SOUTH BERWICK — Some wrestling teams are built for dual meets. Some are better suited for a tournament.
The Noble Knights proved they could win — and actually dominate — in any format as they racked up 200.5 points on Saturday to win the Class A South Regional title by 50 points over rival Marshwood.
Noble was led by five champions as Josh Cote (120), Sam Martel (126), Joe Pilecki (132), Jon Grenier (145) and Hil Keisker (160) all climbed to the top of the podium.
“It feels amazing as a senior (to win a regional title), but I’m going to be honest it feels better for us as a team to win it,” said Keisker, who captured his first regional crown. “I didn’t care if I stood up on that podium as long as our team was able to bring home that title — and that’s going to be the same thing next week.”
The Knights were able to run away with the title thanks to a ton of bonus point wins, including four in the finals.
“It was ridiculous. Our team has done amazing today. I totally did not expect that many bonus points out of us,” said Grenier.
Grenier probably had the most impressive win as he shocked former state champion Jeremy Sendrowski of Scarborough by putting him on his back and getting the pin in the 145-pound championship.
“I just knew his style. He liked a lot of chin rips, big moves. He’s very conservative on leg shots, so it was kind of surprising to see him attack on the legs. He got in on me quite a few times,” said Grenier, who trailed 5-0 early in the bout. “I woke up a bit. He ended up coming in on the outside. I ended up lateraling, putting him to his back and I knew that was my one shot and I had to hold him there. I was squeezing with all I had.”
It will be a moment that Grenier will remember for the rest of his life.
“That was one of the best moments in wrestling for me right there, hearing the slap (of the mat),” Grenier said. “I knew it was going to be a tough match and coming out on top was — I don’t want to say it was a surprise — but it was definitely a happy delight.”
Noble coach Kevin Gray was thrilled to see Grenier get the win and grab a gold at regionals.
“He’s one of those kids where he’s been injured … he just hasn’t quite put a full year together. He’s bought into what we’ve been trying to get him to do and he’s just super strong,” said Gray. “Sendrowski is an unbelievable wrestler. You could see he was kind of dominating (Grenier) on his feet but Jon was able to get to some of those positions and put him on his back.”
Gray was also happy to see Keisker, who beat Scarbrough’s Elijah Hollbrook 4-3 in the 160-pound final, finally get his time in the spotlight.
“It’s great, especially for Hil. He’s a kid where he’s always kind of in the background, never quite in that top tier level, his brother (former state finalist Otto Keisker) was always in front of him,” said Gray. “Hil’s just a happy-go-lucky kid. He works hard but he doesn’t have that killer instinct a lot of the time, so just to see him perform well and get it done is really nice.”
Cote picked up an 18-1 technical fall over Marshwood’s Carsen Goodwin, while Martel was a winner by fall over Marshwood’s Liam Coomey and Pilecki stuck Marshwood’s Matt Thompson in under a minute to win his regional title.
Pilecki credits Gray with helping him get to this point.
“It’s been great. With the new head coach, there have been a lot more live-drilling in practices which I’ve used to work on my attack a lot more,” said Pilecki, who put in plenty of work in the offseason. “During the summer I was focused a lot more on gaining muscle and it’s paying off now.”
While the Knights’ five champions certainly racked up the points on Saturday, they weren’t the only ones who helped Noble claim its first regional title since 2011.
Patrick Exel, who had struggled throughout the season, earned a 41-second pin in a 285-pound consolation match that sent the Noble fans and team into a frenzy.
“He pins a kid on a roll through headlock which we’ve been working on. That is probably the highlight of the day,” said Gray, who also saw Blake Ouellette pick up an upset win by fall in the 195-pound quarterfinals. “And (Ouellette) winning that quarterfinals match, which set him up on a good road to go to the state tournament, to the kid that he got pinned by a couple weeks ago.”
In most tournaments the team that has the most bonus point wins will come out on top and Gray has been stressing that fact to his squad.
“That’s bonus points, that’s what we needed to do,” Gray said. “We always preach that … to continue to get our bonus points and not take unnecessary risks but continue to pressure, and make sure we are working and working and working and not just sitting back.”
