In 55 minutes at Archbishop Curley yesterday, Boys' Latin ended seven years of frustration against the 13th-ranked, defending private schools tournament champion.
The sixth-ranked Lakers won 11 of 12 contested bouts, nailing four of seven pins in the first period, and routed the Friars, 63-10. The score reflected two forfeits by Curley and one by Boys' Latin, as well as a deducted team point for a Curley wrestler's unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Lakers ended a 13-match winning streak by Curley (0-1, 0-1) and got their first dual-meet win over the Friars since 1995.
The victory also marked the first time Boys' Latin (3-0, 3-0) has won three events during the same season against the Friars, whom the Lakers had bettered earlier in tournaments at Curley and Perry Hall.
"Anytime you beat a team like Curley, it feels great," said the Lakers' 6-foot-6 Elliott Freed, who moved up a weight class from 189 and scored a pin at 215. "Whatever it took to win, we did it. They're coming off a great year, and we wanted to put their first dual-meet loss on them."
Curley's only win on the mat came from Mark Frey, one of three returning starters. He moved to 7-1 with a 20-4 technical fall victory at 135 pounds.
"Curley's not used to losing like this," said Frey, a state private schools champ. "We made some novice mistakes, and they took advantage. It's an eye-opener."
The Lakers set the tempo in the first bout, a 65-second pin by Mike Corso (119). Matt Plummer (103) also won by a fall, as did state champ Brian Saval (140), Lance Wilson (125), Josh Jacobs (160) and Alex Becker (171). Plummer's 28-second pin was the night's fastest.
The Lakers took all three close bouts, as Marc DiPasquale (145) outscored Pat Sinnott, 3-0, in the final period of his 7-4 win, top-ranked Jerome Featherstone (152) moved to 11-0 with a tougher-than-expected 9-5 victory over Paul Adams, and sixth-ranked Paul Marchese (heavyweight) continued to prevail over Tom Green, winning by 6-5, his third narrow victory this season over the Friar.
In a bout that figured to be close, Saval led 6-1 before pinning Steve Miller, whom he had beaten by four points last weekend.
"We thought this would be a lot closer, but we were so psyched-up for this match," said Saval, who is 9-0. "We were definitely looking forward to this."
Lakers coach Drew Haugh never let up. Though two of his less-experienced wrestlers already had beaten Curley's entries at 152 and 215 pounds, Haugh strengthened his chances by dropping Featherstone from 160 and moving Freed to 215.
It was the wrestling equivalent to using the full-court press in the final seconds of a basketball blowout.