By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

CRANSTON – Cumberland High steamrollered through the Dual-Meet Championship’s “Final Four” on Thursday night to complete a truly perfect regular season.

The Clippers buried fourth-seeded LaSalle Academy 48-20 in the semifinals while third-seeded North Kingstown edged second-seed Cranston West 36-35 in the other semifinal with an unsportsmanlike penalty point on the host Falcons proving the difference.
Then came the finals, the unexpected rematch of a barnburner between the Clippers and Skippers back on Jan. 23 that saw Cumberland erase an early 26-4 deficit to prevail, 32-29.
The same scenario almost unfolded again in the finals with NK jumping out to a 21-4 lead after the 135-pound match. But again the Clippers came roaring back, winning eight of the final nine matches en route to an impressive 44-24 victory.
“The key matches were at 140 and 145,” Cumberland coach Steve Gordon said while his Clippers gathered around their coach after the meet had ended. “Ricky McCoy hit a big move for 2-and-2 (points) in the final 10 seconds to win his match and then George Beaulieu got his ‘stick’ at 145. Then we lost at 152 and we were back in trouble again. But they ran into my ‘power’ after that.”
The “power” began with senior tri-captain Ryan Lefaivre’s clutch pin of Zack Wilmot at 160. Wilmot bridged for the final minute of the first period to avoid a pin, then found himself on his back again in the middle stanza. The ref slapped the mat to signal a pin with 18 seconds left in the period, cutting Cumberland’s deficit to 24-19.
Sophomore Cameron Glad then took care of business at 171, cruising to a solid 5-0 victory over Zack Zeramby as Gordon again moved Billy Lomax up to 189. The senior tri-captain wasted little time with Cem Kurt, scoring a quick takedown and near fall, then cradling his man for the pin at 1:48.
Suddenly, Cumberland was ahead 28-24 with talented Derek Paul on deck, ready to take on another 215-pound foe. Paul, who will wrestle at 189 in next weekend’s state tournament, had his hands full with hefty Josh Brown, taking a 2-0 lead into the third period before hitting a takedown, allowing an escape and then clamping on a tight headlock that ended the match with 41 seconds left on the clock.
Ahead by 10 points, Cumberland just needed one more win to clinch and Jerry Delannoy left no doubt about it with a 71-second pin of Alex Eaton.
Cumberland’s Shai Lariviere ended the proceedings with a solid 11-3 victory over Chris Hiebner, who had upset the Clippers’ freshman in the earlier meet last month.
“Shai came out fired up,” Gordon said, embracing one of the two twin brothers who provided a devastating 1-2 punch for the Clippers at the front of the lineup. “He turned that match around.”
Brother Shoneil had opened the meet with a tone-setting triumph, beating Jordn Leville 15-7.
“I’m so excited and happy for these kids,” Gordon admitted, as his wrestlers crowded around, listening in, “that I can’t even tell you what this feels like.”
Billy Lomax took a shot at it.
“The seniors were lucky enough to wrestle for a state championship team as freshman,” he said, speaking of himself and Lafaivre and the third tri-captain, Keith Hebert. “This team is amazing. Coach told us before the match that things would go a certain way and then we would need to win out and that’s pretty much what happened.”
Having completed a perfect 18-0 season, Cumberland now turns to the state tournament. Lomax and Paul will drop down to their normal weight classes and are expected to lead the team into an entirely different form of competition, where individuals matter as much, if not more, than the team. Overall balance doesn’t count for as much in the state meet and that was Cumberland’s strength all season long.
The Clippers are not expected to win the team title at the state tournament, which is exactly what people said about them before the dual-meet season began.
“If anyone had told me that we would be in this position right now,” Gordon said with a laugh, “I would have called them crazy.”
***
Semifinals
Cumberland 48, LaSalle 20
103 – Shai Lariviere © def. Eli Wolfang 8-1
112 – Taylor Ercanbrack © pinned Kevin O’Brien 3:11
119 – Shoneil Lariviere © pinned Matt Amodolara 0:13
125 – Jaron Parent © def. Vin Baffoni 2-1
130 – Ian Rambo (L) def. Chris Smith 18-3
135 – Keith Hebert © def. Mike Georges 5-3
140 – Rick McCoy © def. Seamus Lafferty 12-10
145 – Jay Baffoni (L) pinned George Beaulieu 1:44
152 – Mike Saul (L) def. Taylor Dougan 8-1
160 – Ryan Lefaivre © won by forfeit
171 – Billy Lomax © won by forfeit
189 – Derek Paul © pinned Nick Barrett 1:58
215 – Brandon Regnault (L) won by forfeit
285 – Jerry Delannoy © pinned Ben Depaah 2:36

Finals
Cumberland 44, North Kingstown 24
112 – Shoneil Lariviere © def. Jordan Leville 15-7
119 – Greg Packhem (NK) def. Jaron Parent 8-5
125 – Chris Clark (NK) pinned Jake Cardozo 3:30
130 – Greg Cottrell (NK) pinned Chris Smith 3:07
135 – Andy Paolucci (NK) pinned Keith Hebert 2:19
140 – Rick McCoy © def. Caleb Comstock 7-5
145 – George Beaulieu © pinned Jason Zeramby 2:50
152 – James Hurton (NK) def. Taylor Dougan 6-5
160 – Ryan Lefaivre © pinned Zack Wilmot 3:42
171 – Cameron Glad © def. Zack Zeramby 5-0
189 – Billy Lomax © pinned Cem Kurt 1:48
215 – Derek Paul © pinned Josh Brown 5:19
285 – Jerry Delannoy ©pinned Alex Eaton 1:11
103 – Shai Lariviere © def. Chris Hiebner 11-3