Ever since the late Mark Donovan and his longtime assistant Doug Pratt ran the show at Shawsheen, they preached a team concept.

That was never more apparent than last weekend where Shawsheen relied on its depth up and down the lineup to win the George Bossi Lowell Holiday tournament.

“Going into the tournament, knowing we were missing a kid who was seeded, we were thinking about taking a top five, but the kids wrestled great,” said Pratt, who took over the program when Donovan died from cancer in October 2021. “Coach Dunny and I always talked about the importance of this tournament and to be able to win it twice in three years is unbelievable – I wish Dunny was here to see it.”

Shawsheen is always going to be a major threat as long as the Tildsleys are in the lineup. Three-time Boston Herald All-Scholastics Sidney Tildsley (144 pounds) and James Tildsley (150) have cemented their legacy as one of the greatest, if not the greatest brother tandem, in state history.

But the beauty in this team lies in the fact that it is more than just those two. Brayton Carbone (132), Dante Giusti (126) and Dante Graziano (120) have proved their mettle, but there is plenty more in the pipeline as people saw in Lowell. Jayden Perez (106), Logan Holmes (175), Quinn Carbone (157) and Tristan Lane (138) all placed in Lowell, giving the Rams some much needed points to hold off Fairfield Warde (Conn.) and Haverhill.

“What we told the kids afterwards was that every single kid on this team contributed to the win,” Pratt said. “The Tildsleys always get their due and they’ve deserved every single bit of, but we don’t win if the other kids didn’t step up. We’ve never had 13 kids still alive on the second day of the tournament.

“Freshman Tristian Lane was unseeded at 138 and he took a fifth. Logan Holmes was unseeded at 175 and he took a fourth. Jayden Perez was unseeded at 106 and he took a sixth. Just a great week of wrestling up and down the lineup.”

A big change took place at St. John’s Prep where Ryan Harding takes over for legendary Manny Costa, who stepped down following an iconic career. The Eagles will be led by heavyweight Alex Bajoras, James Lally (138) and Brandon Goes (126).

The Merrimack Valley Conference is renowned for its wrestling prowess; two of the three state team champions came out of the MVC – Haverhill and Tewksbury.

“The league is always so tough, every match you can expect to go up against a returning state champion or two,” said Tewksbury coach Steve Kasprzak, whose team won the Div. 3 title last year. “Haverhill, Central Catholic and Chelmsford are very good, Billerica is improved – you go up and down the league and there is not one league match on the schedule that you can point to and say it’s a win.”

Haverhill took third at Lowell and has some serious star power back led by the Morris trio of Aiden Morris (106), Michael Morris (126) and Shea Morris (138) to go along with Cale Wood (120) and Matt Harrold (215). Central Catholic should have one of the more balanced lineups around with heavyweight Brian Waller-Reitano, Caden Smith (150), Cole Glynn (126), Izaiah Santiago (120), Jackson Meehan (215), Shane Sughrue (144) and Rhys Dewar (175).

Milford took second to Minnechaug in last year’s Div. 2 state meet, but the Scarlet Hawks should be considered one of the favorites this time around. Michael Boulanger (157) and Aidan Baum (144) are two of the top wrestlers in New England at their respective weights. Others to watch include Brayden Boccia (113), Derek Marcolini (126), Dylan Wright (120), Josiah Carney (138), Luke Donis (190) and Ryan Fils (150).

Bridgewater-Raynham captured the Wayland Invitational and have an impressive lineup keyed by Brent von Magnus (138), Luke Driscoll (165), Brenton Allain (144), Fletcher Rinke (190), Jack Alves (132), Jack Peters (150) and Jackson Rinke (215).

Melrose is always going to be a factor as long as Larry The Legend Tremblay is coaching. Johnny Moraes opened some eyes with a terrific win at 113 in Lowell, while Marco Albanese is back at 157.

In Div. 3, Tewksbury will rely on the likes of New England finalist Nick Desisto (215), Manny Mengata (215), Jack Lightfoot (113) and Ben Barrasso (126) in its quest to repeat.

Wakefield should have one of the better dual meet teams in Div. 3 as Michael Barry (120), Aydin Lamb (132), Jimmy Fabbri (138), Jack Hodgdon (144), Sean Callanan (157), Jaden Fullerton (165), Christian DiFlorio (175) and Kip King (285) are back.

Ashland has made its move toward the upper echelon of Div. 3 and will be paced by Anton Puhach (175), Logan Costello (113) and Kevin Ozulumba (165).

TOP MALE WRESTLERS TO WATCH

106: Antoine Jackman (Greater Lowell), Aiden Morris (Haverhill), John Woodall (Franklin)

113: Brayden Boccia (Milford), Logan Costello (Ashland), Diego Cruz (Mount Everett), Cole Glynn (Central Catholic), Devon Mateo (West Springfield), Johnny Moraes (Melrose)

120: Nick Desisto (Tewksbury), Liam O’Brien (Marblehead/Swampscott), Izaiah Santiago (Central Catholic), Cale Wood (Haverhill)

126: Jordan Agosto (Agawam), Braedon Goss (St. John’s Prep), Derek Marcolini (Milford), Michael Morris (Haverhill), Peter Rincan (Billerica), Nathan Sayers (Xaverian)

132: Brayton Carbone (Shawsheen), Davi Dossantos (Arlington), Aydin Lamb (Wakefield), Kai Ly (Minnechaug), George McAteer (Xaverian), Yandel Morales (Shawsheen)

138: Jason Ballou (Andover), Riley Carlucci (Franklin), James Lally (St. John’s Prep), Emmett Logan (Lowell), Shea Morris (Haverhill), Nick Varvak (Sharon), Brent von Magnus (Bridgewater-Raynham)

144: Aidan Baum (Milford), Dan Greaney (Leominster), James Tildsley (Shawsheen)

150: Troy Greaney (Leominster), Cyrus Jones (Sharon), Matthew Patterson (Middleboro), Caden Smith (Central Catholic), Sidney Tildsley (Shawsheen)

157: Marco Albanese (Melrose), Michael Boulanger (Milford), Adrian Guzman (Ashland), Kevin Mackin (Weymouth), Kasey Nako (Beverly)

165: Sawyer Ayotte (Shepherd Hill), Joseph Baker (Beverly), Luke Driscoll (Bridgewater-Raynham)

175: Lucas Alvan (Ludlow), Caden Chase (Central Catholic), Vincent DeMaio (Methuen), Anton Puhach (Ashland)

190: James Fodera (Lynnfield/North Reading), Edward Myles (Concord-Carlisle), Elijah Prophete (Taunton), Mason Skinner (Pentucket)

215: Matthew Harrold (Haverhill), Manny Mengata (Tewksbury)

285: Alex Bajoras (St. John’s Prep), Brady Bekkenhuis (Arlington), Thomas Brown (Chelmsford), Anthuan Lino-Diego (Leominster), Brian Waller-Reitano (Central Catholic)

TOP FEMALE WRESTLERS TO WATCH

Marisol Almanzar (Greater Lawrence, 185); Samantha Bertini (Ludlow, 107), Adrianna DeGroat (Framingham, 126), Mia Dineen (Hingham, 126), Shelby Galex (Northeast/Bishop Fenwick, 145), Emma Leonido (Hanover, 165), Hillary MacDonald (Lawrence, 185), Ameliyah Martinez (Lowell, 235), Tessa Master (Watertown, 152), Amada Moundele (Lowell, 165), Olivia Polansky (Bridgewater-Raynham, 107), Brooke Weafer (Bristol-Plymouth, 114)