Wells wrestlers second at West B regional

By BY CARL PEPIN
cpepin@seacoastonline.com



Jacob Spofford of Wells placed third at 170 on Saturday at the West B regional wrestling tournament in Winslow.


Isaac Desrochers of Wells finished second at 120 pounds at Saturday’s West B regional wrestling meet.


Four Wells High wrestlers reached the championship final and four others made it to the consolation round as the Warriors went head-to-head for the team title with the favorites from Mountain Valley at Saturday's Western Maine Class B regional at Winslow High School.

But in the end the Falcons' depth proved a bit too much to overcome and the Warriors settled for second place at the 11-team event.

Mountain Valley had seven wrestlers in the championship finals and they finished with 152 points followed by Wells at 128 and then Fryeburg (121.5), Erskine (94), York (90), Mt. View (71), Winslow (70), Gardiner (62), Morse (48.5), Oak Hill (36) and Lincoln Academy (3).

Defending Class B state champions Colin Sevigney and Michael Curtis proved they each have their eyes on repeating their success from a year ago. Both wrestlers won regional crowns – Sevigney at 138 and Curtis at 195. (A year ago, Sevigney won the 126 pound title and Curtis took the 170 pound title.)

Sevigney pinned Eddie Deroche of Mountain Valley to claim his regional crown on Saturday and Curtis pinned Andrew Doody Veilleux of Gardiner to win his division.

Isaac Desrochers was another Wells wrestler to reach the final but he was edged in a 4-3 decision by Ethan Boucher of Mountain Valley at 120. And the Warriors' Tommy Cryer also made it to the final round before he was handed his lone loss of the day in another close match – a 6-2 setback in overtime to Brandon Gill of Mountain Valley at 132.

The Wells consolation round wrestlers included Cullen Cummings (taking third at 106 with a 5-3 win over Jon Mackaman of York), Caleb Chase (finishing third at 113 with a 7-5 decision over Zach Cloutier of Oak Hill), Jacob Spofford (also placing third with a win by pin over Corey Lent of Morse at 170) and Chuck Taylor (placing fourth following a slim 2-0 loss to Angel Escalante of Fryeburg at 220).

The top four wrestlers in each weight class qualify to compete at the state championship where they will face off against the top four wrestlers from East B in quarterfinal matches at Morse High in Bath on Saturday.

A year ago, the Warriors sent seven wrestlers to the Class B state championship meet. Sevigney, Curtis, and Cryer are the only three from that group of seven who are making a return trip to the state meet this year. In 2013, the Warriors finished third in the 19-team competition.

KENNEBUNK

The Kennebunk High wrestling team has two wrestlers moving on to the Class A state championship after qualifying at Saturday's West B regional meet at Sanford. The Class A state final is at Noble High School on Saturday.

The Rams' Kyle Bonti took third at 113 pounds thanks to a 4-3 win over Aiden Whitsis of Cheverus in the consolation final and teammate Connor Donaher finished fourth at 195 after battling back through the consolation bracket.

Bonti went 3-1 on the day with his only loss coming in the semifinal round against the eventual regional champion from Marshwood. Donaher went 2-2.

Defending Class A state champion Marshwood won the regional meet with 228.5 points followed by Noble (199.5), Massabesic (196.5), Biddeford (104), Sanford (96), Portland (85.5), Bonny Eagle (60), Kennebunk (41), Thornton (17), Deering (16), Cheverus (8), Scarborough (7) and Greater Portland Christian (4).

Mt. Ararat’s Robert Hetherman and Morse’s Hunter Reed claim titles

BY GEORGE ALMASI Times Record Staff

THE EASTERN MAINE CLASS A wrestling regional was held Saturday at Mt. Ararat High School. 

The high school wrestling regionals were held on Saturday with the top four grapplers in each region advancing to next weekend’s state championships.

The Eastern Maine Class A meet was held at Mt. Ararat High School and won by KVAC champion Skowhegan with 180.50 points.

Cony (144) was second, followed by Nokomis (97.50), Oxford Hills (84), Mt. Blue (70), Windham (68), Mt. Ararat (63.5), Westbrook (58), Edward Little (40), Hampden (19), Brunswick (17), Gorham (16) and Brewer (0,).

Freshman Robert Hetherman continued his strong showings with a first at 152 via a 16-0 technical fall decision over Eric Cash of Windham.

The Eagles also had four others advance to the state meet. Brandon Jusseaume took third at 182 with a pin (0:56) over Mike Williams of Edward Little. Also, Adam Ewing was fourth at 145, John Hetherman fourth at 160, and Pierce Knorr fourth at 285.

"I was hoping a couple of more kids might’ve snuck in," said Mt. Ararat coach Erick Jensen. "But, those guys who were seeded fourth or higher made it in so it wasn’t a bad day. As for Robert, he’s won a lot of tournaments and he’s just been wrestling tremendously."

Jensen’s son Christian, a Brunswick freshman, lost to nemesis Cody Craig of Skowhegan, 5-1, in the 106- pound championships finals.

"He’s getting closer (to Craig) and they’ll probably meet again next week," said Erick Jensen, "But, of course, they have to beat some pretty good wrestlers to get there."

Skowhegan crowned seven individual champions Saturday to cruise to their second straight Eastern Maine Class A wrestling title.

Skowhegan will send nine wrestlers to states after dominating the lower and middle weight classes. The Indians won four of the first five championship matches contested and secured all of their individual titles at 182 pounds or less.

Regional champions for Skowhegan were Craig (106 pounds), Tyler Craig (120), Luke Bolster (126), Julian Sirois (132), Kaleb Brown (145), Logan Stevens (160) and Mikal Federici (182).

The Class A championships, are set to be held next Saturday at Noble High School in North Berwick.

