PAUL BETIT
— By
click image to enlarge
Derek Davis/Staff Photographer: Alex Hulland of Massabesic, left, gains position on Andrew Drouin of Westbrook, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008, during the Western class A wrestling regionals at Massabesic High School.
Derek Davis
click image to enlarge
Derek Davis/Staff Photographer: Riastlin Delisle of Kennebunk, bottom, holds off Denton Weimer of Deering, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2007, during the Western class A wrestling regionals at Massabesic High School.
Derek Davis
WATERBORO: The Massabesic wrestling team flexed its muscles in front of the home folks Saturday.
The defending state-champion Mustangs rolled to their second consecutive Western Class A championship, scoring 218 points to easily outdistance Noble with 150.5.
''I think with the home crowd, it set the fire a little more,'' said Joey Eon, one of five Massabesic wrestlers to win individual titles.
''We preached all week 'let's wrestle to our potential.' We had a lot of motivation this week.''
Deering was third with 117, followed by Bonny Eagle with 89, Marshwood with 85, Sanford with 76, Westbrook with 68, Biddeford with 42.5, Kennebunk with 37.5, Cape Elizabeth with 24, Scarborough with 18, Thornton Academy with 12, Windham with 8 and Cheverus with 1.
Other regional wrestling meets were held Saturday in Bath, Fryeburg, Howland and Rockport.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class qualify for next Saturday's state meets.
The Mustangs qualified wrestlers for the state meet at Augusta in 11 of the 14 weight divisions.
The Class B state meet will be held at Mountain Valley High in Rumford, and the Class C state meet will be held at Foxcroft Academy in Dover-Foxcroft.
Runner-up Noble qualified nine wrestlers for the state meet.
''Can we catch (Massabesic) next week? We're going to need help,'' said Noble Coach Kip DeVoll.
Last season Massabesic ended the Knights' eight-year hold on the Class A crown.
''We can't go toe-to-toe with them,'' DeVoll said. ''They're too good. No doubt about it, they're the better team on paper and on the mat right now.''
Nine wrestlers from Massabesic, which started the regional meet with six top seeds, advanced to the championship round at the regional meet.
''Everyone wrestled tough,'' Massabesic Coach Rick Desrosiers said. ''Even the kids who lost wrestled tough. The kids stepped up. The kids were unbelievable.''
Five Massabesic wrestlers won individual titles: Gabe Desrosier at 103 pounds, Nick Spaulding at 125, Peter Gilman at 130, Joey Eon at 140 and Josh Eon at 171.
Three Mustangs pulled off upsets to advance to the championship round.
At 130, Massabesic freshman Justin Dumond, a fifth seed, pinned top-seeded Matt Rix of Marshwood in the semifinals.
At 152, third-seeded Derek Cloutier, a Massabesic senior, pinned second-seeded Josh Scott of Biddeford in the semis.
At 160, third-seeded Ike Brochu, a Massabesic senior, pinned Jason Barriault of Deering in the semis.
In other matches, Chris Smith of Deering won his fourth regional title while wrestling in the 125-pound division, and Jon Hussey of Marshwood captured his fourth regional title while wrestling at 160..
Westbrook's Andrew Drouin knocked off the top two seeds to capture the 189-pound title. After recording a 13-9 decision against No. 2 Brandon Carroll of Scarborough in a wild semfinal, he scored a two-point takedown in the final seconds to pull out a 6-5 win against Massabesic's Alex Holland in the final.
EASTERN CLASS A: Brian Parlin (125 pounds) and Joe Buzzell (140) won their matches in the championship round to give Skowhegan a narrow victory over Mt. Ararat at Bath Middle School.
Mt. Ararat had a two-point lead entering the finals, but three of the four Eagles who made it to the championship round lost their matches. Only Zach Chandler prevailed in the 189-pound division.
Skowhegan finished with 139 points, followed by Mt. Ararat (136), Cony (127), Erskine Academy (122) and Morse (119).
Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:
pbetit@pressherald.com