LISBON — The name Buteau is well known in Maine wrestling as Danny Buteau won four straight state titles for Oak Hill from 2014 to 2017.
Now there is a different Buteau making noise on the mat as Oak Hill junior Zoe Buteau made history by winning the regional championship last weekend for Lisbon/Oak Hill at the Class B South meet. Buteau’s gold medal run was the first for a female wrestler at a regional tournament in the state’s history.
The junior will now turn her sights to states where she will try to join her brother as a state champion — and it’s thanks to her brothers that she decided to dedicate much of her life to the sport.
“Both my brothers (Levi and Danny) wrestled and I wanted to be more like them,” said Zoe on why she got into wrestling in the second grade.
More and more girls have been getting into wrestling over the last few years, but Buteau has spent most of her career battling the boys.
“It’s one of the fastest growing sports for girls now, but my whole life I’ve been wrestling a lot more boys than girls,” said Buteau, who has become a role model for young female wrestlers. “Younger girls look up to me now and want to be like me, so I’m glad that I started young.”
Buteau has learned a lot from her brothers and credits Danny with pushing her to become a champion.
“My brother Danny is still way better than me now, but having him as a coach and always by my side, (he) always drove me when I was little and still now when I get pep talks from him even through text messages and stuff like that,” said Zoe. “It helps in practice and stuff when you’re like, ‘oh, I don’t want to do this,’ but you’ve just got to keep driving and push for your goal.”
Buteau’s hard work has certainly paid off as she rolled to her first regional title with a 15-0 technical fall win over Wells’ Jacob Scott in the 120-pound finals.
“My finals match I just wrestled my heart out like I always do and came out on top,” said Buteau, who was thrilled to finish on top of the podium. “The feeling of winning regionals was really amazing because it just came all at once and I was like, ‘holy crap … that just happened.’”
Buteau will head to the state tournament in Wells this weekend as one of the favorites at 120 pounds. The junior is hoping to follow in the footsteps of former Marshwood standout Deanna Rix, who made the state finals in 2005 and dropped a heartbreaker in double overtime.
“I know her dad (Marshwood coach Matt Rix) pretty well and he’s always told me about his daughter,” said Buteau, who has learned more about the Deanna Rix’s story, which includes a run as a member of the U.S. National Team. “When I was younger I didn’t really know a lot about her, but the past couple years I’ve been hearing a lot about her.”
Buteau would love to become the first ever female wrestler to win a state title against the boys in Maine.
“I’d feel honored to be the first girl ever to win states. It’s a lot of pressure, but just even thinking about it makes me really happy to have the chance,” Buteau said.

— 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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