Western Class B

Morse competed in the Western Maine Class B Championships at Winslow High School.

Mountain Valley took first with 152 points, followed by Wells (128), Fryeburg Academy (121.50), Erskine Academy (94), York (90), Mt. View (71), Winslow (70), Gardiner (62), Morse (48.50), Oak Hill (36) and Lincoln Academy (3).

Morse’s Hunter Reed decisioned Andrew Boisvert of York 3-1 to lay claim to the 152-pound weight class.

Also, Raz Baltazar took second at 160 via a pin (4:17) loss to Zach Isbell of Erskine.

Also advancing to state competition was Corey Lent, who took fourth at 170 with a pin (2:50) to Jacob Spofford of Wells.

"They wrestled very well," said Morse coach Shawn Guest. "Hunter and Raz wrestled very smart - they were Tom Bennett trained - to make it to the finals. Corey ran into a couple of studs, but managed to make it back to states this year after missing out last year. We will be prepping for states this coming week and hopefully we will have a state champ or two."

The State Class B meet is set to be hosted by Morse and held at the Bath Middle School gym next Saturday.

Class C wrestlers held a round-robin event at Bucksport with the top wrestlers advancing to Mountain Valley next Saturday.

High School Notebook: Isaiah Reynolds’ regional finish a personal victory

The Bonny Eagle wrestler is returning after his father’s death.

From staff reports

Bonny Eagle senior Isaiah Reynolds did not win the 285-pound division at Saturday’s Western Class A wrestling regional championship.

His third-place finish was, however, both a personal victory and a statement that the defending state champion is still a force.

Reynolds competed in just one dual meet this season. Initially he struggled to cut weight after starring as a two-way lineman for the state champion Bonny Eagle football team.

On Jan. 11, his father Peter Reynolds and Peter’s girlfriend Cherrie De Melle were killed in a car crash when the van driven by Isaiah’s brother Zachary Reynolds, 17, crossed the centerline and crashed into a pickup truck on a slush-covered road in Hollis. Zachary Reynolds sustained a broken leg and a concussion.

Isaiah Reynolds, who was not in the vehicle, said he was ready to forget about wrestling but Bonny Eagle’s coaching staff said they could help him cut the 30 pounds he needed to shed.

In his first match Saturday, Reynolds was pinned by Deering’s Michael Darling.

Reynolds responded with three dominant pins of his own, in 28, 21 and 30 seconds, respectively. Now he wants a shot at regional champ Jed Scott of Sanford.

“I think everyone is just intimidated by Scott because he’s big,” Reynolds said.

A YEAR AGO, Bonny Eagle senior Robert Martin lost a hotly contested match to Marshwood’s Cody Hughes in the regional final at 152 pounds.

Saturday he met a different Marshwood wrestler, Justin Stacy, in the 170-pound final and held on for a 3-2 win.

“It felt way better than last year, that’s for sure,” Martin said.

SANFORD SENIOR captain Andrew Moriarty’s pin of Tanner Andrews of Massabesic in the 220-pound final earned Moriarty both his first regional title and his 100th career win.

“I was rewarded. I feel like that, yes,” Moriarty said. “You put in the work and it kicks in eventually.”

ALSO WINNING his 100th match on Saturday was Marshwood senior Darren Lapointe, in the semifinal of the 106-pound division. According to Athletic Director Rich Buzzell, Lapointe recently became the first Marshwood student to be accepted to Harvard.

Marshwood wrestlers capture third straight regional championship

Mike Whaley/foster’s daily democrat Marshwood High School’s Darren LaPointe (top) beat Massabesic’s Leo Amabile in the 106-pound division, 8-0, during the Western Maine Class A wrestling championship Saturday in Sanford, Maine. It was LaPointe’s 100th career win.

By JOHN COCHIN
Foster's Daily Democrat

SANFORD, Maine — With five individual champions and four second-place finishers, the favored Marshwood High School wrestling team captured the Western Maine Class A championship Saturday, coming away with 228.5 points.

The battle for second place drew the most attention, however, as Noble edged out Massabesic by a mere three points, 199.5 to 196.5.

Of the 14 Hawk wrestlers who competed, 12 will go on to the state championship at Noble next Saturday. Taking firsts for Marshwood were Bradley Beaulieu (113 pounds), Killian Murphy (132), Jackson Howarth (152), Cody Hughes (140) and Brett Gerry (182).

It was Marshwood's third straight regional crown. The Hawks are also the two-time defending Class A champs.

Hughes captured first place with a 16-4 major decision and kept his undefeated season intact.

"We wanted to send as many wrestlers as we could to the states and I feel we were successful in reaching that goal," he said. "There's always room for improvement, but you can't do much better than what we did today, sending 12 of our 14 wrestlers to the state meet."

Placing second for the Hawks were Darren Lapointe (106), Samuel Hebert (138), Shamus McManus (145) and Justin Stacy (170).

Noble's top wrestlers were William Gagner and Otto Keisker, who placed first in the 120-pound and 145-pound weight classes, respectfully.

Finishing second for the Knights were Austin Shorey (113), Joseph Grenier (152), Robert Worell (195) and Tanner Andrews (220).

"We had some pleasant surprises, especially 220-pound wrestler Chikacha Nduaguibe," said Marshwood coach Matt Rix. "He came in with a 5-16 record and pulled off one of the upsets of the day, earning a fourth-place finish. We also got a good outing from senior captain Darren LaPointe, who placed second in the 106-pound class."

Another pleasant surprise was the performance of Hebert, who finished second at 138.

Other Marshwood wrestlers who placed were Josh Marks, who was third at 120, and Eric Glidden, who finished fourth at 126.

Noble's third-place finishers were Josh Grenier (152), Zac Shluntz (182), Sean Copp (220) and Joseph Langley (132). In addition, Devin Bourque (138) finished fourth as did Chris Ziadeh (160).

