The Eagle has landed once again.
Led by two first place finishes, two seconds and a pair of thirds, the St. John’s Prep wrestling team captured the Division 1 state title on Saturday at Methuen High. The deep and talented squad netted 171.5 points to beat out second place Natick (129.5) and third place Shawsheen (128).
Individual victories were claimed by Alex Schaeublin at 113 pounds and Rawson Iwanicki at 160. The former topped Lowell’s Jaxson Phachansiri in the semis with a 9-2 decision before snaring a 10-0 win over Haverhill’s Shea Morris in the championship bout.
Iwanicki also had four straight wins, highlighted by a pin at 1:43 over Natick’s Jake Ashman in the semis and a 26-11 decision over St. John’s Shrewsbury’s Curtis Ewing Jr. in the finals.
Alex Bajoras (285 lbs.) and Jayden D’Ambrosio (138) grabbed the two second place finishes while Jimmy Lally (132) and Marc Pineiro (195) each finished third. Ryan Desousa added a fourth place finish for the Eagles at 145 and Angel Heredia was fifth at 220.
Also competing in Division, the Saugus/Peabody co-op managed a 21st place finish out of 47 teams. First-year wrestler Reynaldo Lopez dazzled towards a runner-up at 220 pounds to lead the way and Will Pinto claimed fourth at 170.
Mason Hinshaw was the top finisher for Marblehead/Swampscott, capturing seventh place overall at 138.
Division 2
Competing at Milton, the Masconomet/Essex Tech co-op claimed 12th overall led by a trio of placers: Miles Darling was the top man with a runner-up at 120 pounds, Colin McAvaney grabbed third at 126, and Trevor O’Neil was sixth at 285.
Salem’s Brendan Dalton helped his squad to 14th place overall, coming in fourth individually at 145 pounds. Both Shane Field (182) and Yoniel Castillo (170) managed seventh place finishes while Marshall Bower was eighth at 138.
Bishop Fenwick’s Luke Connolly led the Crusaders’/Northeast Tech co-op with a second place finish at 145. He topped Montachusett’s Xaedyn Natal in the semis before falling via a 9-1 decision to Minnechaug’s Elliott Humphries in the title bout.
Division 3
In the D3 competition held at Wakefield Memorial High, Danvers led all local teams with an 18th place finish. Joseph Baker led the charge by claiming fourth place at 160 pounds, Adam Guzofski was fifth at 285 and Mark Haskins snared eighth at 138.
Contact Nick Giannino at NGiannino@Salemnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGiannino_SN.