RallyNorth.net

North Andover rules D2 North

Saturday, February, 14 By Jeff Hamrick

READING — It turned into a successful day for area wrestlers at yesterday's Division 2 North Sectional, but no one had a bigger afternoon than the Knights from North Andover, who have grown accustomed to strong sectional showings.

North Andover once again ruled the show, finishing first with 218 points to outdistance Merrimack Valley Conference rival Central Catholic, which finished second with 188.5. Whittier (89) and Greater Lawrence (83.5) also finished among the top nine.

The Knights, who had four champions, and Central, which crowned three, combined for exactly half of the section's 14 titlists.

Leading the way for North Andover, which won its second straight North title, was Stephen Cincotta. Forced to sit the past two seasons with a shoulder injury, the senior continued his strong campaign by pinning each of his three 182-pound opponents in a combined 151 seconds — the day's best mark for most pins in the quickest time. Cincotta claimed his championship by pinning Greater Lawrence's Chris Eyssi in 1:16.

The area's only repeat sectional champ was North Andover's Fritz Hoehn, who easily ruled the 170-pound field with a pair of pins and a 22-6 technical fall over Dracut's Scott MacNeill in the final.

Other titlists for North Andover, which won four of its six title bouts, were Jack Perry at 113 and Peter Taylor  at 126. Perry dominated the finals by pinning Dracut's Zach Lakmany in 58 seconds, while Taylor also won his final over Dracut's Andrew Valdina by pin in 5:02. Twelve Knights advanced to the Division 2 state tournament, including 195-pounder Mathieu Messina and 220-pounder Kyros Vergados, both of whom finished second.

Leading the way for Central were winners Joey Sanchez (106), Brandon Desfossas (145) and Donovan Nolan (160). Jack Kiely finished second at 120. Sanchez, a freshman, also recorded pins in all three of his matches, including the final against Reading's Trevor Morton in 2:54.

Whittier had two runners-up in Xavier Boisvert (145) and Sidney Taylor (heavyweight).