Owls' Parker wins Lowell Holidays title
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Tuesday, December, 28
By Hector Longo
Correspondent
LOWELL – At some point, Timberlane Regional’s Bryce Parker might be able to take a break and soak in this amazing senior ride. For now, the quest continues, and he and the wrestling Owls have some lofty goals ahead.
Fresh off an all-Division II East season as a defensive lineman for the unbeaten Timberlane football state champs, Parker just continued the avalanche of winning by claiming the 182-pound title at the 73-team George Bossi Lowell Holiday Wrestling Tournament.
“It feels great, especially coming off last year with no tournaments, just duels. It’s my senior year, last chance to show how I have improved,” said Parker, who was making his first Lowell Holidays appearance.
“I feel like being the top seed gave me an opportunity to have a good place in the brackets, but I just took every match like it was the next match and I focused on that. The preparation coming in was key, I was really just focused on what was next.”
Parker’s 6-0 run over the two-day event featured three wins by fall, including a quarterfinal pin over Central Catholic’s Brandon D’Agostino in the quarters. He capped the road to the championship, knocking off Aaron Johnson of Mount Anthony in Vermont, 5-1, in the finals.
“So far, this has to be one of the top wins of my career,” said Parker, who claimed fourth at the Division I state meet as a sophomore.
“He’s wrestling great,” said Owls coach Dan Donovan. “He wrestled well at the Beast (of the East Tournament) for us and won a bunch of matches. He’s a tough competitor. He wrestles hard.”
Parker was the top gun among seven placers for Timberlane, which made a gallant late charge, only to place second behind St. John’s Prep of Danvers. The margin, 205-203, was razor thin.
“Overall, our team performed pretty well,” said Donovan. “We had seven medalists, three guys in the finals. That’s hard to do at Lowell. St. John’s is a very strong team. I’m very proud of how we wrestled.”
The football Owls made quite a statement.
Eagle-Tribune Defensive MVP Cooper Kelley and 1,000-yard rusher Dom Pallaria claimed runner-up spots.
“Dom is wrestling really well. He did a lot of work in the offseason, getting stronger, taking it to a lot of people,” said Donovan. “Cooper has taken huge jumps from last year."
“All great wrestlers, and all very good football players,” said Parker of his multi-sport mates. “After the state championship, all those long practices, coming into the wrestling room, it was a lot. But we just had to keep grinding.”
Success on the gridiron or here at Lowell won’t do anything to slow the Owls Express.
“These guys love wrestling, and they’re still really hungry,” said Donovan.
Champion St. John’s Prep was the only team in the strong Lowell field to claim two individual titles. West Newbury’s Tyler Knox won the 126-pound championship for the Eagles.
Central Catholic was fourth overall. Jimmie Glynn’s second place at 138 pounds was the best Raiders finish in the event, while D’Agostino wrestled back hard to grab fourth at 182.
Game Statistics:
Team scores (73 teams): 1. St. John’s Prep 205, 2. Timberlane 203, 3. Fairfield (Conn.) Warde 159, 4. Central Catholic 150.5, 5. Natick 141, T11. Salem 105, 22. Whittier 76, 32. Haverhill 66, 36. Pinkerton 59.5, 39. Windham 56.5
Winners/local placers:
106: 1. James Tildsley, Billerica; 7. Cole Glynn, CC; 8. Evan Lynch, Sal; 113: 1. Isiac Paulino, Monty Tech; 8. Jaclyn Dehney, CC; 120: 1. Matt Botello, Hingham; 3. Ryan O’Rourke, Sal; 7. Sam Oakes, Wind; 126: 1. Tyler Knox, SJP; 6. John Fabrizio, Timb
132: 1. Sidney Tildsley, Shawsheen; 6. Ben Davoli, Hav; 138: 1. Ty Stewart, Tyngs; 5. Aidan Williams, Wind; 145: 1. John Mairano, Simsbury, Conn.; 3. Brent Nicolosi, Hav; 5. Konrad Parker, Timb; 152: 1. Rawson Iwanicki, SJP; 160: 1. Michael Bobola, Franklin; 4. Anthony Rousseau, Timb; 170: 1. Will Ebert, Fairfield; 2. Jack McKiernan Pinkerton
182: 1. Bryce Parker, Timb; 4. Brandon D’Agostino, CC; 195: 1. Brendan Gilchrist, Norwalk; 2. Dom Pallaria, Timb; 8. Mike Brown, CC; 220: 1. Timmy Vadnais, Burlington; 2. Cooper Kelley, Timb; 8. Jeremy Rousseau, Whitt; 285: 1. Thomas Brown, Chelmsford; 5. Malikai Colon, Timb
