AUGUSTA — From a showdown between a pair of defending state champions to an overtime thriller, the 2019 Maine Class A Wrestling Championship finals had it all.
Noble crowned a pair of champions in sophomore Josh Cote and junior Sam Martel, while Sol Demers brought a state title back to Sanford with an exciting overtime victory.
Cote would win his second straight state title with an exciting 10-4 victory over fellow defending state champion Alden Shields of Kennebunk in the 126-pound final.
“That is exactly what I was anticipating, a good, hard scrap till the very end,” said Cote, who was able to survive against Shields in a match that featured the best scrambling of the entire tournament.
Both Cote and Shields enjoyed squaring off after Shields had to forfeit last week’s regional final due to injury.
“I knew this match was going to be a crazy match. I was talking to (Josh) right after the match and said ‘it’s the most fun I’ve had in a match in a long, long time.’ Win or lose, I had a lot of fun in that match,” said Shields.
Cote echoed that sentiment.
“It’s fun, but it’s also something that has you at the edge of your seat as a wrestler,” said Cote. “It really brings out the aspect in wrestling that anything can happen because in a scramble situation like that everything is just going so fast, you blink and you’ll miss it.”
Despite falling in his final match on the state’s biggest stage, Shields was soaking in the moment in front of a packed house at Cony High School.
“You can’t really get enough of it, to be completely honest. I mean why would you not want hundreds of people screaming at you and another kid,” said Shields on the atmosphere at the state meet.
The two standouts are happy to have the challenge of facing each other as they prepare for the New England Championships.
“It’s a tough match, so any tough match not just particularly with Alden, anyone who is a tough, decent wrestler will help me get to that next level,” said Cote.
“I mean you’re practicing with a state champ, but also he’s just an amazing wrestler. He puts in tireless effort and it’s good to be able to wrestle with him for this week and hopefully next weekend,” added Shields.
Martel was making his third straight appearance in the state finals on Saturday, but it would take a comeback to finally get him on top of the podium.
Camden Hills’ Ian Henderson scored a reversal with just over a minute left in the 138-pound title match to take an 8-7 lead.
“I just can’t worry about it, because if I worry about it then I would just stop wrestling. I just need to wrestle and let it happen,” said Martel on his mindset after falling behind late in the match.
Martel would pull off the comeback with a move that he has been “hitting since elementary school” — a peterson roll with 44 seconds left that would give him a reversal and two nearfall points which put him in front for good.
The Noble junior would go on to pick up the 13-9 victory and capture his first state title.
“Honestly, I was kind of sick of second. I got second freshman year and last year and I just really wanted it,” said Martel, who secured his 100th career win during his opening-round victory on Saturday.

Demers faced arguably the toughest road to a championship on Saturday with defending state champion James Boyd of Nokomis and returning state finalist Jeffrey Worster of Oxford Hills standing in his way.
“I knew no matter what seed I got (coming out of) regionals, I was going to be the underdog in any match,” said Demers. “Boyd is the defending state champ. Worster is a state finalist and two-time All-American, so I knew I had my work cut out for me.”
The Sanford senior would take down Worster by a 7-3 decision in the semifinals before taking on Boyd in the championship match.
Demers held a 2-1 lead after the first period, but Boyd answered with a reversal in the second to take a 3-2 advantage into the third.
An escape by Demers would tie the bout at 3-3 and eventually send the match to overtime — a position where the Sanford senior felt comfortable because of his conditioning.
“It was a really surreal experience. I felt my stamina or conditioning was better. I didn’t even feel that tired going into overtime,” Demers said.
After a scoreless overtime period, the two standouts would trade escapes over two 30-second periods and the match would come down to an ultimate tiebreaker where Demers got to pick his position.
Demers chose down and was able to get to his feet early in the 30-second period, but it wasn’t until 8 seconds left on the clock where the senior was able to break Boyd’s grip and earn the state title-winning escape.
“The reason why he won is because he’s so fit. He was able to push through that whole match and then to have the fortitude to not only stand up, but to break that lock. It’s just something that a kid who was out of shape wouldn’t have been able to do,” said Sanford coach Nate Smith.
“It was only in sudden death where I was really feeling it, but I knew I had to get up. It’s just super special,” Demers said.
It has been a quick rise for Demers, who only started wrestling as a sophomore in high school.
“It’s unbelievable. When I started sophomore year I was just a tall, skinny, no muscle kid and I finally grew into my body and gained some muscle junior year,” said Demers.
Smith credits Demers’ work ethic with putting him on top of the podium.
“I think it’s just a testament to him more than anything else. He works so hard,” said Smith. “He puts in so much in the weight room and goes to his own gym before school. I have very seldom ever seen a kid work so hard to be that physically fit. It’s just amazing.”
Kennebunk’s Garrett Dickinson, Biddeford’s Devon Whitmore and Massabesic’s Noah Hernandez and Matt Pooler all made it to the state finals on Saturday before falling short.
Dickinson rode a pair of decisions into the 113-pound title match before falling to Mt. Ararat/Brunswick’s Brycen Kowalsky by fall in the final.
Whitmore would also win his first two bouts by decision to earn a shot at the title. In the 145-pound final, the Biddeford junior would be pinned by defending state champion Noah Lang of Camden Hills.
“I didn’t go out there to win a title. I went out there because I had a Biddeford singlet on and I grew up there, so I just wanted to go out there and wrestle,” said Whitmore, who believes his time will come. “I mean next year is where it counts because I’m going to get that title for my hometown.”
Biddeford coach Steve Vermette was proud of Whitmore’s effort — not only in the state tournament, but all season long.
“He had a rough year at the beginning of the season with some other situations going on in his life and he stuck it out and got better and better and better as the season (went along) and he wants to get better next year. He’s a great sportsmanship guy, he’s a good leader and he’s going to be tough next year,” said Vermette.
Hernandez rolled into the 152-pound final with a technical fall in the quarterfinals and a major decision in the semifinals. Defending state champion David Spinney of Marshwood would be standing in his way as he looked for his first title.

The sophomore, who beat Spinney in the regional finals, wouldn’t be able to overcome a first-period takedown by the Marshwood senior as Hernandez dropped a 3-1 decision.
Pooler would secure a pair of first-period pins as he made his way to the 170-pound final. The Massabesic junior would drop a hard-fought 9-2 decision to Nokomis standout David Wilson.
Massabesic’s James Cline advanced to the New England Qualifier with a third-place finish at 195 pounds. The senior would also earn his 100th career win during the tournament.
Biddeford’s Josiah Garcia (138) and Noble’s Jaden Balcewicz (120) and Chris Pilcher (160) will also head to Oxford Hills for the qualifier as they all finished fourth.
Mt. Ararat/Brunswick — led by individual champions Kowalsky, Spencer LeClair (132) and Brady Mitchell (195) — would secure the program’s first-ever team title as they finished with 96 points. Marshwood was second with 76.5 points, while Camden Hills and Cony tied for third with 74 points. Noble rounded out the top five with 72.5 points.
The other wrestlers who captured individual state titles on Saturday were Cony’s Noah Dumas (106), Bonny Eagle’s Colby Frost (120), Portland/South Portland’s Zack Elowitch (160), Cony’s Aaron Lettre (182) and Scarborough’s Addison Boisvert (285).
— 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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