Central Catholic rules brotherly D-2 meet
There was a brotherly feeling at Saturday’s Division 2 state wrestling championships.
Four sets of brothers competed for state titles at Beverly High, and all four managed to leave with at least one piece of hardware.
The highlight was Masconomet’s Jack Darling winning his fourth state title with an impressive 11-2 win against Hingham’s Kaya Boyle in the 132-pound final. For the Virginia Tech-bound Darling, this was just the first step in a journey he hopes ends in glory at New Englands.
“It’s pretty special, but I still have a month of wrestling left,” said Darling, who was a New England finalist last year. “I just have to get back to work.”
Darling’s younger brother, Ian, took Burlington’s Zach Soda to overtime at 106 pounds before falling, 7-2. Soda’s brother Cam lost to Salem’s Calvin Dalton, 3-1, in the 113-pound final.
In the most dramatic match of the day, Dracut’s Allyn French fought an uphill battle from the start before taking down Sean McCullough of Lynnfield/ North Reading with less than a second left to win the 182-pound title, 9-8.
As for the team event, Central Catholic essentially wrapped it up from the getgo. The Raiders dominated, placing nine wrestlers in the top five, finishing with 164 points. North Attleboro was second with 104.5, while Dracut and Masconomet tied for third at 81.
“It’s a team sport, and that’s something we preach all the time,” said Central Catholic coach Jamie Durkin, whose team last won a state championship in 2003. “The support they have for one another is what makes us a good team.”
Never was the team spirit more in evidence than in the 195-pound final. Mando Binet was operating on fumes for the latter part of the match but found another gear in overtime to take down Shawn Conniff of King Philip, 9-7, as his teammates stormed the mat.
“He came out for the team as a sophomore and told me he was going to win a state title,” Durkin said. “He was a short, chubby kid who worked very hard to make himself into a state champion.”
The Glynn brothers earned a split as Tyler Glynn pinned Mike Burns of North Attleboro in 2:55 at 138 pounds. His brother Mike fell to Danvers’ talented Max Leete 4-1, at 120 pounds.
Division 1
After guiding his team to a landslide win with 199.5 points at Methuen High, Springfield Central’s Darby McLaughlin grabbed the outstanding coach honors, while St. John’s Prep standout Ryan Garlitz was a nearly unanimous choice for outstanding wrestler after capturing his third state crown at 138 pounds.
McLaughlin saw 10 of his Golden Eagles place in the top four with both Cesar Alvan (160) and Dohnivin Harvey (170) taking titles.
“I’ve never had that many,” said McLaughlin, who has six Div. 1 titles and two AllState titles in his 18-year career. “I’m just so proud of all the guys.”
The loudest ovation went to Methuen’s Matt Cabezas, who brought the home crowd to their its feet with a gutty win at 145.
Division 3
Zabion Powell pinned Melrose’s Stephen MacDonald in the 145-pound final to help Taconic capture its first state title at Wakefield High.
“It’s crazy ... you can’t really describe it,” Powell said.
Taconic compiled 113 team points, two clear of secondplace Dedham.
It easily could have gone the other way. Dedham was led by senior Oj Pekacar, who edged Foxboro’s William Ogebebor, 9-8, at 220 pounds. If Peckacar won by pin, there would have been co-state champions.
Foxboro surged to a thirdplace finish on the collective backs of Shayne Kerrigan and Tommy Gallagher, who won consecutive finals at 132 pounds and 138. Gallagher’s victory took an all-out effort, as he defeated Tyngsboro junior Josh Ducharme, 2-0 in overtime.
Holliston’s Brian Garry was named most outstanding wrestler for his efforts at 126, winning the most dramatic match of the day with a last-second takedown of Middleboro’s Jaden Estrada.
Wayland junior Cameron Jones finished with the most falls at the conclusion of the tournament, as he racked up five in the 170-pound class.
“We knew coming in that it was tight,” Taconic coach Jeremy Tetreault said. “There was a lot of parity throughout Div. 3.”