton came in third.