ANDOVER – Lawrence High had the momentum of thrilling, back-to-back pins. Victory was near with the shoulders of Greater Lawrence Tech heavyweight Armany Melo just millimeters from the mat.
The Reggies’ sophomore would have none of that.
Melo fought off the potential pin and turned things around with some drama of his own – a win by fall with 14 seconds left — clinching a 45-35 Greater Lawrence win over the rival Lancers.
“At the moment, it’s hard. You just have to dig deep and you have to fight,” said Melo, who was in trouble deep early but somehow wiggled out of Lancer Brady Rodriguez’ grasp.
“At first, there’s a little panic, but you look at the coaches and your team, and you relax and take a deep breath. And you just try to take control of things.”
The victory was the third of the day for the Reggies, who also took out Billerica and Nashoba earlier Saturday morning.
This one just mattered more. The rival programs, so intertwined with childhood friends and cross-city competitors, battled hard, with every second on the mat contested.
“This is such an important match,” said senior captain Xavier Tirado. “We wanted this one badly, of course.”
Tight from the start, the teams split the first six matches evenly.
Izick Diaz (106), Michael Deleon (120) and Dylan Smith (132) had the Reggies’ wins by fall, and Dominic Armano (113), Miguel Florian (126) and Jaizah DeJesus (138) answered with Lancer pins.
At 145, Josh Matos, who was 3-0 on the day, scored a gritty, 10-6, win over Lawrence’s Joel Garcia, but the Lancers grabbed their first – and only — lead with a tech fall by Jean Carlos Martinez at 152.
That’s where the Reggies took charge with rapid-fire pins by Jayden Lapointe, Jason Sanchez and Tirado, making it 39-23.
“That’s it, we need three straight pins,” said Lawrence coach Rob Niceforo to his team, trying to rally the troops.
And the Lancers nearly pulled it off.
Nathaniel Ramos wore his man down at 195 for an early third-period pin to start the ground swell. At 220, Izzik Adames looked gassed in the third but willed his way to a pin at the 5:24 mark to cut the Reggies lead to 39-35, setting up the heavyweights and Melo’s magic.
“Lawrence has always been my biggest rival. It’s always a big match,” said the sophomore Melo, who transferred to the Tech from Methuen High after his freshman year.
“To beat them is always nice, but at the end of the day, we’re all friends.”
Earlier in the day, the Reggies drilled Nashoba Tech, 60-24, and Billerica, 48-27. They move to 11-9 on the year. Lawrence stopped Billerica, also 48-27, and Nashoba, 66-6.