Westbrook’s Mikiel Lepage battles at 220 with Deering’s Jonah Rogers.
Westbrook’s Noah Featherson and Portland’s Clautel Buba battle out a consolation bout at Saturday’s state championships.
By Adam Birt
The state wrestling championship unfolded at Mt. Ararat Saturday. The Eagles played host to 20 other teams and hundreds of spectators even as a blizzard descended on southern Maine. For the fourth year in a row, Marshwood took home the top team prize, while Noble broke Massabesic’s three-year hold on second. The Mustangs finished fourth.
Westbrook – which has had a very strong season – was well represented at States. Persistent threat Max Storm took second place in the 132-pound division, and Abraham Eaton, who hails from Gorham but trains and competes alongside the Blazes, finished third at 190.
Storm and Bailey Coull of Noble put on a particularly fiery show in the semis.
“That match was…intense,” said Westbrook head coach John Nicholas. “We told Max to be prepared to wrestle a six-minute match and try to wrestle hard to the end.”
In fact, Storm pinned Coull at 5:42.
“He saw an opportunity at the end and went for it,” Nicholas said. “That was definitely one of the most exciting endings to a match that I’ve been part of. The crowd energy was awesome!”
Storm faced Marshwood’s Killian Murphy in the Championship bout, ultimately succumbing 9-4.
“Even though the result was not what we’d hoped for,” Nicholas said, “Max can hold his head up high, because he wrestled a great tournament.”
Eaton “was in maybe the toughest bracket of the day,” Nicholas said. “After dropping a tough loss to (Greg Casella of) Portland in the first round, he battled back for three straight wins against tough opponents.”
Both Storm and Eaton will test their skills again next weekend at the New England Qualifiers.
“Team-wise, we fell short of our goals,” Nicholas said, though he emphasized the importance of States-level experience and nodded to 2016, noting the Blazes will return much of their top talent next season.