Martinez’s late pin helps Lowell clinch team title

SALEM — Amelyiah Martinez didn’t know she needed a pin for the team title, but in a close match, she made the clinching move.

While being choked by her broken headgear, Martinez found space to wrap her arm around the head of Sharon’s Samantha Rabkin in their 235pound match at the MIAA Division 1 all-state championship at Salem High.

As she pushed hard, all the Lowell sophomore could hear from her corner was “Stay there, stay there!” until the final whistle blew.

“I was really stressed,” Martinez said. “I’m 167-171 [pounds], and I wrestle up to 235. When she went on top, I had confidence in myself, but I had to pull a move to make it work.”

When she heard the whistle, Martinez initially thought time had run out. Then she saw 50 seconds were left on the clock and deduced she had won the girls’ all-state title.

“I was stone cold until I looked at my sister [Gabriella] and started bawling,” Martinez said. “She’s the one I work for. I just try to prove to her that anything is possible.”

Those 6 points put Lowell (52 points) just ahead of Ashland (50).

“Taking fourth last year made us realize we could do it. We put a lot of effort into this girls’ team, creating this girls’ team, building it,” said Lowell coach Nick Logan. “They had to go out there and perform and they did.”

■ Maddy Li knew her 114pound weight class would be the most challenging of the tournament.

Seeded third after winning the Division 1 state title (and earning Outstanding Wrestler honors), the Andover senior defeated the No. 2 and top seed in the last two rounds to take the all-state crown.

“I just remembered how hard I worked,” she said. “I feel like no one in the weight class has worked as hard as I have in the two years I’ve been here. I just wrestled, put my heart out there.”

She earned two takedowns in her bout with top-seeded Brooke Weafer of Bristol-Plymouth, allowing 3 escape points. It was 4-3 entering the third, and she kept Weafer off the board to maintain that margin.

“I could feel her getting tired,” Li said. “I felt confident I wouldn’t give anything up.”