"I feel our kids did pretty well despite a few disappointments," said Noble coach Kip DeVoll. "We suffered an upset loss in one of our usually solid weight classes, but we still managed to finish second, which really pleased me. Our goal was to send as many wrestlers as we could to next week's state meet, and I feel we accomplished that goal by sending 11 wrestlers and two alternates."

West B wrestling: Falcons take flight

Bob McPhee, Staff Writer

WINSLOW — It was evident that Brandon Gill and teammates were in a competitive match, but the Mountain Valley wrestlers bided their time took advantage of their opportunities when they presented themselves.

In doing so, the Falcons wrestled above their expectations en route to winning the Western Class B regional wrestling championship Saturday, scoring 152 points behind five individual champions to outdistance runner up Wells, which finished with 128.

Mountain Valley, which finished sixth last year, proved to be the class of the field, and qualified all eight of its wrestlers for the state meet.

It was competitive until the Falcons took control by winning seven semifinal matches to score 97 points. First-place finishers included Ethan Boucher (120), Jake Thornton (126), Gill (132), Dakota Jacques (145) and Zach Cross (182).

The top four wrestlers in 14 weight classes have qualified for the Class B state meet, being held Saturday, Feb. 15, in Bath.

It was important to place as high as possible, because the order of finishes will be reversed against Eastern regional competitors in state meet.

Gill was tied 2-2 at the end of regulation with Tommy Cryer of Wells, and went to overtime. The wrestlers couldn't score any points and time was running out in triple-OT.

"I needed to pick it up," said Gill, who despite being the No.2 seed, wrestled four matches. "I had popped my shoulder out and was able to get out on the side. The Peterson (move) was there, so I took it and (Cryer) is known for the move, so it feels really good."

Jacques was solid in a 9-4 decision against Josh Smith of York. Cross grabbed a fast lead and held off Fryeburg Trevor Henschel, 6-2

"I had to be quick on my feet and go after him and then got a merkle (two-point near fall)," said Cross, who had lost six of seven matches to Henschel this season.

Prior to that, Ethan Boucher built up a 4-0 lead and held off Isaac Desrochers of Wells. Thornton executed a reversal to take a lead in the third period and followed with a series of near falls for a 10-2 decision over Dillon Pelletier of Winslow.

The Falcons won two of three head-to-head matches against Wells in the finals. Eddie DeRoche was pinned by Colin Sevigney of Wells at 138. Anthony Boucher dropped a class and placed third at 195.

The Falcons also had two come-from-behind wins by DeRoche and Jacques in the semifinals. A couple late moves strengthened the Falcons.

"I was down and knew I had to make a move," DeRoche said. "It helped when I got back on to my feet and then set-up a spadle."

"It was good day with kids wrestling above their seeds," Mountain Valley coach Chris Bean said "The kids decided to switch and Eddie wrestled off with Mike Provencher and won, so Eddie deserved the spot."

In a highly-anticipated match, Falcons freshman Caleb Austin lost 6-1 to Peter DelGallo of Gardiner, the reigning state and New England champion. Austin knew he needed to use his quickness and limit mistakes. Oak Hill freshmen Danny Buteau won the 106 championship with a pin against Cameron Grass of Erskine Academy.

"It should be interesting," said Buteau, who had beat Grass by injury default during the season ) in the semifinals. "Now its important to keep training hard because there is always someone out there who wants to beat you."

Raiders teammates Zachary Cloutier and Samual Woodard each placed fourth, at 113 and 160, respectively.

"Danny Buteau's success comes from comittment to the sport and a good work ethic," Oak Hill coach Rick Swett said.

Fryeburg, with 121.5 points, placed third, led by champion Willy MacFawn (152) and finalist Andrew Lyman at 285. The Raiders qualified eight, including Ryan Buzzell (145), Matt Boucher (152) and Angel Estalent (220), each with third-place finishes. 

2014 Regional Wrestling Results

From WCSH NEWS CENTER

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Class 'A' West - Sanford High School


Team Standings

1. Marshwood 228.5
2. Noble 199.5
3. Massabesic 196.5
4. Biddeford 104.0
5. Sanford 96.0
6. Portland 85.5
8. Kennebunk 41.0
9. Thorton Academy 17.0
10. Deering 16.0
11. Cheverus 8.0
12. Scarborough 7.0
13. GPC 4.0

Championship Finals

106 Kidayer Aljubyly (Portland) def. Darren Lapointe (Marshwood) 3-1
113 Bradley Beaulieu (Marshwood) def. Austin Shorey (Noble) 1-0
120 William Gagner (Noble) def. Jaime Lones-Martinez (Portland) Pin at 1:53
126 Tyler Everett (Massabesic) def. William Livermore (Biddeford) Pin at 2:32
132 Killian Murphy (Marshwood) def. Jake Gagne (Biddeford) 5-2
138 Dominick Day (Biddeford) def. Samuel Hebert (Marshwood) 6-2
145 Otto Keisker (Noble) def. Shamus McManus (Marshwood) Pin at 0:42
152 Jackson Howarth (Marshwood) def. Joseph Grenier (Noble) 2-1
160 Cody Hughes (Marshwood) def. Greg Cassella (Portland) Major Dec. 16-4
170 Robert Martin (Bonny Eagle) def. Justin Stacy (Marshwood) 3-2
182 Brett Gerry (Marshwood) def. Trevor Burns (Massabesic) 5-0
195 Mike Risti (Massabesic) def. Robert Worell (Noble) Pin at 1:24
220 Andrew Moriarty (Sanford) def. Tanner Andrews (Massabesic) Pin at 3:39
285 Jed Scott (Sanford) def. Jordan Drain (Massabesic) Pin at 3:39

