RallyNorth.net

NORTH ANDOVER — Given a choice, Methuen 220-pound senior Paul Tomacchio would rather wrestle someone more his own size. But, fortunately for the Rangers, Tomacchio was only too happy to bump to heavyweight last night against North Andover to wrestle someone 65 pounds heavier than himself in the last match of the night. After a scoreless first period against North Andover junior Alex Inangelo, Tomacchio started on the top position in the second period. And, 1:14 later, he turned Inangelo on his back for a pin that lifted Methuen to a heart-stopping 34-33 victory that had the Rangers and their fans jumping and screaming for joy. Before a nice crowd of about 500 fans, Tomacchio’s pin capped a dramatic comeback for Methuen, which was trailing 33-18 with just three matches left. “I prefer (wrestling at) 220 but I knew yesterday that I’d be at heavyweight and I knew we needed a pin,” said Tomacchio. “The crowd was really loud — it was just crazy out there — but I knew I could pin him. When I did, it was the best feeling I’ve ever had.” Tommachio, who was making his first appearance at heavyweight, wasn’t the only Ranger to wrestle up a weight class during the comeback. Scott DelRossi went up from 182 to 195 and responded with a 12-0 major decision and sophomore Mike Golio sacrificed his 195 slot to go to 220, where he promptly recorded a 33-second pin, setting the stage for Tommachio’s heroics. “That was our plan all along,” said Methuen coach Bill James, whose team improved to 3-0. “Our heavyweight (Anthony Giorgio) is hurt and I knew they’d been struggling a little bit in the upper weights. It worked out like we hoped.” Billed as a showdown between two of the top teams in the state, the long-anticipated dual was every bit as exciting as advertised. There were seven lead changes and a split of the two closest matches of the night. At 120, Methuen senior Sarith Has got a second-period takedown and held on for a 2-1 victory over Anthony Polanco. At 160, North Andover tri-captain Jason Ricketts rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 5-3 decision over Jack Khoury. At that point, it looked like the Knights (4-1) were in good shape. After all, sophomore Brad Drover had limited New England finalist C.J. Doherty to an 8-2 decision at 145 and Robert Drover followed with a surprising 12-0 domination of Ryan Savastano at 152, giving North Andover a 23-15 lead with standouts Dan Connelly and Ryan Neals on deck. Connelly and Neals responded with a pin and major decision to provide the 33-18 cushion. “I thought we were in trouble after 160,” admitted James. “Khoury wrestled a good match and I thought he had him (Ricketts). At that point, it didn’t look good, but our kids really came through. It was a great match.” Also winning matches for Methuen, both with first-period pins, were Christian Monserrat at 113 and Paul Sughrue at 132. For North Andover, Danielle Coughlin opened with a 51-second pin at 106, Zane Melillo had a 16-1 tech. fall at 126 and Fritz Hoehn delivered a 17-2 tech. fall at 138. All three, as well as Connelly and Neals are unbeaten on the season. “It was a great match and I’m glad we did it,” said North Andover coach Carl Cincotta. “Give them credit for good coaching strategy.”

Methuen tuned up for tomorrow's showdown at North Andover by crushing St. John's of Shrewsbury 62-6. Cuong Nguyen looked impressive at 106 with a second-period pin and both Giovanni Rivera (170) and Scott DelRossi (182) had strong performances. 

Methuen won the 12-team Con-Val Tourney. Freshmen Cuong Nguyen (106) and Tim Michellini (113) came in second and third, respectively. Christian Monserrat, Anthony Andronaco, Paul Sughrue, C.J. Doherty, Jack Khoury and Scott Delrossi were all victorious.