NORTH ANDOVER — The St. John’s Prep wrestling team had two winners and one runner-up Saturday in the MIAA Division 1 state championship meet as the Eagles scored a third-place team finish.
Shawsheen Valley Technical High won the meet with 160 points. Central Catholic finished second with 157.5 points, followed by The Prep (129).
Saugus-Peabody finished with 10.5 points. Captain Max LoRusso led the way with a seventh-place finish at 144 pounds. Despite being relegated to the consolation bracket after losing in the first round, LoRusso finished the day on a high note, posting a record of 3-2 to improve his season record to 50-10.
He is the all-time leader among Saugus wrestlers in wins with 134.
“Max has been battling all year long at the toughest weight in the state,” said Saugus-Peabody Coach Wayne Moda. “Only two points separated him from finishing fifth or sixth. There are just so many good guys at 144 pounds in D1 North alone. There were two or three guys that didn’t make it out of the sectional, and at the D1 states, there were nine legit wrestlers who are probably better than most of the others in Division 2 and 3 combined.”
LoRusso is an alternate for this weekend’s all-states meet at Methuen High. Moda hopes he gets his chance.
“It’s tough because he’s been such a great leader and hard worker all season long and I really feel he deserves a shot in all-states, considering he wrestled in the deepest weight class in the state,” Moda said. “We’re hoping he makes it in as an alternate.”
Fellow captain Mike Maraio (150 pounds) finished 1-2, while Landon Rodriguez (0-2 at 132 pounds) also wrestled. Maraio finished the season 39-11, while Rodriguez finished 23-23.
Moda said both wrestled “great, but ran into tough competition.
“Landon is just a second-year wrestler and for him to make it out of the Division 1 North Sectional was truly amazing,” Moda said. “Mike is just a gritty, tough kid, but ran into some really tough competition. There is no doubt in my mind that he comes back strong next year and gets right through this tournament. I was super proud of the effort all three of our guys put in all season.”
No. 1 Brandon Goes of the Eagles defeated No. 2 Nathan Sayers of Xaverian in a 5-4 thriller at 126 pounds. No. 2 James Lally flipped the script and defeated top-seeded Thomas Greaney of Leominster, 13-4, in the 144-pound title bout.
No. 2 Alex Bajoras came up short at 285 pounds, losing to top-seeded Thomas Brown of Chelmsford, 13-7. Will Lavalee (150 pounds) and Domenico Ternullo (157) contributed fifth-place finishes. Octavio Deoliveira (6th, 215 pounds), Graham Conway (7th, 113 pounds), and Charlie Poor (8th, 175 pounds) also helped the cause.
