DIXFIELD — Dirigo junior Nolan DeGroot is no stranger to the state tournament. During his first two seasons, the standout made it all the way to the state finals before falling to Winslow’s Ryan Fredette.
Losing to Fredette is nothing to be ashamed of as the Winslow senior will be looking for his fourth straight state championship this weekend — but that doesn’t mean DeGroot is satisfied with the two silvers he has earned over the last couple years.
DeGroot is back in the state tournament this season and will be looking to make the final step to the top of the podium at Wells High School on Saturday. The 220-pound standout has fought back from a pair of injuries to put himself in position to reach the podium for a third straight season.
“Going into (this) year I was battling a couple injuries. Down at Super 32, I dislocated my shoulder twice in the same match. I also had some ankle problems that were leftover from last year at the end of the year,” said DeGroot, who knows his successful freshman and sophomore campaigns has some wrestlers trying to knock him down.
“I think more or less there was just more pressure on me this year because everyone knows my name,” DeGroot added. “Most of the people that I wrestle are either gunning for me or respect me and are friends with me off the mat. The flip side to that is you also have a lot of supporters.”
DeGroot will have another tough wrestler in his way at the state tournament — Wells senior Nolan Potter, who won the state title at 195 last year.
Potter took down DeGroot by fall in last weekend’s Class B South final and has won all three times the two standouts have squared off.
DeGroot knows he has a lot of work to do in order to take down the defending state champion from Wells.
“A lot of running is needed and just more time spent on the mat practicing is probably the best thing someone can do to even begin to prepare for three weeks of big matches like that in the finals,” said DeGroot. “My coach told me I think it was the week right before leagues that I better start getting used to wrestling Potter right now because we’re probably going to be in the finals all the way up through probably All-States.”
DeGroot was prepared to put in the work this week to get ready for the challenge.
“At this point it just becomes a personal training week for everyone between regionals and states because at that point you know what you need to work on and you know who you’re going to be wrestling at states,” DeGroot said. “So it’s just you either need to run more, spend more time on the mat or you need to work on your strength a little bit more. For me personally, it’s a combination of all three.”
With the state meet being held in Potter’s home gym, some may think it will be an advantage for the Wells senior but DeGroot believes it’s actually in his favor.
“Not necessarily more difficult for me. I think it makes it more difficult for him because he has a lot to lose since it’s his own gym. Most of his fan base — if not all of his fan base — will be there,” said DeGroot. “I’m just used to going in there as the underdog, so to speak, because the last two years I’ve gone into the state finals and no one even expected me to last 30 seconds with Fredette. I’m just used to having that pressure on me.”
The Dirigo junior is looking forward to the challenge and is hoping this is the year he can finally get to the top of the podium.
“That would mean the world,” said DeGroot on winning a state title. “I’ve been working hard … since my eighth grade year I’ve been wrestling 50 weeks every year, get a couple weeks off during the summer, other than that I’ve been pretty much just wrestling all the way up through so it would mean the world to me if I won a state title.”

— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

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