Central Catholic coach Dennis King is about to join the 300 club and further reinforce the reputation of Merrimack Valley wrestling.
Long considered the hotbed of wrestling in all of New England, the Merrimack Valley has — particularly with Lowell and North Andover and more recently with Timberlane and even Greater Lawrence leading the way — been a bastion for both standout teams and individuals.
A big reason why the Merrimack Valley has been so prominent has been the coaching, starting with Lowell's George Bossi and North Andover's Howard Crozier and continuing to this day.
North Andover's Dave Castricone leads the way. Now in his 36th year as head coach, his record of 623-138-2 at three schools, including 452-79-2 at North Andover, is the best all-time mark in New England, but there are three other active coaches well over 300.
Pentucket's Dennis Puleo (415-296-7), who spent 34 years at Masconomet, is one of only four coaches to crack 400 wins and North Reading/Lynnfield's Craig Stone has won 374 matches in 35 years.
Over the border, Timberlane's Barry Chooljian has won 379 matches in 26 years and his 90 percent winning percentage, based on an overall mark of 379-40-5, is ahead of everyone with more than 300 wins.
And now King, with a 292-75-5 record, is only eight victories shy of joining the 300 club. He has quietly been nearing the exclusive group and, with a solid lineup this year, should have no trouble breaking the barrier by mid-January.
In fact, with standouts like Zack Lattrell, Tom Lacroix, Simon Dellea and Ryan O'Boyle, the Raiders are a legitimate Merrimack Valley Conference contender and could be a Division 2 state contender along with North Andover, Burlington and Winchester, the latter two of whom moved up from Division 3. Burlington is the defending Division 3 champions.
With those teams on hand, the Division 2 North dual-meet sectional tournament should be spectacular and it will be close by as it will be hosted by North Andover.
Not to be overlooked in the MVC is rising power Lawrence under Rob Niceforo. The Lancers have not only gotten better every year, but they've gotten bigger. Niceforo greeted a stunning 92 candidates to practice this year.
But Lawrence is Division 1 and will be battling defending MVC champ and perennial power Lowell and St. John's Prep for top honors. Methuen has slipped a bit the last two years, but it shouldn't be down for long and the Rangers could even be a spoiler this year.
All in all, with both Greater Lawrence and Whittier (which will be previewed later in the week) expected to be contenders in the Commonwealth Conference, the Merrimack Valley will once again be at the forefront of New England wrestling.
Top active local coaches
623-138-2 — Dave Castricone, North Andover
415-96-7 — Dennis Puleo, Pentucket
379-40-5 — Barry Chooljian, Timberlane
374-278 — Craig Stone, North Reading/Lynnfield
292-75-5 — Dennis King, Central Catholic
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