RallyNorth.net

NH Division 1 state meet

Sunday, February, 17 By Dave Dyer
Staff writer

The dice came up with a pair of nines for the Timberlane wrestling team at the Division 1 state meet yesterday, and they were big winners.

The Owls, thanks to a shocking 9-for-9 performance in the semifinals earlier in the day, cruised to their ninth straight Division 1 crown in resounding fashion.

Timberlane, with seven state champions and 12 placers advancing to Saturday's Meet of Champions, finished with a resounding 300 points, far ahead of runner-up Concord (211<1/2>). Pinkerton came in third (132<1/2>), Salem | with two champions | settled for fourth (125) and Londonderry came in seventh (95<1/2>).

If the Owls' margin of victory wasn't demoralizing enough for the rest of the Division 1 field, the fact that there is only one senior among Timberlane's seven champions, two of whom are freshmen, must be disheartening.

The one senior, 145-pounder Jarad Smith, did have a terrific tournament and was edged out in a close vote for tourney Outstanding Wrestler, which was won by Salem ace Trevor Dearden. Smith had four pins on the day and all were in the first period.

"You can't wrestle much better than Jarad did in the tournament," said Timberlane coach Barry Chooljian.

The two freshmen champs for the Owls were 112-pounder Matt Morris, who got a late reversal to nip Pinkerton rival David Owens 8-7 in the finals, and 130-pounder Nick Lawrence, who had a solid 5-2 decision over Concord's Brandon Page, who was the No. 1 seed. Morris is now 2-2 on the year against Owens and 29-6 overall.

"It feels awesome to win as a freshman," said Lawrence.

Also taking first for the Owls were 103-pounder Cam Sullivan, who dominated Concord's Bob Daniels, 16-5, in the finals, 140-pounder Dave Clemens, 171-pounder Eric Petrillo and heavyweight Brian Nicoll. All are juniors.

Sullivan improved to 38-5, Clemens upped his record to 40-8 after a 4-2 decision, Petrillo was impressive throughout the tourney, winning 9-4 in the finals to improve his record to 39-7 and Nicoll (37-3) stayed unbeaten in New England, although he was tested in the finals, edging Goffstown's Tom Foote in overtime.

Finishing second for the Owls were Alex Smith at 119 and Max Zdrada at 189. Smith (36-9) wrestled superbly in the finals before losing 4-3 to defending state champ Josh Huber of Winnacunnet, and Zdrada, after an impressive pin in the semifinals, fell 10-4 in the finals.

Also, Cole Priddy (125) and Matt Tardif (215) came in fourth and Eric Hebert (160) took a fifth for the Owls.

"This was extraordinary," said Clemens, one of three Owls' captains. "I'm happy with everyone's performance and we're looking forward to next week."

Added Chooljian: "I didn't know what to expect with this group because it's so inexperienced. They had to prove themselves in the offseason and today they did."

Pinkerton had three finalists, but they all finished second. In addition to Owens, James Herlihy was runner-up at 125 and Ian Beck came in second at 152. Will Cordeau (130) and Colin Crowell (135) both came in third. Corey Beck avenged a first-day loss to finish fifth at 140.

"We would have liked to have done better, but overall we had a good tournament," said Pinkerton assistant Jim Cherniack.

In addition to Dearden, a two-time New England champion who had a technical fall in the finals to improve to 39-2 on the year, Alex Pittera placed first at 135, recording one of three pins in the finals to improve to 34-7 on the year, and Corbin Decker came in second at 160, dropping a tough 3-2 decision in the finals to Alvirne's Evan Carter.

For Londonderry, Cody Byrd finished third at 152, dropping a tough 8-6 decision in the semifinals to Beck. He had been set to wrestle as the top seed at 145 but a clerical error forced him to go up a weight. Kyle D'Urso (140) also came in third for the Lancers.

The top six placers advance to Saturday's Meet of Champions at Londonderry.