Noble will have 10 wrestlers competing at states thanks to fourth-place finishes from Dunvan McGilvery (138), Matt Beerworth (152), Charles Russell (170), Colin Cyr (182) and Ouellette (195).
The first-year head coach was happy to win regionals, but he also knows the season is far from over.
“It just gets us back on track with where we want to be. We know that today was a good day but it’s not what we’re striving for,” said Gray. “We’ve got to continue to work hard and everyone is going to be coming after us. States is going to be a different animal. Marshwood is going to be real tough with Cony and Nokomis and Skowhegan, throw everyone in the mix and it’s going to be a dog fight.”
Spartans crown three champs
The Sanford Spartans had a strong day as they had three wrestlers climb to the top of the podium and finished in third as a team.
Seniors Sam Anderson and Nick Works and junior Isaac Plante all captured their second regional championships on Saturday.
Anderson picked up a 13-3 major decision over Marshwood Dylan Strong at 170, while Works was a winner by fall — in just over a minute — over Cheverus’ Sean Sullivan at 220 and Plante pinned Portland’s Malcolm Gartland in 2:59 at 182.
Sanford coach Brent Coleman was thrilled with his team’s performance, which included third-place finishes from Cooper Van Gieson (132) and Sol Demers (285), and pointed to the leadership of his three champions as a reason why the Spartans are contenders on the state level.
“It’s been, I don’t know the exact (years), but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen (multiple wrestlers) not only in the (regional) finals but as champions. With these three they are really helping drive the program in the right direction and doing a great job at it,” said Coleman.
Sanford got fourth-place finishes from Adam Genereux (106) and Alex Kirven (126) which means the Spartans will have seven wrestlers competing at states inside Sanford’s Memorial Gym this weekend.
Shields wins title
Kennebunk junior Alden Shields gave the Rams a regional crown with his win by fall over Marshwood’s Sean Moriarty in the 113-pound finals.
“It feels awesome. I set this goal at the beginning of the year hoping to be able to win a regional title and I was finally able to achieve that goal,” said Shields. “It just feels great to know that I can finally say I won regionals.”
Shields made sure to give credit to Moriarty, who is a freshman, after the finals match.
“He’s a phenomenal wrestler. He’s going to be able to do a lot of great things when he gets older,” said Shields.
Kennebunk coach Steve Young was proud of his standout junior.
“I think he felt pretty confident today and he’s definitely proud of what he accomplished,” said Young. “It’s one of those things that’s kind of loomed over him the past few years as a freshman and sophomore. He’s always wanted to be able to win this tournament and walk away with a championship and he was able to get it today.”
Both Shields and Young are confident with the regional champion’s chances at states.
“I mean I just need to wrestle my heart out and try to come out on top,” said Shields.
“Keep wrestling like he did today — aggressive, smart, not put himself in bad position. If he wrestles like that, he can win the tournament,” added Young.
The Rams would get a second-place finish from Chase Lamontagne, who dropped his 195-pound finals match to Marshwood’s James Thompson.
“I wouldn’t say it was a surprise for us,” said Young on Lamontagne making the finals. “We have always known what Chase has been capable of. He’s always kind of battled some confidence things, and I think you look at what he was able to do today, and really build that confidence and kind of get to the level where we knew he could be.”
The Rams also got a third-place finish from Sean Radel at 106 pounds.
Local state qualifiers
There will be several other wrestlers heading to states next weekend.
Massabesic would get a second-place finish from Matthew Pooler who dropped a 7-0 decision to Portland’s Zack Elowitch at 152 pounds.
Noah Hernandez took third at 138 and James Cline was third at 195 for Massabesic, which got a fourth-place finish from Ethan Huff at 132.
Biddeford will be represented by Devon Whitmore (third at 160), Peyton Bissonnette (fourth at 120) and Josiah Garcia (fourth at 145).
Notes
The other regional champions were Bonny Eagle’s Colby Frost (106), Marshwood’s David Spinney (138) and Cheverus’ Zeb Leavitt (285) … Sanford will host the state tournament on Saturday. It’s scheduled for a 9:30 a.m. start at Memorial Gym.

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