Mike Whaley/foster’s daily democrat Marshwood High School’s Darren LaPointe (top) beat Massabesic’s Leo Amabile in the 106-pound division, 8-0, during the Western Maine Class A wrestling championship Saturday in Sanford, Maine. It was LaPointe’s 100th career win. |
By JOHN COCHIN
Foster's Daily Democrat
SANFORD, Maine — With five individual champions and four second-place finishers, the favored Marshwood High School wrestling team captured the Western Maine Class A championship Saturday, coming away with 228.5 points.
The battle for second place drew the most attention, however, as Noble edged out Massabesic by a mere three points, 199.5 to 196.5.
Of the 14 Hawk wrestlers who competed, 12 will go on to the state championship at Noble next Saturday. Taking firsts for Marshwood were Bradley Beaulieu (113 pounds), Killian Murphy (132), Jackson Howarth (152), Cody Hughes (140) and Brett Gerry (182).
It was Marshwood's third straight regional crown. The Hawks are also the two-time defending Class A champs.
Hughes captured first place with a 16-4 major decision and kept his undefeated season intact.
"We wanted to send as many wrestlers as we could to the states and I feel we were successful in reaching that goal," he said. "There's always room for improvement, but you can't do much better than what we did today, sending 12 of our 14 wrestlers to the state meet."
Placing second for the Hawks were Darren Lapointe (106), Samuel Hebert (138), Shamus McManus (145) and Justin Stacy (170).
Noble's top wrestlers were William Gagner and Otto Keisker, who placed first in the 120-pound and 145-pound weight classes, respectfully.
Finishing second for the Knights were Austin Shorey (113), Joseph Grenier (152), Robert Worell (195) and Tanner Andrews (220).
"We had some pleasant surprises, especially 220-pound wrestler Chikacha Nduaguibe," said Marshwood coach Matt Rix. "He came in with a 5-16 record and pulled off one of the upsets of the day, earning a fourth-place finish. We also got a good outing from senior captain Darren LaPointe, who placed second in the 106-pound class."
Another pleasant surprise was the performance of Hebert, who finished second at 138.
Other Marshwood wrestlers who placed were Josh Marks, who was third at 120, and Eric Glidden, who finished fourth at 126.
Noble's third-place finishers were Josh Grenier (152), Zac Shluntz (182), Sean Copp (220) and Joseph Langley (132). In addition, Devin Bourque (138) finished fourth as did Chris Ziadeh (160).
"I feel our kids did pretty well despite a few disappointments," said Noble coach Kip DeVoll. "We suffered an upset loss in one of our usually solid weight classes, but we still managed to finish second, which really pleased me. Our goal was to send as many wrestlers as we could to next week's state meet, and I feel we accomplished that goal by sending 11 wrestlers and two alternates."