By Bob McPhee
WELLS-There's no hiding out on a wrestling mat and Danny Buteau
has proven that he possesses the skills necessary to get the job done and
that's exactly what the Oak Hill standout accomplished when every thing was on
the line.
The same can be said about the entire Mountain Valley who
shook off a dose of adversity and took full advantage of the situation to
repeat as the Class B Western regional champions Saturday by scoring 154.5
points behind five individual champions to soar by runner-up Erskine and Fryeburg
Academies who tied with 99 points each.
The top four wrestlers in 14 weight classes have qualified
for the state meet, next Saturday at Fryeburg
Academy
''It certainly wasn't for a
lack of trying,''MV coach Gary Dolloff said, regarding a standout wrestler
being over weight by two-tenth of a pound ''We told the kids that we could
still win this regional. But, we needed every body on board to earn extra
points with pins and major decisions.''
Fryeburg had champions Connor Smith (145) and Trevor
Henschel 195, while Zach Isbell (160) won for Erskine. The surprise team was
Oak Hill (fourth, 94) led by Buteau 106) and Logan Childs at 285.
Buteau got things rolling by pinning Jordan Douglass of
Morse, in the finals.
"I credit my practice partners and my coaches for
getting me (physically and mentally) prepared all season long,''Buteau said,
who is defending state champion. ''I like to think that when I'm out there that
I can go through a series of moves, so I'm not stuck.''
Boucher secured a chicken wing and then pinned Cameron Grass
of Erskine. Boucher is a defending state champion.
Gill executed the initial takedown and secured legs to gain
pinning moves. The Falcon senior had received a scare in the quarterfinals, but
rallied in the third period for a 8-6 decision against Isaac Desrochers of
Wells. Jacques over came a head butt for a 6-3 decision against Justin
Studholme of Erskine.
''We had some surpises today,''Erskine coach Pat Vigue said.
''Begining at 106 and 113 Mike and Michaela Sprague) each placing fourth are
first-year wrestlers and brother and sister. We had a solid day and I'm pleased
with second.''
Austin built an early lead against Andrew Doody-Veillieux of Gardiner.
''I knew it would be a good match,''Austin said, who had
decisioned the Tiger wrestler 9-5 at Noble tournament. ''I wanted to go out and
get the takedown, like I did and get ahead. Then I could work on mat returns.
But, he was hard to hold down.''
Childs secured a reverse half nelson to stick Coyote Freeman
of MV, in finals. The Raider wrestler has won three of four matches against
Freeman. Both wrestlers had earned huge
wins- Childs beat Fryeburg's Angel Excalante (third, who had decisioned Childs
4-3 in the Mid State finals) and Freeman won 3-1 in overtime.
''I expected some amazing things from my kids today,'' Oak
Hill coach Rick Swett said. “Logan Childs has
really come on, this season.''
Eddie DeRoche (126) fell to Peter DelGallo of Gardiner, who used a leg trip and faar-side
cradle. DelGallo is a reining state and 2013 New England
champion. The Falcons Mike Provencher and Isaac Therian each placed
third at 145 and 152, respectively.
Zachary Cloutier of Oak Hill lost in finals to Devin Vigue
of Winslow, at 113. Raider teammates Frank Smith and Brandon Tervo each placed
fourth at 120 and 170, respectively.
Micheal Curtis (31-0 at 220) of Wells
pinned Nathaniel Beckwith of Winslow to win his third-straight regional crown. Curtis
is a two-time Class B state champion. Other
winners included Josh Smith 152 of York; Ryan Fredette 170 of Winslow.
''We
had some disappointments, early on,''Fryeburg
coach Dan Fox said. ''But, third and fourths are so important, especially with
the states being at home.''