Consolation Finals

106 Leo Amabile (Massabesic) def. Soriya Yong (Scarborough) Pin at 2:11
113 Kyle Bonti (Kennebunk) def. Aiden Whitis (Cheverus) 4-3
120 Josh Marks (Marshwood) def. Brian Livermoore (Biddeford) 4-0
126 Joshua Grenier (Noble) def. Eric Glidden (Marshwood) 4-0
132 Joseph Langley (Noble) def. Milton McCabe (Sanford) Major Dec. 17-8
138 Nicholas Staples (Massabesic) def. Devin Bourque (Noble) Pin at 1:43
145 Zac Richard (Massabesic) def. Cody Mains (Bonny Eagle) Tech Fall 20-5
152 Logan Martin (Massabesic) def. Chase Eldredge (Sanford) 8-5
160 Zachary McGrath (Massabesic) def. Christopher Ziadeh (Noble) 7-2
170 Trevor Walton (Massabesic) def. Josh Hunnewell (Portland) 3-1 (OT)
182 Zac Schluntz (Noble) def. Justin Roberge (Sanford) Pin at 4:04
195 Nick Ackerman (Biddeford) def. Connor Donaher (Kennebunk) Pin at 2:02
220 Sean Copp (Noble) def. Chikacha Nduaguibe (Marshwood) 8-6
285 Isaiah Reynolds (Bonny Eagle) def. Austin Burnham (Biddeford) Pin at 0:30

Class 'A' East - Mt. Ararat High School, Topsham

Team Standings

1. Skowhegan 180.5
2. Cony 144.0
3. Nokomis 97.5
4. Oxford Hills 84.0
5. Mt. Blue 70.0
6. Windham 68.0
7. Mt. Ararat 63.5
8. Westbrook 58.0
9. Edward Little 40.0
10. Hampden 19.0
11. Brunswick 17.0
12. Gorham 16.0
13. Brewer 0.0

Championship Finals

106 Cody Craig (Skowhegan) def. Christian Jensen (Brunswick) 5-1
113 Taylor Alleano (Oxford Hills) def. Josh Gilbert (Cony) 8-6
120 Tyler Craig (Skowhegan) def. Cordell Brooks (Oxford Hills) Tech Fall 18-3
126 Luke Bolster (Skowhegan) def. Jon Hankey (Oxford Hills) 7-6
132 Julian Sirois (Skowhegan) def. Sheldon Bang (Edward Little) 4-1
138 Zeko Caudill (Cony) def. Kameron Doucette (Skowhegan) 5-4
145 Kaleb Brown (Skowhegan) def. Brandon Conley (Westbrook) Tech Fall 16-0
152 Robert Hetherman (Mt. Ararat) def. Eric Cash (Windham) Tech Fall 16-0
160 Logan Stevens (Skowhegan) def. Chris Paradis (Cony) 11-9
170 Malik Geiger (Oxford Hills) def. Griffin Richards (Cony) Major Dec. 13-2
182 Mikal Federici (Skowhegan) def. Rusty Wilson (Nokomis) 9-7
195 Christopher Wilson (Nokomis) def. Jake Fraser (Cony) 7-6
220 Nic Benner (Cony) def. JT Williams (Mt. Blue) Pin at 1:47
285 Elias Younes (Cony) def. Hunter Glidden (Nokomis) Major Dec. 16-4

Consolation Finals

106 Samantha Frank (Windham) def. Michael Voter (Mt. Blue) Pin at 2:31
113 Sebastian Foster (Windham) def. - () 
120 Max Storm (Westbrook) def. Kolin Fraser (Nokomis) Pin at 3:55
126 Teran Booth (Nokomis) def. Jesse Malier (Windham) 7-1
132 Jonathan Crocker (Nokomis) def. Brandon Huntington (Windham) 7-2
138 Dominick Cancelarich (Windham) def. Danny Reed (Mt. Blue) Pin at 3:47
145 Skyler Bang (Edward Little) def. Adam Ewing (Mt. Ararat) Pin at 2:49
152 Logan Truman (Oxford Hills) def. Kyle Hanson (Westbrook) Pin at 2:10
160 Nick Hickey (Mt. Blue) def. John Hetherman (Mt. Ararat) 8-6
170 Abe Eaton (Gorham) def. Jacob Richards (Nokomis) Pin at 2:10
182 Brandon Jusseaume (Mt. Ararat) def. Mike Williams (Edward Little) Pin at 0:56
195 Tyler Sennick (Mt. Blue) def. Brandon Lajoie (Westbrook) Pin at 0:48
220 Cody Witham (Hampden) def. Caleb Vautier (Skowhegan) Pin at 4:52
285 Will Gunter (Mt. Blue) def. Pierce Knorr (Mt. Ararat) 7-3

Class 'B' West - Winslow High School

Team Standings

1. MTN VALLEY HS 152.00
2. WELLS HS 128.00
3. FRYEBURG ACADEMY 121.50
4. ERSKINE ACADEMY 94.00
5. YORK HS 90.00
6. MT VIEW HS 71.00
7. WINSLOW HS 70.00
8. GARDINER AREA HS 62.00
9. MORSE HS 48.50
10. OAK HILL HS 36.00
11. LINCOLN ACADEMY 3.00

