RUMFORD — Wells didn’t have to pull off many surprises Saturday as it easily defended its Class B South wrestling championship at Mountain Valley High.
Wells placed 11 wrestlers in the finals and all 13 of its wrestlers in the top four as it tallied 206 points. Mountain Valley had a meet-high five champions to finish second with 132 points. Lisbon/Oak Hill (127.5), Madison (101.5) and Dirigo (94) rounded out the top five.
Four Wells wrestlers won individual titles – Ryan Norton (113 pounds), Nathan Curtis (170), Jonah Potter (182) and Nolan Potter (220). But Coach Scott Lewis was a bit uneasy with how little his wrestlers were tested by a thin field that saw few weight classes filled and several competitors advance directly to the finals on byes.
“We’ve got to do some work but hopefully we’ll be right there again,” he said as he looked ahead to the state meet next Saturday at Wells. “It’s probably the weakest tournament we’ve been in all year, which is too bad. We’ll just practice hard next week and see where we go.”
The Warriors had seven second-place finishers: Craig Chase (106), Jacob Scott (120), Caden Gibson (126), Devin Chace (145), Drew Peters (152), Michael Wrigley (195) and Sean McCormack-Kuhman (285). Spencer Poulin (138) and Evan Cash (160) also qualified for the state meet.
“We had a couple of kids in the finals that I hoped would win that didn’t, but other than that everything was pretty much expected,” Lewis said.
Norton edged Lisbon/Oak Hill’s Jack Tibbets 8-7 in the 113 final after losing to him last week at the Mid-State League tournament. Another pleasant surprise for Wells, according to Lewis, was Curtis pinning Lisbon/Oak Hill’s Bradley Harriman in the 170 final.
Mountain Valley champions were Vinny Deroche (106), Evrit Roy (126), Anthony Mazza (138), Nathan White (145) and Darin Buono (195). But Coach Gary Dolloff agreed with Lewis that some of his wrestlers were far more tested than others heading into next Saturday.
“Darin had a really good weight class at 195. It was very competitive so it really helped him,” Dolloff said. “But Vinny, he got a bye all the way to the finals. That’s not going to help him get tougher, or conditioning-wise.”
Zoe Buteau of Lisbon/Oak Hill stuck with her strengths and controlled her final, scoring a technical fall (15-0) over Jacob Scott of Wells to earn her first regional title.
“I’ve been trying to work legs a lot more. When I’ve been on top, it’s been working,” said Buteau, one eight Lisbon/Oak Hill wrestlers to qualify for states. “I’m just trying to work my strength with my legs.”
Buteau hopes to not only join her brother, Danny, as a state champion but also make history as well as the first Maine female to win a state title in a mixed tournament.
“There’s a little bit of pressure,” she said. “I have some, I can’t say anxiety, but I’m pumped for next weekend. I know if I go in there with my head high and if I place fourth at states, I’ll still be happy because I tried my hardest all through the year. If I get first, though, yeah, I’ll be even happier.”
Cam Bourget earned Lisbon/Oak Hill’s other title with a pin of Madison’s Bryce Lombard in the 160 final.
Buono made the home fans very happy by picking up his 100th career win in the 195 final over Michael Wrigley of Wells.
Much like his final against Wrigley at the Mid-State League championships last week, where Buono rallied from a late 4-1 deficit to win 7-4, Buono again erased a third-period deficit with a pancake takedown of Wrigley and then pinned with 17.9 seconds left.
“It’s more of a mental game. I was going out there feeling like I’d already beaten him mentally,” Buono said. “It’s waiting for that right moment to hit a move. I was getting kind of nervous, and I heard everyone yelling and I turned on the jets.”
“It’s such a memorable 100th win,” Dolloff said. “He’s just a really gutsy kid. He wrestles hard every single day. He’s one of those kids you want in your wrestling room as a leader by example.”
Dirigo will send eight wrestlers to states, led by its lone champion, Jon Wainwright. He won the 132 title with a pin of Madison’s Joshua Savage at 4:52.
Dakota Nutter led four state qualifiers from Lincoln Academy, winning the 152 title with a 2-1 decision over Peters.
Madison’s Seth Padelford nipped McCormack-Kuhman 7-6 for the 285 title. The Bulldogs had eight wrestlers qualify for the state meet.
Leo Wilson (third at 106) and Logan Farr (fourth at 138) qualified for Monmouth Academy. Fryeburg Academy also had two wrestlers advance, Edmund Plessigner (third at 132) and Liam Harriman (fourth at 170).
Carrabec’s Steven Libby advanced by finishing fourth at 285.
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