By Adam Birt abirt@keepmecurrent.com @CurrentSportsME
Athletes from a dozen schools converged on the Noble gym in North Berwick Saturday morning for the annual Southern Maine Classic. Noble themselves claimed the day, amassing nearly double the points of second-place Sanford for a runaway victory.
Huge meets like the SMC give teams a chance to broadly survey the competition and learn where they stand. Scarborough head coach Shane Stephenson felt satisfied with what he saw.
Bonny Eagle’s Joe Kenney grapples Scarborough’s John Stolz in the 152-pound championship bracket Saturday morning.
“[We’re] doing good. I was very happy the other night, Wednesday (vs. Portland and Deering); it seems like they really stepped it up,” he said of his program.
“Hopefully they’re turning the corner at the right point in the season. We’ll see from here on out; but I definitely think they’re in the right mindset to wrestle at the end of the year.”
Wrestling is something of a developing program in Scarborough; SHS has not traditionally been a “wrestling school” and athletes there have quite a few sports options, meaning many potential wrestling stars may already be standouts on other surfaces.
“I think…guys getting success is going to change a little bit of it,” Stephenson said, hopeful that the Red Storm making a name for themselves on the mats might attract even more talent.
On the other hand, Noble, Sanford, Biddeford and Marshwood have all fielded excellent wrestling squads in recent years, and up-and-comers Westbrook continue to prove themselves this season. Bonny Eagle, Portland, Fryeburg and Windham threaten at certain weights, but have yet to assemble the across-the-board consistency of a school like Noble, where wrestling is something of a proud tradition.
Team standings
1. Noble, 300.5
2. Sanford, 156
3. Westbrook, 123
4. Biddeford, 114
5. Marshwood, 94
6. Portland, 90.5
7. Bonny Eagle, 82.5
8. Fryeburg, 80.5
9. Scarborough, 69
10. Noble B, 58
11. Windham, 52
12. Kennebunk, 34
13. Sanford B, 23
14. Gorham, 19
15. Kennebunk B, 6
16. Noble C, 6
17. Biddeford B, 4
18. Westbrook B, 3
19. Windham B, 0
20. Portland B, 0
21. Kennebunk C, 0
Championship Finals by weight class
106: Joseph Pilecki (Noble) def. Caleb Frost (Bonny Eagle) by pin at 3:04
113: Jeremy Sendrowski (Scarborough) def. Hil Keisker (Noble) dec. 9-1
120: Austin Shorey (Noble) def. Biruk Moore (Marshwood) by pin at 1:51
126: Jake Martel (Noble) def. Max Storm (Westbrook) 10-3
132: Bailley Coull (Noble) def. Dwayne Dyer (Biddeford) by pion at :22
138: Joshua Grenier (Noble) def. Brian Livermore (Biddeford) dec. 15-4
145: Otto Keisker (Noble) def. Dominic Cancelarich (Windham) pin at :50
152: Dominick Day (Biddeford) def. Kyle Hanson (Westbrook) dec. 21-8
160: Sam Anderson (Sanford) def. Chrisopher Ziadeh (Noble) 5-4 (3OT)
170: Greg Cassella (Portland) def. William McFann (Fryeburg) 4-0
182: Josh Hunnewell (Portland) def. Jamal Durrani (Noble) 5-4
195: Trever Henchel (Fryeburg) def. Robert Worell (Noble) by pin at 5:38
220: Zac Shulntz (Noble) def. Russ Barlow (Bonny Eagle) by pin at 1:25
285: Korey Sanborn (Sanford) def. Eric Pilcher (Noble) at 1:26
Consolation Finals by weight class
106: Soriya Yong (Scarborough) def. Ryan Shackley (Westbrook) 1:30
113: Quasim Abdullah (Portland) def. Kwan Chheang (Sanford) at 4:41
120: Dustin Chandler (Bonny Eagle) def. Travis Dionne (Sanford) 2:14
126: Jesse Malier (Windham) def. Griffin Hooper (Marshwood) :38
132: Joe Langley (Noble B) def. Adam Thornell (Sanford) by pin at 4:04
138: Devin Bourge (Noble B) def. Edwin Hall (Sanford) by pin at 4:34
145: Connor Smith (Fryeburg) def. Cole Hallee (Kennebunk) 4-3
152: Kasey Rogers (Noble) def. Isaac Smith (Marshwood) 6-4
160: Clautel Buba (Portland) def. Brandon Conley (Westbrook) 10-3
170: Abraham Eaton (Gorham) def. Chase Eldredge (Sanford) 7-2
182: Brandon Lajoie (Westbrook) def. Z Faulkner (Marshwood) 1:34
195: Mike Hurst (Sanford) def. Chikacha Nduaguibe (Marshwood) 3-1
220: Nick Works (Sanford) def. Nick Ackerman (Biddeford) by pin at 4:40
285: Angel Escalante (Fryeburg) def. Chris Kennie (Westbrook) 10-6