Championship

106 DANNY BUTEAU, OAK HILL HS Fall CAMERON GRASS, ERSKINE ACADEMY, 5:04
113 PETER DEL GALLO, GARDINER AREA HS Dec CALEB AUSTIN, MTN VALLEY HS, 6-1
120 ETHAN BOUCHER, MTN VALLEY HS Dec ISAAC DESROCHERS, WELLS HS, 4-3
126 JACOB THORNTON, MTN VALLEY HS M-Dec DILLON PELLETIER, WINSLOW HS, 10-2
132 BRANDON GILL, MTN VALLEY HS Dec TOMMY CRYER, WELLS HS, 6-2 OT
138 COLIN SEVIGNEY, WELLS HS Fall EDDIE DEROCHE, MTN VALLEY HS, 4:26
145 DAKOTA JACQUES, MTN VALLEY HS Dec JOSH SMITH, YORK HS, 9-4
152 HUNTER REED, MORSE HS Dec ANDREW BOISVERT, YORK HS, 3-1
160 ZACH ISBELL, ERSKINE ACADEMY Fall RAZ BALTAZAR, MORSE HS, 4:17
170 WILLY MacFAWN, FRYEBURG ACADEMY Fall TYLER AZEVEDO, ERSKINE ACADEMY, 1:59
182 ZACH CROSS, MTN VALLEY HS Dec TREVOR HENSCHEL, FRYEBURG ACADEMY, 6-2
195 MICHAEL CURTIS, WELLS HS Fall ANDREW DOODY VEILLEUX, GARDINER AREA HS, 2:25
220 ZACH HANDLEY, YORK HS Fall JOB MESARIC, MT VIEW HS, 3:59
285 AARON LINT, WINSLOW HS Fall ANDREW LYMAN, FRYEBURG ACADEMY, 1:39

Consolation

106 CULLEN CUMMINGS, WELLS HS Dec JON MACKAMAN, YORK HS, 5-3
113 CALEB CHASE, WELLS HS Dec ZACH CLOUTIER, OAK HILL HS, 7-5
120 ISAAC TAYLOR, ERSKINE ACADEMY Fall TOM REMEDIS, FRYEBURG ACADEMY, 0:31
126 JAMES BLANCHETTE, MT VIEW HS Dec JUSTIN STUDHOLME, ERSKINE ACADEMY, 5-3
132 JARRYD FONGER, MT VIEW HS Dec CONOR SMITH, FRYEBURG ACADEMY, 6-1
138 JOE YORK, ERSKINE ACADEMY Fall PATRICK HOPKINS, WINSLOW HS, 1:10
145 RYAN BUZZELL, FRYEBURG ACADEMY Dec ANTHONY BARNARD, MT VIEW HS, 7-6
152 MATHEW BOUCHER, FRYEBURG ACADEMY Fall BEN ABBOTT, WINSLOW HS, 2:17
160 CONNOR ELSEMORE, YORK HS Fall SAMUEL WOODARD, OAK HILL HS, 0:33
170 JACOB SPOFFORD, WELLS HS Fall COREY LENT, MORSE HS, 2:50
182 JACOB TRUMAN, GARDINER AREA HS Fall MARK SLUSHER, YORK HS, 2:06
195 ANTHONY BOUCHER, MTN VALLEY HS Fall MIKE DANDANAEU, FRYEBURG ACADEMY, 1:19
220 ANGEL ESCALANTE, FRYEBURG ACADEMY Dec CHUCK TAYLOR, WELLS HS, 2-0
285 CHRIS COLE, MT VIEW HS Fall ORION SERAPH, GARDINER AREA HS, 3:35

Class 'B' East - Belfast Area H.S.

Team Standings

1. Camden Hills Regional High School 203.00
2. Ellsworth High School 194.50
3. Foxcroft Academy 159.00
4. Belfast Area High School 82.00
5. Caribou High School 65.00
6. Maine Central Institute 64.00
7. Hermon High School 50.00
8. Medomak Valley High School 43.00
9. Mount Desert Island High School 22.00
10. Oceanside High School 10.00

Championship

106 Hilary Merrifield, Camden Hills Regional High School M-Dec Austin Merando, Belfast Area High School, 10-1
113 Zac Annis, Camden Hills Regional High School Dec Brenden Bruns, Belfast Area High School, 5-4
120 Antonio Ayala, Foxcroft Academy Dec James Archer, Camden Hills Regional High School, 14-12
126 Dylan Dahlbergh, Maine Central Institute Dec Robert Banner, Ellsworth High School, 7-5
132 Dagan Berenyi, Ellsworth High School T-Fall John Underhill, Camden Hills Regional High School, 19-3
138 Brooks Law, Foxcroft Academy M-Dec Walker Roberts, Belfast Area High School, 11-3
145 Jack Weeks, Ellsworth High School Dec Eli Smith, Camden Hills Regional High School, 12-9
152 Connor Winchenbach, Camden Hills Regional High School Dflt Connor Petros, Ellsworth High School
160 Todd Francis, Foxcroft Academy Fall Elvis Bowan, Camden Hills Regional High School, 4:37
170 Cyril Miller, Medomak Valley High School Dec Joe Wright, Ellsworth High School, 8-1
182 Brandon Brock, Foxcroft Academy M-Dec Brian Jones, Camden Hills Regional High School, 13-3
195 Corbyn Bruce, Foxcroft Academy Dec Jared Gilbert, Camden Hills Regional High School, 6-3
220 Michael Garland, Ellsworth High School Dec Alex Urquhart, Hermon High School, 8-6
285 Luke Potter, Hermon High School Dec Jared Bragg, Ellsworth High School, 3-2

