RallyNorth.net

Owls roll to 159th straight

PLAISTOW — It's usually the dramatic pins that gets the crowd excited in wrestling pins, but not Friday night.

Trailing 16-6 in a battle of unbeatens, Timberlane pulled off three straight close decisions to grab the momentum and then recorded seven straight pins to roll over Concord 57-16.

That ended the Owls' dual meet season with a perfect 20-0 record and marked their 159th straight win in New Hampshire, dating back 11 years to a loss to Concord. The viciting Crimson Tide dropped to 19-1.

The first decision was recorded at heavyweight when sophomore Chris Lund, who was bumped up a weight, recorded a 4-2 decision in overtime. Then, at 106, Nick Roeger recorded a takedown with 20 seconds left to take a 6-5 decision and, finally, John Leavitt survived at 113 with a 1-0 decision in overtime.

Although all three decisions were huge, Roeger's was particularly pleasing since it came over returning state finalist Sam Wagner, who had beaten him last year. That improved the surging junior to 32-5 on the year.

"That was definitely an upset and a great match by Nick," said Timberlane coach Barry Chooljian. "The others were tossups but our kids were ready.

"Those three close matches lit the gym on fire. The gym was really rocking. It was a great crowd and a great night for us. We weren't expecting to win by that much."

With the win, Lund improved to 23-11 while Leavitt, also a sophomore, is now 32-10.

Following Leavitt's decision, the Owls could not be stopped. Barret started the barrage of pins with a fall in 1:07 at 120 and he was followed by pins from Taylor Donovan (126), Nick Pallaria (132), Antonio Pallaria (138), Connor McGonagle (145), Dylan Musgrave (152) and Justin Berube (160).

Earlier, Dylan tremblay recorded the fastest pin of the day, in 49 seconds at 182, to improve to 38-3 on the year. The only one with a better record is McGonagle at 40-1.

"It was just a great high school event and we're really happy with the way our kids competed," said Chooljian.

The Owls are now off until the Division 1 state meet next Saturday at Londonderry.