Lisbon senior Zach Stevens won his third Class C state championship, taking the 138-pound weight division.
Stevens’ father, Mark Stevens, had recently announced he was retiring as the Lisbon varsity coach. His son became the Greyhounds’ sixth three-time state champ (plus four-time champ Forrest Cornell) in Mark Stevens’ 19 seasons.
Because Zach Stevens had only wrestled three times at the weight – and did not have a win against a top-four opponent among those three – he could not be seeded in the top four.
When the draw was announced he ended up seeded eighth, drawing No. 1 Matt Stewart of Bucksport in the first match. Stevens won 9-0 and then had two first-period pins for his title.
Teammate J.D. Martin won the 120-pound division with a 9-second pin in the final against Dirigo’s Hunter White. Martin was 1-2 against White during the season.
BIDDEFORD COACH Steve Vermette said that after seeing junior Dominick Day come up just short in state title bids as a freshman and sophomore, they decided to do something different this year in the final week of preparation.
“We brought in a lot of guys in practice and we just drilled him to death. We wore him out,” Vermette said. “He’s been here two times. This time he needed to win. We didn’t want to leave anything on the board. We got him conditioned. He wanted it bad. He took it to (them) today. It was his title to lose.”
“Today I wrestled, I think, the best I’ve wrestled all year,” Day said. “I’ve had so many people come in and help me, past (Biddeford) wrestlers who are pretty good and a lot heavier than me. It helps out a lot. I had a lot more this year.”
Day will enter Thursday’s New England Qualifier at Nokomis High as the favorite to win the 138-pound division, which is shaping up to be one of the toughest brackets.
Lisbon’s Stevens is one of the few Class C wrestlers with a resume of success comparable to the Class A wrestlers. Class B’s entries include champion Colin Sevigney of Wells and runner-up Brooks Law of Foxcroft Academy, both two-time state champs.
“I can’t wait,” Day said. “Colin (Sevigney) and Stevens of Class C. I’ve wrestled Colin, we’ve been back and forth this year. He beat me the first time, I’ve beat him twice. I’m pretty sure he’s going to be coming for me but I’m going to be coming for him, too.”
Staff Writers Tom Chard, Kevin Thomas, Glenn Jordan and Steve Craig contributed to this report.