RallyNorth.net

WEYMOUTH‑ Methuen didn’t have the most entries at the Division 1 state tournament but with three titles, the Rangers left with the most champions.

Sophomore Christian Monserrat (113 pounds), junior Paul Sughrue (126) and senior C.J. Doherty (145) each capped off four-match runs in the weight classes en route to first-place finishes yesterday at Weymouth High School. Each won for at least the second straight time. Both Monserrat and Sughrue will be gunning for their second straight All-State title in two weeks.

A season after a fractured back threatened to end her gymnastics career, Andover's Jessie Livingston won the all-around with a career-best 36.825 at the MVC Division 1 meet. The Golden Warriors placed second as a team.

O’DONNELL SETS RECORD Methuen’s Michael O’Donnell won the 2-mile in 9:31.58, breaking the previous meet record of 9:33.12. O’Donnell has come a long way. He ran the 1,000 meters in last year’s MVC indoor meet and finished seventh. “I just want to try do my best every time, and if that’s breaking records, then I’m more than happy to do that,” said O’Donnell, who ran a 4:17.05 mile last week. O’Donnell said he believes he will be running the mile at Division 1 States.

BOSTON — Somebody please buy Maggie Mullins a “Life is Good” T-shirt. On Feb. 2, the Andover senior signed a letter of intent to run track at Boston College. And then last night she ran her personal best of 10:51.04 to win the 2-mile and help the Andover girls win the MVC indoor championship meet.   That was nearly a nine-second personal best and fell just shy of former North Andover great Kirsten Kasper’s three-year-old area record of 10:48.68. The runner-up in the 2-mile finished more than a minute behind Mullins, who smashed the meet record of 11:09.58 that she set last year. Andover beat out runner-up Central Catholic, 89-74, and Lowell came in third (70). “(Mullin’s) time was awesome,” Andover coach Peter Comeau said. “We’ll see how good she is next week (at Division 1 States), when she’s up against everybody. Then we can decide where her fate will be as a distance runner.”    “Last year in the spring I kind of burned out,” said Mullins, a former soccer player who ran cross country for the first time as a junior. “I had a really bad spring season. I wasn’t injured but I wasn’t feeling really good.” Her burn out didn’t linger as she repeated as Eagle-Tribune MVP in cross country in the fall. Comeau added, “I’m happy for her and the season she’s having right now because last year was a tough year for her.” Comeau said BC gave Mullins a half-scholarship. “If she starts making these times, the money will go up,” he said.   Lowell won the boys championship with 104 points. The Red Raiders were followed by Chelmsford (53), Central (43).

Methuen, in a battle of teams battling to make the tournament, defeated Needham 50-45, holding the host team to five points in the fourth quarter. Amanda Petrow had a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Rangers (8-9) and Beka Costa played an excellent all-around game.

Methuen's boys hoop team held off a hard-charging Billerica squad for a 59-56 victory. In what head coach Matt Curran termed "a monster game," Ryan Freeman went off for 20 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks, while Kyle Mansour added 15 points and 10 rebounds. "Those two have been carrying us this year and they did it again (last night)," said Curran.

Dylan Epstien finished the 50-yard dask i a time of 5.8, takig first place and helping Andover to a fourth place finish (51 points) at yesterday's MVC freshman/sophomore meet.  

CHELMSFORD — The third time was no ho-hum affair for Methuen senior C.J. Doherty here last night.
The standout 145-pounder captured his third Division 1 North sectional crown, but this one was special, and particularly enjoyable, for a couple of reasons.
First, by dominating Shawsheen’s Brian Ward in the finals with a 15-0 technical fall, Doherty proved that his lone setback of the season, last week in the finals of the Methuen Tournament, may have been a fluke.
And, more to the point, winning an individual sectional title is much more fun when your teammates can join in the celebration.
Doherty was one of four champions and one of 10 Rangers overall (top four placers) who qualified for Saturday’s Division 1 state meet at Weymouth. Methuen captured its second straight sectional crown with 223 1/2 points.
St. John’s Prep was second with 184, edging Lawrence by one point while Chelmsford was fourth in the 14-team field with 165.
The top four teams qualify for the Division 1 dual-meet state tournament, which will be held at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell Feb. 19-20. Methuen, with a 17-0 dual record, will likely be the top seed.
“It makes the season a lot more fun when you have 13 others on your team who want to win and so many are going on,” said Doherty. “I like knowing the team is there for me and I want to be there for the team.”
Doherty was certainly there yesterday, determined to wipe away any memory from last week.
“I didn’t come out (in the finals last week) as I could have,” said Doherty, who improved to 28-1. “I’ll use that experience so no one can touch me again.”
Remaining undefeated on the year were 113-pounder Christian Monserrat and 126-pounder Paul Sughrue. Monserrat (29-0), for the second time this year, fell two points behind St. John’s of Shrewsbury’s Peter Robinson before recovering for a 6-2 decision. Sughrue (34-0) pinned St. John’s Jared Costa in the second period.
Costa, the son of head coach Manny Costa, lost for only the second time all year.
Joining the terrific trio with a gold medal was 160-pounder Jack Khoury. He prevailed in the surprise weight class of the tournament, defeating Andover’s Nick Marcotte 6-2 in the finals to improve to 26-5.
Finishing second for the Rangers was 182-pounder Scott DelRossi, who lost a tough match to MVC foe Marionel Garcia of Lawrence, 6-4. Garcia had a reverse and takedown in the third period to improve to 34-3, while DelRossi dropped to 30-3.
Taking third for the Rangers was 120-pounder Sarith Has, who beat Haverhill’s Orlando Rojas for the second time on the day, 6-0, and 132-pounder Anthony Andronaco. Jason Pendergast (138), Ryan Savastano (152) and heavyweight Anthony Giorgio — in his first tourney action of the year since returning last week from an injury — all took fourth.
“We had a lot of good stuff happen for us today,” said Methuen coach Bill James, who was named the Division 1 North Coach of the Year. “To have 10 guys going to State is a really great day.”
Lawrence had three champions and the Lancers served notice that they’ll be formidable attempting to defend as dual-meet state champions. In addition to Garcia, Hector Reynoso prevailed at 106, defeating St. John’s Prep’s Louis Bornstein in the finals, and 132-pounder Edgardo Rios had his fourth pin of the day in the finals to complete a banner day.
Finishing second for the Lancers was heavyweight Janer Reyes, who dropped a 1-0 decision in the finals to Chelmsford’s Lou Ferrer. They had split matches during the regular season.
Adrian Sosa was third at 138 for Lawrence, pinning Pendergast in the consolation finals, while Mike Mena was fourth at 220.
Parris Williams finished third at 152 for Haverhill while Andover freshman Tyler Ferris was third at 106.
Westford 120-pounder Connor Peacock was named the tourney Outstanding Wrestler.

Methuen finished up an 8-2 season with a sweep of Central Catholic and Dracut. Methuen's Samantha McGovern and Victoria Daigle tied for the all-ariound title with 34.7 totals. Central, which beat Billerica, was led by Maddie Arndt (season best 9.1 on beam) and Giana Contrada and Jamie Maffeo excelled in the all-around.

Olivia Biles scored 16 points, including netting three 3-pointers, and Devon Caveney also had 16 points in Andover girls basketball's 72-35 victory over Methuen.