Nokomis' Wilson, Nichols win individual titles
Nokomis' Wilson, Nichols win individual titles
BY RANDY WHITEHOUSE STAFF WRITER
SOUTH PARIS — Skowhegan followed a familiar blueprint to win its third consecutive Eastern Class A wrestling championship at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School on Saturday, dominating the light and middle weights to run away with the title.
The Indians took home five individual championships and had 11 out of 12 wrestlers finish in the top four — thus qualifying for next week’s state championships — en route to 184.5 points. Runner-up Oxford Hills finished with 128 points. Cony (123.5), Westbrook (110) and Nokomis (108.5) rounded out the top five.
“The ones that we expected to do well did what they were supposed to, and then we had a couple of the boys step up to the plate, coming through with some big matches, some big wins,” Skowhegan co-coach Tenney Noyes said. “Overall, we’re very excited. We brought 12 kids here to wrestle today, and 11 will wrestle next weekend (at the Class A state meet at Mt. Ararat High School).
All five of Skowhegan’s champions were No. 1 seeds.
“Most of our team got No. 1 seeds,” said 152-pound champion Kameron Doucette, one of six top seeds for the Indians. “A lot of the kids that we weren’t sure whether they were going to make it to states or not ended up making it to states. That was a big thing. I think we did really well today. We blew the team points out of the water.”
Cody Craig defended his 106 crown with a 16-0 technical fall over Nokomis’ Jacob Booth. Samson Sirois pinned Mt. Blue’s Matthew Hyde 51 seconds into their final to take the 113 crown.
Tyler Craig picked up the fourth regional title of his career by pinning Jesse Maller of Windham at 3:29 of the 126 final.
Cooper Holland won his first regional title at 132 with a 6-3 decision over Westbrook’s Max Storm. And Doucette won the 152 title by defeating Westbrook’s Brandon Conley, 10-3, in the final.
“Cooper Holland had a great day. Luke Bolster stepped up for us. He actually went up a weight class (to 145) and still placed third,” Noyes said. “The guys are coming along well. We’re looking forward to having a full week of practice, we hope. Hopefully, we don’t get snowed-out a whole lot. It makes it difficult this time of year. They did well for having all of that rust on them. They knocked it off pretty quick.”
The Indians hadn’t wrestled in a meet since Jan. 19 due to cancellations, which included last week’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships. But that didn’t stop their top seeds from coming out aggressive, as each started their brackets with either quick pins or major decisions.
“The last few weeks, I’ve been pushing myself as much as I can in practice,” said Doucette, a junior who won the 145-pound title last year, “I’m just having the mindset that I’m going to go out there and beat whoever I have to wrestle, no matter who it is.”
Six other Skowhegan wrestlers will advance to states, including three runners-up from Saturday — Jon Bell (120), Julian Sirois (138), Logan Stevens (160) — along with Oakley Fortier (fourth place, 220) and Caleb Vautier (fourth, 285).
Nokomis’ Christopher Wilson and Jacob Nichols won individual titles. Wilson outlasted Cony’s Devon O’Connor, 4-0, in the 195 championship. Nichols pinned Cony’s Elias Younes at 1:24 in the 285 final.
“We’ve gone at it a lot this year. Most of my finals matches have been against him. I think we know how to wrestle each other,” Nichols said. “I just tripped him, basically, and got him on his back. I usually try to duck under or something, but this time, I just saw his foot there and I stepped on it.”
Nichols, a senior, said he dropped his weight from 287 to 265 since the start of the season in hopes of building his stamina.
“I’m just trying to work. I really want it this year,” he said. “There’s no doubt I’ll be meeting (Younes) next week in the finals.”
Five other Nokomis wrestlers qualified for states: Jacob Booth (second, 106), Josh Brown (third, 113), Kolin Fraser (third, 132), Caleb McFarlin (fourth, 170), and Jacob Richards (third, 182),Other local wrestlers who advanced to next week: Mt. Blue’s Matthew Hyde (second, 113) and Terry Storer (fourth, 138), and Messalonskee’s Austin Pelletier (third, 160).
Mt. Blue finished eighth in the team standings, while Messalonskee was 12th.
Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638