EAST PROVIDENCE — The visiting Hope Blue Wave rallied in the heavier weights late to defeat host East Providence High School 39-30 in a Division I regular season wrestling meet held Thursday night, Feb. 9, inside Ramos Gymnasium.

The loss was just the fourth for the Townies in 13 league outings. Senior standout Martim Moniz improved his record to 12-1 at 120 pounds for the locals, providing one of the highlights from the earlier portion of the event.

Brady DeRoy got EPHS off to a fine start when he pinned Hope’s Desanni Dias 45 seconds into their bout at 106 pounds.

The Blue Wave got on the board next when the Townies’ Jonathan Raposo was pinned by Joseph Hiraldo at 1:51 of the first period in their 113 encounter.

Moniz next put EPHS back on top when he pinned Christopher Martinez 1:33 into the second period. Moniz was in first control of the match, leading 10-1 on points at the end of the opening two minutes.

The Townies’ Cristian Gonzales-Juarez next scored in all three period of his meeting at 132 with Sean-Wayne Charlemagne en route to a 7-0 win.

Hope closed the gap in after Brian Montanez pinned EP’s Matthew Marlow 50 seconds into their bout at 138.

The Blue Waves’ Emir Monteiro then ended the Townies’ Charles Phillips, 6-4, in a tight match at 138.

In another very engaging contest, East Providence’s Simon Palumbo needed two late take-downs, including the last with less than 10 seconds left, to defeat Hope’s Shane Miller 6-5 at 145.

Light on action, but still close, the Blue Wave’s Daniel Genao edged the Townies’ James Cassamas 3-2 at 152.

East Providence’s last lead of note came when Jacob Poore, up throughout the match, pinned Hope’s Mason Correia 53 seconds into the third and final period at 160. Those six points provided by Poore put the Townies up 24-18 at the time.

The Blue Wave’s rally began in the night’s most entertaining encounter when Andrew Corona outlasted EP’s Ferhat Akdemir at 170, winning 12-9.

Then in succession Hope’s Isael Perez, Imanol Taveras and Frankie Burgos pinned their respective opponents from EPHS at 182, 195 and 220 — Jacob Francis, Robbie Amaral and Jordan Carl — to pull comfortably ahead, 39-24, and secure the overall victory with only one match left.

That outing, between EP’s Machar Francis and Hope’s Nizayah Wright at heavyweight, mirrored the timing of Palumbo’s win. Francis trailed 10-5 as the clocked ticked down, but the Townies’ sophomore managed to execute a headlock take-down and record the pinfall win just 13 seconds remaining in the match.