If you forget to glance at today's season-first Fab 5 list of teams, don't worry about it.
It's not likely to change much in the next eight weeks.
Perennial power Timberlane, the two-time reigning New England champion, is probably heads and shoulders above anyone else, runner-up Central Catholic has already beaten North Andover and it's tough to imagine anyone passing either Methuen or Lawrence, who take up the fourth and fifth spots.
Upsets are always possible, of course, but only if the teams wrestle each other. Because Central dropped Timberlane this year, the Owls don't face any of the local teams outside of New Hampshire. And, although Salem and Pinkerton boast decent squads, neither are deep enough to challenge them.
Central Catholic and North Andover have a nice rivalry, but the Knights don't wrestle Methuen and will face Lawrence just once (at a quad-meet in Westford Jan. 23), so it's doubtful there will be much movement.
Get the drift? There are few frames of reference in which to compare the local teams, and it's not just because of the lack of crossover dual meets.
Years ago, at the initiative of former Haverhill coach Chip Dunn, virtually every local school met at the Haverhill Invitational at the beginning of January. But several Mass. teams, discouraged by Timberlane's dominance, soon dropped out and, before long, Timberlane — in search of stiffer competition — was forced to leave.
Other area tournaments, like at Salem, N.H., Methuen and Timberlane, feature only two or three local squads, making it difficult to compare teams, much less the top individuals.
My question is this — why can't all the top teams, in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, get together in the same place at the same time? It would promote wrestling in the area, provide some great wrestling and settle an awful lot of debate.
It's time for someone to step up and make it happen.
Kings of the Ring change
In today's first installment of the Kings of the Ring, there are some new additions. For the first time, local wrestlers from St. John's Prep and Malden Catholic are included.
Thus, St. John's senior T.J. Crabtree from North Andover is listed second at 135 behind Malden Catholic's Devin Visconti of North Reading in what is suddenly a loaded weight class.
From now on, any worthy local wrestler will be included in the Kings of the Ring, provided that the school he represents — as is the case with St. John's and Malden Catholic — at some point competes against local schools.
This will make the Kings of the Ring more competitive and more meaningful. However, as is the case with non-local wrestlers from Brooks and Phillips Academy, these newcomers are not eligible for the Eagle-Tribune All-Area team at the end of the year.
Oh, brother!
There are three awesome sets of brothers represented in the Kings of the Ring. The O'Boyle brothers, Ryan and Mike from Central Catholic and Brooks, are the headliners at 112 and 125, Kyle and Devin Visconti, lead at 119 and 135, and Timberlane's Lawrence brothers, Nick and Nate, are first at 160 and second at 171 respectively.
Kyle Visconti and Nick Lawrence, incidentally, are both members of tremendously tough weight classes.
Trailing Visconti are defending New England runner-up Matt Buco, undefeated Brooks junior Conor Duffey and Lowell Holiday Tournament placer Tanner Burke of Pinkerton while Brooks' unbeaten Colin Lahiff and Central standout Tom Lacroix (third at Lowell) are on the list at 160.
Central ranked fourth
In the first Mass. team rankings of the year posted by masswrestling.com, Central Catholic is ranked fourth behind Bridgewater-Rayhnam, Shawsheen and Franklin. North Andover is listed ninth with Lawrence and Methuen 18th and 19th respectively.
Methuen and Lawrence square off at Lawrence tomorrow at 7 p.m. in what should be an excellent dual meet.
Masswrestling.com also lists the top five wrestlers, pound for pound, leading with Haverhill 171-pounder Isaiah Williams. Burlington 145-pounder Kevin Barucci, who edged Timberlane standout Alex Smith at Lowell, and Tyngsboro's Derek Golner are fourth and fifth respectively.
Golner lost to Timberlane's Nick Lawrence in a 1-0 barn burner in the 160-pound Lowell Holiday Tournament finals.
WRESTLING FAB 5
The Eagle-Tribune's weekly ranking of area high school wrestling teams:
TEAMRECORD
1. Timberlane6-0
2. Central Catholic5-0
3. North Andover9-2
4. Methuen6-0
5. Lawrence8-3
Honorable mention: North Reading/Lynnfield (5-2)
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