Consolation

106 Marcus Parsons, Mount Desert Island High School Fall Landan Scott, Ellsworth High School, :19
113 Noah Robidoux, Ellsworth High School Fall Chris Watrous, Maine Central Institute, 2:07
120 Joshua Wright, Ellsworth High School Fall Kyle Morris, Caribou High School, 3:28
126 Eli Olson, Foxcroft Academy Fall Zachary Collins, Camden Hills Regional High School, 3:55
132 Dallas Ball, Oceanside High School Dec Tanner Littlefield, Maine Central Institute, 2-0
138 Riley McCollett, Medomak Valley High School Dec Taylor Crosby, Camden Hills Regional High School, 10-7
145 Michael McFadden, Belfast Area High School M-Dec Axios Gerakaris, Caribou High School, 10-2
152 Trevor Kitchin, Maine Central Institute Dflt Billy Brock, Foxcroft Academy
160 Austin Smith, Ellsworth High School Fall John Capella, Belfast Area High School, 2:59
170 Michael Pendriss, Foxcroft Academy Fall Jacob Bither, Caribou High School, 5:40
182 Jeff Weeks, Ellsworth High School Fall Matthew Smith, Belfast Area High School, 4:05
195 Matthew Manter, Caribou High School Dec Andrew Rediker, Hermon High School, 8-5
220 Craig Chambers, Foxcroft Academy Dflt Colton Conley, Caribou High School
285 Briar Bussell, Maine Central Institute Dec Kalo Littlejohn, Camden Hills Regional High School, 2-1

Youthful depth propels Camden Hills to fifth straight Eastern B wrestling title

By Ernie Clark, BDN Staff

Posted Feb. 08, 2014, at 9:43 p.m.

BELFAST, Maine — Just two seniors stood among the 14 wrestlers that represented Camden Hills of Rockport at Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class B wrestling championships.

But the quality of that youthful depth lived up to the Windjammers’ recent era of domination on the mat — a run that has produced 11 state titles in the last 16 years.

It wasn’t easy, but coach Patrick Kelly’s club qualified 12 wrestlers for next week’s state meet including nine regional finalists as Camden Hills edged Ellsworth 203-194.5 to win its fifth consecutive EM crown.

“This was really the first time all year we’ve had all 14 wrestlers together for the same meet,” said Kelly, whose team will seek the program’s third straight state championship next Saturday at Morse High School in Bath.

Three-time defending Class C state champion Foxcroft Academy — which boasted a meet-best five individual champions — finished third in the 10-school field with 159 points, followed by Belfast (89), Caribou (65), Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield (64), Hermon (50), Medomak Valley of Waldoboro (43), Mount Desert Island (22) and Oceanside of Rockland-Thomaston (10).

Camden Hills built a fairly sizeable early lead and held a 188-161 lead over Ellsworth heading into the consolation finals.

But the Penobscot Valley Conference-champion Eagles went 4-1 in their third-place matches while Camden Hills settled for three fourth-place finishes, reducing the Windjammers’ lead to 188-181 entering the championship matches.

Camden Hills won three of its finals, but Ellsworth was unable to make inroads despite getting considerable help from Foxcroft, which went 4-0 in head-to-head championship matches against the Windjammers.

Ellsworth went 3-4 in its championship finals, and Camden Hills was able to sustain its lead to the finish.

“I thought as long as everyone wrestled the way they were capable of that we could win this and we could beat Ellsworth,” said Brian Jones, a senior captain for the Windjammers who placed second at 182 pounds. “We are a young team and at the beginning of the season it was looking a little shaky, but everyone stepped up and now we’re here.”

Individual champions for Camden Hills included sophomore Hilary Merrifield, who won her first two matches by pin and then defeated Belfast’s Austin Merando in the 106-pound final by a 10-1 major decision.

Junior Zac Annis, the EM champion at 106 pounds last winter, edged Belfast’s Brendan Bruns 5-4 in the 113-pound final, while senior Connor Winchenbach, who won the 152-pound title by injury default over Ellsworth’s Connor Petros.

Joining Jones with runner-up finishes for the Windjammers were James Archer (120 pounds), John Underhill (132), Eli Smith (145), Elvis Bowan (160) and Jared Gilbert (195).

Ellsworth also qualified 12 wrestlers for the state meet, led by regional champions Dagan Berenyi, Jack Weeks and Michael Garland.

Weeks was voted wrestler of the meet for his come-from-behind 12-9 decision over Camden Hills’ Smith in the 145-pound final. Weeks trailed 7-3 entering the final period, then still was behind in the final minute before scoring a reversal and near fall to secure the victory.

Berenyi, a sophomore who won the 126-pound EM title while attending Belfast last year, secured the 132-pound crown with one pin and two victories by technical fall. Garland edged Hermon’s Alex Urquhart 8-6 in a hard-fought 220-pound final.

Placing second in their weight classes for Ellsworth were Petros, Robert Banner (126) Joe Wright (170) and Jared Bragg (285).

“I think the kids wrestled well throughout the day,” said Dan Ormsby, who shares head coaching duties at Ellsworth with Travis Hardison. “I think that going through the rounds we had some stuff stacked against us at the beginning, we had a lot of byes and the byes took 22 points away from us.

“We’re coming for a state title, that’s what we want,” he added. “This hurts, but it only stings until Monday when we get back to practice.”

Foxcroft won all of its championship matches, beginning with reigning Class C 113-pound state champion Antonio Ayala outpointing Camden Hills’ Archer 14-12.

Another 2013 Class C state champion from Foxcroft, Brooks Law, scored an 11-3 major decision over Belfast’s Walker Roberts in the 138-pound final while the Ponies’ Todd Francis (160), Brandon Brock (182) and Corbyn Bruce (195) also won their weight classes.

Other Eastern Maine championships were Dylan Dahlbergh of MCI at 126 pounds, Cyril Miller of Medomak Valley at 170 and Hermon’s Luke Potter at 285.

Skowhegan wins KVAC wrestling title

By Ernie Clark, BDN Staff

Posted Feb. 02, 2014, at 10:58 a.m.

TOPSHAM, Maine — Skowhegan Area High School crowned six individual champions en route to winning its second straight Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference wrestling championship Saturday.

No other team in the 20-school field crowned more than two individual winners as the Class A Indians amassed 197 points to outdistance the runner-up, defending Class B state champion Camden Hills of Rockport, which scored 131.5 points.

