Skowhegan Wrestling tournament

By Bob McPhee

SKOWHEGAN-In wrestling the question of quality and equanimity always is debated because Mountain Valley certainly  had the former with four individual champions- Caleb Austin (113-pounds), Ethan Boucher (120) and seniors Dakota Jacques (138) and Ian Austin (182)- en route to scoring 137 points to finish solidly in second at the annual Skowhegan Invitational. The results was a credit to the Falcons who was making their initial appearance at the event.

Host Skowhegan simply ran away with the team championship, again with 180 points. The Indians advanced nine wrestlers to the finals and won three championships; Cody Craig (106),  Tyler Craig (126) and Logan Stevens (160). Cony, Ellsworth and Fryeburg Academy rounded out the top five.                                                                                                                           

Mountain Valley proved to be a thorn in the competition, by winning three of four head-to-head matches against the Indians in the finals. MV and Ellsworth each had four champions.  It capped off the successful Falcons day as they had strong performances and earned extra points; with pins (two points each) in numerous matches. is extremely important. ''Yes, those extra points are big in a tournament,''Mountain Valley coach Gary Dolloff said. ''Two or three who can score those additional points, can make up for one kid who wins by decision during the day.''           

Austin proved to be solid and utilized his strong takedown techniques, again, to take an insurmountable lead, before pinning Samson Sirois of Skowhegan, in the finals. Austin a state finalist last year, as a freshman, pinned every opponent and remains unbeaten this season.

  Moments later, Boucher kept things in a tight grip, with a 9-0 major decision over the Indians John Bell.

''I had pinned him at the Noble (tournament) So, I entered the match with a lot of confidence,''Boucher said, a reining Class B state champion. ''Once I get ahead,  like to secure a wrist or arm-bar. Then work toward a spiral or merkle.''   

                   

Even suffering a setback, proved exactly how solid the Falcons performances conducted. Sophomore Eddie DeRoche (126) was dazzling in a 6-5 loss against Tyler Craig; the Indians three-time Class A state champion. DeRoche executed a reversal to trail 6-4 in second period and escaped in the final minute of the third.

Jacques who recently dropped down a weight class, wrestled a smart match to out point a Skowhegan opponent.

''I feel really good,''Jacques said. ''The drop to 138 has made me quicker. My senior year is going well and I went over 100 (career) wins earlier this season.''

Ian Austin closed out the Falcons day on a positive way, by out pointing William MacFawn of Fryeburg Academy. MacFawn's father Ian, wrestled for Rumford in the 1980s.

Falcon freshman Nate White 'B team' wrestled back through the consolations, placing third at 113 with a 3-1 decision.

''The kids wrestled well,''Dolloff said. ''Like Mike Provencher (reached semi-finals at 145. We will need some more effort from the other guys.''