By Bob McPhee
Looks can be deceiving and Maine wrestlers certainly learned how strong the level of competition is at the New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championship.
Nearly one-dozen Mainers had advanced to the Quarterfinals during the first evening of action, however, those same wrestlers received a dose of reality the next morning of the two-day event that was held at the Providence Career and Technical Academy, in Rhode Island.
Jake Thornton (126) of Mountain Valley had lost his opening match, in the 32- person bracket and followed by losing to Tyler Everett of Massabesic. Jesse Hutchinson 160 of Dirigo had received a bye in to the round of 16 and lost to Jon Viruet of Springfield Central HS (the eventual NE) 9-2.
''The way the bracket was set up was not in Jesse's favor,''Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. ''Can think of a lot of other match ups I rather see besides Mass-1 as the first match.''
But, on Saturday the Cougar senior won two consolation matches, Kyle Laffey of Franklin County Technical, 7-1 and RI-3 Mario Peoples of East Providence, 2-1.
In third round of consi., Hutchinson lost to NH-1 Will Bean of Londonderry, 9-4.
''I thought he wrestled tough both days,''Gilbert said, the last three matches he lost in high school was to medalists; first, runner-up (Cody Hughes of Marshwood) and sixth in NE. ''Atmosphere was good in RI. Maine kids wrestled really well Friday night, then Saturday it all went to hell.''
The competition at New England (Maine returned in 1999) is extremely intense and mental mistakes have proven, costly. So, it's unwise to look ahead at the double-elimination tournament. Former Cougars Jon Smith and Dan Waite each placed in NE, while earning All American status in Wrestling USA Magazine. Smith, a three-time state champion, was a finalist at NE in 2008. Smith was a three-time state champion, finished his career with a school-record 153 wins. Waite (171), a two-time state champion, placed fourth in the 2000 NE.
Mountain Valley siblings Chris and David Smith combined to win three medals at NE. David, a three-time state champion, placed sixth two-straight years at 285. Chris, a two-time state champion, placed fifth at 171. Maine had competed in New England (until '78) and Rumford had NE champions Frank Diconzo (Stephens, '65) and Dave Giroux (Rumford, '70). The Panthers made inroads by finishing in the top four, '70, '73, '74 and '77. In '73, Steve DeFillip placed second; Jim Richards, third and Gary Daigle and Linwood Arsenault each fourth; '74, DeFillip placed second, again and Dave Magoon was fourth; Steve Nokes lost 7-6 in '76 unl. finals; In '77, Larry Gill 119 reached finals, with Jeff Irish 167 and Nokes each third; Tim Gotto 185 won NE crown in '78 and Jeff Gallant placed fourth.
This year, Hughes lost a heart-breaking 2-1 triple-overtime match in the 160-pound final. Hughes, a three-time state champion, had placed third at 152 in the 2013 NE tournament.
Maine had four other medalists this year including Peter DelGallo of Gardiner, who had won a NE crown last year, as a freshman, earned fifth place with a 1-0 decision against Brad Beaulieu of Marshwood, sixth place; Mike Curtis of Wells, third at 195 and Jackson Howarth of Marshwood, fifth at 152. Marshwood (55 points, seventh) was the highest ranking Maine team.