Cony of Augusta was third with 120 points, followed by Belfast (84.5), Oxford Hills of South Paris (84), host Mt. Ararat (78) Winslow (71), Nokomis of Newport (64) and Mount View of Thorndike (60).

Skowhegan swept all the KVAC Class A postseason awards, with the Indians’ 152-pound conference champion Kaleb Brown named wrestler of the year and coaches Tenny Noyes and Brooks Thompson recognized as coaches of the year.

Winslow’s Aaron Lint, the 295-pound KVAC champion, was named the conference’s Class B wrestler of the year, while Hamilton Richards of Mount View was chosen the division’s coach of the year.

Skowhegan, third at the Class A state meet last year, dominated the lower and middle weight classes at the KVACs, winning six of the first nine championship finals contested.

Brown, the Class A state runner-up at 138 pounds a year ago, remained undefeated this season by pinning Mt. Ararat’s Robert Hetherman in 1 minute, 8 seconds to capture the 152-pound crown while teammate Tyler Craig, who won the 113-pound state title last winter, pinned Camden Hills’ James Archer at 1:29 in their 120-pound final.

Other Skowhegan individual champions were undefeated Cody Craig at 106 pounds, Luke Bolster (132), Kameron Doucette (145) and Logan Stevens (160). Cooper Holland added a second-place finish for the Indians at 113 pounds, while teammate Julian Sirois placed second at 138.

Jared Gilbert won an individual championship at 195 pounds for Camden Hills. The Windjammers also procured a second-place finish from Archer, thirds from Hillary Merrifield (106 pounds) and Elvis Bowen (160), and fourths from Connor Winchenbach (152), Brian Jones (182) and Kaylo Littlejohn (285).

Cony was paced by individual champions Zeko Caudill (138) and Nic Benner (220), while Belfast did not have any weight-class winners but got a second from Mike McFadden at 145, a third from Brenden Bruns at 113 and fourths from Austin Merando (106) and Walker Roberts (138) to pace its fourth-place finish.

Other individual champions were defending state and New England champion Peter Del Gallo of Gardiner at 113 pounds, Jon Hankey (126) and Malik Geiger (170) of Oxford Hills, Rusty Wilson of Nokomis (182) and Winslow’s Lint at 285.

KVAC teams advance to regional competition next Saturday, with the Eastern A meet at Mt. Ararat and the Eastern B meet at Belfast
.

Seven individual champions lead Skowhegan to win second straight Eastern A wrestling title

By Ernie Clark, BDN Staff

Posted Feb. 08, 2014, at 10:13 p.m.

George Almasi

Nokomis' Kolin Fraser has the upper hand on Mount Ararat's George Berry in their 120-pound match as referee Dennis Bishop looks on during the Eastern A championships Saturday in Topsham.

George Almasi

Hamoden Academy's Patrick DeArmott tries to elude the grasp of Edward Little's Skyler bang in their 145-pound match during the Eastern A championships Saturday at Mount Ararat in Topsham.

George Almasi

Oxford Hill's Tyler Wallace tries to get from under Nokomis' Russell Wilson in their 182-pound match during the Eastern A championships at Mount Ararat in Topsham Saturday.

The Skowhegan Indians crowned seven individual champions Saturday to cruise to their second straight Eastern Maine Class A wrestling championship at Mount Ararat High School in Topsham.

Skowhegan, which was coming off a victory last weekend at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships, scored 180.5 points to outdistance runner-up Cony of Augusta (144) during the 13-school meet held at Mount Ararat High School.

Nokomis of Newport was third with 97.5 points, with Oxford Hills of South Paris (84) and Mt. Blue of Farmington (70) rounding out the top five.

The top four finishers in each weight class will advance to next Saturday’s Class A state championship meet to be held at Noble High School in North Berwick.

Skowhegan will send nine wrestlers to states overall after dominating the lower and middle weight classes. The Indians won four of the first five championship matches contested and secured all of their individual titles at 182 pounds or less.

Regional champions for Skowhegan were Cody Craig (106 pounds), Tyler Craig (120), Luke Bolster (126), Julian Sirois (132), Kaleb Brown (145), Logan Stevens (160) and Mikal Federici (182).

Kameron Doucette finished second for the Indians at 138 pounds while teammate Caleb Vautier was fourth at 220.

Cony was led by three individual champions in Zeko Caudill at 138 pounds, Nic Benner at 220 and Elias Younes at 285. Four Rams finished second in their weight classes: Josh Gilbert at 113 pounds, Chris Paradis (160), Griffin Richards (170) and Jake Fraser (195).

The Nokomis effort was sparked by 195-pound champion Christopher Wilson, while Rusty Wilson added a second at 182 and Hunter Glidden was second at 285. Also earning tickets to the state meet for the Warriors were Teran Booth, third at 126 pounds, Jonathan Crocker, third at 132, Kolin Fraser, fourth at 120, and Jacob Richards, fourth at 170.

Other Eastern Maine Class A champions were Taylor Alleano of Oxford Hills (113), Robert Hetherman of Mount Ararat (152) and Malik Geiger of Oxford Hills (170).

Cody Witham of Hampden Academy finished third at 220 pounds to advance to the state meet.

Wrestling: Skowhegan rolls to Eastern Class A title

Mountain Valley, Camden Hills take Class B crowns

From staff reports

TOPSHAM — Behind seven individual champions, Skowhegan rolled to the Eastern Class A wrestling championship Saturday, scoring 180.5 points.

Cony finished second with 144 points.

Cody Craig (106 pounds), Tyler Craig (120), Luke Bolster (126), Julian Sirois (132), Kaleb Brown (145), Logan Stevens (160), and Mikal Federici (182) finished first for Skowhegan. The Indians had nine wrestlers qualify for Saturday’s Class A state championships at Noble High by finishing in the top four.

