NORTH BERWICK — From a brutal schedule to their top wrestlers missing chunks of time due to illness, the 2018-19 season hasn’t been the smoothest for the Noble Knights.
The Noble squad fought through the adversity and now the Knights seem to be peaking at the right time — starting with a dominant performance at Saturday’s Class A South regional tournament.
The Knights crowned a pair of champions and qualified 10 wrestlers for this weekend’s state meet as they cruised to the regional team title inside their home gym.
“It’s great. Obviously being able to win it in our home gym makes it a little bit better because you hate giving away the trophy when you’re in your own gym,” said Noble coach Kevin Gray.
Josh Cote won the 126-pound title and Sam Martel captured gold at 138 pounds to lead the Knights, who won the team crown with an impressive 205 points.
Both standouts were thrilled to win the regional team title — which is the Knights’ second straight — but they also know the real prize is up for grabs this weekend.
“The way my coach says is today is just a stepping stone toward states and that’s what our real goal is and being a top 10 team in New England,” said Martel, who pinned Marshwood’s Liam Coomey in the regional finals.
Last season, the Knights rolled to the regional title only to see rival Marshwood turn the tables at the 2018 state meet.
“We definitely didn’t perform at states last year,” said Martel. “We’ve just got to stay working as we have and all week just grinding in the practice room and keep our head level and ready to work.”
“We just need to get guys into the finals, get them to place because at the end of the day that’s what wins it,” said Cote on the key to winning states. “You don’t have to pin everybody. Just get as many guys into states and get as many guys to place at states.”
Cote was thrilled to be back on the mat at regionals as he missed a month of the season with pneumonia.
“I actually feel like I can do something now,” Cote said. “Just being in my room all the time, being sick it got to me. Finally being out here and being able to help my team is a great feeling.”
Cote and Martel will be joined by second-place finisher Duncan McGilvery (145) and bronze medalists Alex Marchand (106), Dylan Mulligan (113), Jaden Balcewicz (120), Alex Rachoskie (132), Logan Rendell (152) and Chris Pilcher (160). PJ Exel finished in fourth place in the 285-pound bracket to round out the state qualifiers for Noble.
“Last year we had five champs and five fourths (at regionals). This year we had two champs, a second, five thirds and a fourth, so those (third-place finishers) are going to be the ones that really help us (at states) if they can get something done. That’s going to be the important thing if those guys who took third and second if they can score some points,” said Gray.
The Knights believe their tough out-of-state schedule — which included a weekend where they went 0-6 in duals — has helped prepare them for the postseason.
“Travelling is really a big part of our team. We travel everywhere just to face the toughest competition and if you don’t win and you just got your butts kicked all week then it gets us ready to come back here and we’re all prepared,” said Martel.
The Knights will find out this Saturday if all of that hard work is going to pay off as they square off with the state’s best.
“We’re happy that we won (regionals) and we’re going to celebrate it today, but tomorrow we know we’ve got a lot of work to do. You’ve got Camden, Cony, Mt. Ararat and Marshwood’s going to have tough kids and Kennebunk has kids that can do something, so it’s going to be a good, tough state tournament,” said Gray.

Kennebunk’s big day
The Kennebunk Rams had one of their best dual seasons in school history and they continued their impressive campaign with a second-place showing at regionals.
Kennebunk put six wrestlers into the finals on Saturday and finished tied with Marshwood in second place with 128 points.

“That’s the best finish we’ve had since I’ve been coaching, even during my time as an assistant here at Kennebunk,” said Kennebunk coach Steve Young.
Freshman Garrett Dickinson led the way for the Rams as he captured the 113-pound title with a 10-2 major decision over Bonny Eagle’s Cameron Frost.
“We’ve talked about Garrett all year and what he’s been able to do. He’s a kid last year that struggled at the middle school level at the beginning of the year and really towards the end of the year he turned a corner and hasn’t stopped,” said Young. “He’s just been rolling and it’s a credit to what he’s done in the room and what he’s done during match days. He comes in and does his job, doesn’t complain, does what he needs to and does what we ask of him. He does everything right and for him to win that is huge.”
The Rams would get second-place finishes from freshmen Eli Soule (106), David York (132) and Trevor Fecko (170) and seniors Alden Shields (126) and Chase Lamontagne (195).
Dickinson was thrilled to be joined in the finals by three of his classmates.
“It’s great. I think our class can do some really good things in future years,” said Dickinson.
The regional tournament was the latest success in a season that has been a resurgence for the Rams.
“I think it’s huge. I think obviously anytime a program sees success it’s only going to help you. You can see that trend in almost any sport where a team sees success and more kids want to get involved and more kids stay involved,” said Young.

Mustangs capture gold
The Massabesic squad would qualify four wrestlers for states — led by a pair of first-time regional champions.
Sophomore Noah Hernandez and junior Matt Pooler would both put on dominant displays at regionals as they reached the top the of the podium.
Hernandez would close out a 3-0 day with a strong 4-1 decision over defending state champion David Spinney of Marshwood in the 152-pound final.

The Massabesic standout put an exclamation point on the win with an impressive tilt for a pair of back points.
“That was huge for me. I’ve been working on tilts since I started middle school and it pays off in the end,” said Hernandez, who was quick to praise Spinney. “It’s very tough. He’s very strong. It’s hard to get in on his legs, he has a tough stance.”
Pooler put on a show at regionals as the junior had two pins and a technical fall in the 170-pound bracket.
“I mean I came in here hungry. That’s exactly what I was coming for … and the next step is states,” said Pooler, who pinned Fecko in the title match.
Pooler was thrilled to win a regional title alongside his longtime teammate.
“It’s great. We’ve been wrestling ever since we were in third grade so to be able to improve and win championships together is great. We’re practice partners and we both work for what we want and that’s this,” Pooler said.
Garrett Francoeur (126) and James Cline (195) both finished third to qualify for the state meet.

Plante stays on top
Sanford senior Isaac Plante will be searching for his first state championship this weekend, but the standout closed out his regional career with another title.
Plante won his third straight regional crown with an injury default win over Marshwoods Dylan Strong. The match was ended early in the first when Strong couldn’t continue after being brought to the mat by Plante.
“My attitude all week has been go after it, go after it, go after it. I mean in the room none of the guys wanted to drill with me because I’ve just been hitting it hard,” said Plante, who felt bad that Strong couldn’t finish the match. “We’re good friends and I wasn’t trying for anything dirty or malicious. I was just kind of in my zone going for it and it was just an unfortunate landing for him.”

The Sanford senior now has his sights set on a state title.
“I haven’t won one yet. Last year I kind of went into it a little overconfident and I don’t think I really put in the work that I needed to to get that state title,” said Plante. “This year I’m not messing around.”
Plante will be joined at states by teammate and good friend Sol Demers, who finished second at 220 pounds on Saturday.

Off to states
The Biddeford Tigers will be reprsented by three wrestlers at the Class A championships.
Senior Josiah Garcia, who earned his 100th career win at regionals, finished third at 138 pounds and teammate Devon Whitmore captured bronze at 145 pounds. They will be joined by senior Peyton Bissonnette, who was fourth at 132 pounds.
The state tournament will be held at Cony High School on Saturday.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 780-9017. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

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