NEWTON — They might have saved the best for last at Saturday’s D1 state wrestling championships at Newton South.

The heavyweight bout, won by Chemslford’s Thomas Brown over St. John’s Prep’s Alex Bajoras, was won by the former, and capped a terrific afternoon. Brown was among the headline winners, but there were standout performers throughout.

The team winner was Haverhill with 141 points. St. John’s Prep was right behind with 139, followed by Shawsheen’s 115.5, Taunton at 114, Central Catholic at 110.5.

“We work hard,” Haverhill coach Tim Lawlor said. “We have a lot of kids that really like wrestling. They wrestle all year. They love the sport. Coming to practice isn’t a miserable space, like it is in a lot of wrestling rooms. It’s a good time, and they enjoy it.”

As nice a reward as it is to win the team title, Lawlor said that was not really a focus.

“We try not to focus on that team stuff because it is an individual sport. We really don’t talk about it. I don’t want to sound conceited or anything, but we didn’t talk about winning this team title once.”

A lot of conversation did revolve around that heavyweight bout. Brown earned a relatively early escape to earn the only point of the match. Later on, he held on as Bajoras nearly escaped Brown’s grasp.

But Brown was able to hold on to come away with the thrilling victory. A year ago, Brown won by a 10-9 margin, so the close match was expected, even for a performer as good as Brown, who ended the day with a 153-3 career record, with 131 pins.

“Alex is a great wrestler,” Brown said. “Manny (Costa), his coach, is a great coach. They definitely made some adjustments in the room. Definitely watched film of me. Great wrestler, great coach. My respect to them.”

Brown has had a tremendous career so far and is only a junior.

“I’m blessed. I’m honored. My coaches are great. Coach (Chris) Piscione is a great coach. My dad, he’s really helped me through this.If it weren’t for my dad, coach Piscione, none of this would be possible, pushing me every day.”

A lot of eyes were also on Shawsheen brother tandem of Sid Tildsley and James Tildsley. Sid won at 138 pounds over St. John’s Prep’s James Lally, 14-3, for his third D1 title. James won at 144 for his second. James beat John Mandeville of Taunton by fall.

“I’ve been training my whole life for this,” Sid said. “As a family, we expect more from each other. As you work hard, you get better. This is the stepping stone to bigger and better things.”

Other winners included Central Catholic’s Cole Glynn at 106, Dominic Gangi of Methuen at 113, CJ Wood of Haverhill at 120, Andover’s Yandel Morales at 126, Jonah Paulino of Montachusett at 132, Gabriel Stickney of Greater Lowell at 150, St. John’s Prep’s Jayden D’Ambrosio at 157, Brent Nicolosi of Haverhill at 165, Nathan Blanchette of Central Catholic at 175, Ethan Harris of Taunton at 190, and Elijah Prophete of Taunton at 215.

For the girls side, Lowell earned the victory with 85 points. Lawrence was next at 62, with Newton South third at 51, North Andover at 42, and Framingham at 38. Leading the way for the Red Raiders were Amada Moundele (165) and Amelylah Martinez (235), both of whom captured state titles in their respective weight classes.