Mt. Ararat freshman Robert Heatherman won the 152-pound title with a 16-0 victory against Windham’s Eric Cash.

Brunswick’s Christian Jensen was runner-up to Cody Craig at 106.

WESTERN CLASS B: Mountain Valley won the regional title at Winslow High with 152 points, while Wells was second with 128 points and had eight wrestlers qualify for the state meet at Morse High.

Fryeburg Academy finished third (121.5), with Erskine Academy (94) and York (90) rounding out the top five of the 11-team meet.

Mountain Valley had seven finalists. Ethan Boucher (120), Jacob Thornton (126), Brandon Gill (132), Dakota Jacques (145) and Zach Cross (182) won their weight classes.

Wells was led by individual champions Colin Sevigney at 138 pounds and Michael Curtis at 195. Isaac Desrochers (120) and Tommy Cryer (132) finished second, Cryer losing a 6-2 overtime decision to Gill.

In one of the state’s most anticipated matches, Gardiner sophomore Peter Del Gallo, the New England champion at 106 pounds as a sophomore, beat Mountain Valley’s Caleb Austin 6-1 in the 113-pound final.

Willy MacFawn won the 170-pound title for Fryeburg. Zach Handley of York won the 220-pound class. 

EASTERN CLASS B: Nine Camden Hills wrestlers reached the finals and 12 qualified for the state championships as the Windjammers won the regional at Belfast with 203 points, just ahead of Ellsworth (194.5).

Foxcroft Academy was third with 159 in the 10-team meet.

Winning individual titles for Camden Hills were Hilary Merrifield (106), Zac Annis (113) and Connor Winchenbach (152).

Western Class A wrestling: Marshwood leads the way

The Hawks will send 12 wrestlers to the state meet.

By Steve Craig scraig@pressherald.com

Staff Writer

SANFORD — As expected, Marshwood High won the Western Class A wrestling title Saturday, with five champions and 12 total wrestlers qualifying for next Saturday’s state meet.

click image to enlarge

Josh Marks of Marshwood puts a move on Jaime Lones-Martinez of Portland. Lones-Martinez reached the final, then fell to William Gagner of Noble.

Photos by Gabe Souza/Staff Photographer

click image to enlarge

Tyler Everett of Massabesic tries to put a move on Josh Grenier of Noble, who won in a consolation final.

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“Coming in here, we figured if we were consistent and didn’t lose to kids we’d been beating all year, we would position ourselves pretty well for next weekend and we did that,” Marshwood Coach Matt Rix said.

But the work for a third straight state title is far from done for the Hawks, who totaled 228.5 points.

Second-place Noble (199.5 points) and Massabesic (196.5) each advanced 11 wrestlers.

“It means it’s going to be another day like today. It’s going to be very close,” Massabesic Coach Rick DeRosier said. “People are going to be knocking everybody else off.”

Can the Knights or Mustangs improve enough in one week to catch Marshwood and work through Eastern A champ Skowhegan (nine qualifiers, seven regional champs)?

“Absolutely. We got better this week,” Noble Coach Kip DeVoll said. “Certain things we’ve been stressing all year and all of a sudden they started to get it.”

Noble will host the Class A championships.

“It’s going to come right down to the wire,” Rix said. “You throw Skowhegan into the mix and anything can happen.”

Marshwood’s three defending state champs won regional titles. Five of the nine Hawks to reach the final won titles.

Jackson Howarth edged Noble’s Joe Grenier 2-1 at 152 pounds; unbeaten Cody Hughes settled in at 160 pounds and controlled Portland’s Greg Cassella 16-4 in the final; and Brett Gerry defended at 182 pounds, beating Massabesic’s Trevor Burns, 5-0.

Howarth has won two of three this year against Grenier. Each has been close and low scoring.

“Barring something happening with the kids up north, and there are a couple good ones up there, they should meet in the final again at states and hopefully it goes our way,” DeVoll said.

The Hawks’ other champions were Bradley Beaulieu at 113, who edged Austin Shorey of Noble, 1-0; and Killian Murphy, who beat Jake Gagne of Biddeford 5-2 at 132 pounds.

“Right at the beginning of the season we knew guys like Killian had what it took to be finalists at regional and finalists at state,” Hughes said. “We knew it. We saw it in practice.”

Massabesic was led by Tyler Everett (126) and Mike Risti (195). Everett pinned Biddeford’s William Livermore in the final. Risti stopped Noble’s Robert Worrell in the first period.

“We definitely can (win states) if everyone comes out and wrestles well right away and everything falls in place. There’s always a chance,” Everett said.

Noble’s titles were by William Gagner at 120 pounds and Otto Keisker at 145. Gagner pinned Portland’s Jaime Lones-Martinez and Keisker pinned Marshwood’s Shamus McManus.

Gagner has come back from a badly broken arm during soccer season. Because of limited matches, he was seeded second behind Lones-Martinez.

“I definitely used that before the match like anyone would,” Gagner said. “I just said to myself I’ve worked too hard coming back from a broken arm and I’m the one who deserves to be up there,” atop the medal stand.

Defending 106-pound champion Kidayer Aljubyly had to overcome an injury during his final match against Darren Lapointe. As Lapointe worked free for an escape and a 1-0 lead, Aljubyly’s pinky finger on his left hand was dislocated.

“I thought about (quitting) but I wanted to continue for my coaches,” Aljubyly said. He came through with a 3-1 win.

Also winning regional titles were Dominick Day of Biddeford (138), Robert Martin of Bonny Eagle (170) and the Sanford duo of Andrew Moriarty (220) and Jed Scott (285).

Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or at:

scraig@pressherald.com

Twitter: SteveCCraig