Published February 20, 2019

BEVERLY — Wrestling captain Sean McCullough made history during the Division 2 State Tournament at Beverly High School last weekend.

McCullough finished second in the 182 lb. weight class and concluded the tournament with a 3-1 record. He was one of two members of the Lynnfield-North Reading co-operative wrestling team who competed in the tournament.

The Black and Gold finished 31st out of 48 teams in the tournament.

McCullough began the Division 2 State Tournament pinning Norwood’s Dom Maddox at 31 seconds. He defeated Marlboro’s Osmar Agreda by fall at 4:17 in the quarterfinals.

During the semifinals, McCullough pinned Central Catholic’s Lewy Baez at 3:14. McCullough fell to Dracut’s Allyn French by an 9-8 decision in the finals.

“It was a rematch of the North Sectional finals,” said Black and Gold head coach Craig Stone. “Sean had defeated French last weekend.”

CAPTAIN Sean McCullough (on top) finished second in the 182 lb. weight class after concluding the Division 2 State Tournament with a 3-1 record. He will be competing in the All-State Tournament this weekend. (Courtesy Photo)

Stone noted McCullough served as an alternate during last year’s Division 2 State Tournament.

“From alternate to state runner-up is quite an accomplishment,” said Stone. “Sean will wrestle this weekend at St. John’s Danvers, which will have the top six place finishers from all three divisional tournaments.”

Stone noted McCullough’s record this season is 41-5 and has a career record of 97-30. He said McCullough’s second place finish “is the highest state place finish of a North Reading wrestler” since the co-op program was established in 2005. Stone noted that former wrestlers Joe Morse (106 lbs.), Joey Wise (152 lbs.) and CJ Venuto (140 lbs.) had each finished fourth during previous state tournaments.

“Sean also became the first LNR wrestler, since the move up to Division 2, to make it into a state championship final,” said Stone. “He was so close to winning the championship, leading 8-7 with seconds remaining. It was certainly heartbreaking, but at the same time rewarding as he was just an alternate last year and watched the tournament from the stands.”

Captain Tim Leggett went 0-2 during the 132 lb. weight class. He fell to Winchester’s Dion Kourafalos by an 8-2 decision in the first round. Leggett concluded the tournament after falling to Plymouth South’s Lucas Coppola by an 11-5 decision.

Stone noted Kourafalos finished third in the 132 lb. weight class while Coppola finished sixth.

“It was a tough draw having to face two eventual place finishers,” said Stone. “Timmy finished the year with a 33-5 overall record, which included tournament championships at Wakefield, Pentucket and Cohasset. He competed at the state tournament last year as well. He has a career record of 62-27 at this time. I was disappointed for Timmy. He had such an outstanding season. Fortunately, he will be back again next year.”