Framingham pins Lowell in Division 1 semifinals

A year after being eliminated in the state semifinals, Framingham wrestling is one step away from winning the state championship after eliminating Division 1 champion Lowell, 43-20, in Framingham last night.

"Nick Flannery was huge at 125 pounds," said Framingham coach Jon Kanavich. "He pinned Christian McCarthy who beat him in the [individual] state semifinals just a week or so ago."

The win marks the second time Framingham has beaten Lowell this season.

Another huge turnaround for Framingham was Matt Olsen at 215 pounds. After being pinned by Lowell's Ibraheem Khadar in a January dual meet, Olsen beat Khadar, 7-1, last night.

Framingham will face Springfield Cathedral, March 3 for the state title. Top-seeded Springfield Cathedral defeated Bridgewater-Raynham, 28-21.

Division 1 North: St. Mary's scraped past Matignon, 2-1, in overtime thanks in large part to the line of John Baldwin, Andrew Bates, and George Carey which accounted for both Spartan goals.

Baldwin scored twice with Bates and Carey picking up two assists each.

Kyle Harring was strong for Matignon, stopping 28 of 30 shots.

Division 3 South: Blue Hills advanced with a 5-3 victory over Bourne. Senior defenseman Kevin Murphy had four assists for Blue Hills, and Dom Scopa made 19 saves . . . Scituate upset unbeaten and top-seeded Ashland, 2-1, with freshman Johnny Callanan potting the winner and Jamie Murray stopping 22 shots.

Division 2: Stephanie Frye had two goals and an assist as Walpole eliminated Canton, 4-2.

Division 1 North: Jerome Cohen scored 20 points and Dio McCloud had 14 to propel Everett past Brighton, 71-53 . . . East Boston defeated Salem, 66-58, behind freshman forward Dimitry Coronel's 18 points and Walter Lewis's 16 points and 9 assists.

Division 2 South: No. 15 Dorchester upset No. 2 Duxbury, 77-66, with Darius Carter leading the way with 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. Jaliel Langston chipped in 22 points, including 18 in the second half.

Division 3 South: Drew Donnelly collected 15 points and 11 rebounds as Medfield squeaked past Bishop Stang, 60-56 . . . Scituate advanced with an 80-59 win over Hopkinton. Rodney Beldo had 27 points and eight assists for the victors . . . Pembroke defeated Medway, 67-60, behind Matt Devine's 33 points. Devine also became the first player in the school's five-year history to score 1,000 points . . . Ryan Chambers had 29 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists as Abington beat Foxboro, 68-57, in coach Don Byron's 300th win.

Division 1 South: Weymouth nipped Fontbonne, 57-56, as Alexis Peters collected 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 steals.

Division 4 South: Sammi Lehr scored 18 points and her sister Tori chipped in 10 as Cohasset defeated Bishop Connolly, 58-35.

Prep-private: Gann Academy junior point guard Nancy Epstein scored 30 points in a 54-51 victory over Beaver Country Day. Epstein (1,014) is the school's first 1,000-point scorer.