Wrestling: Windham/G-NG welcomes York and Massabesic

WINDHAM—The Windham/Gray-New Gloucester wrestling co-op welcomed a pair of opponents – York and Massabesic – on Wednesday night, Dec. 18. At the team level, both of Windham/G-NG’s matches in the tri-meet went against them: The Wildcats narrowly bested them, 39-38, following a tiebreaking consultation of the rules, and Massabesic rolled past them 48-26.

However, those scores don’t tell the whole story, since Windham/G-NG gave up more forfeits than either York or Massabesic. (A team forfeits at any weight class it can’t fill that the opposition can, and forfeits do award points.) Moreover, Windham/G-NG turned in some solid wrestling at the individual level.

Windham/G-NG vs. York
126 – Parker Bair (York) won by decision vs. Shawn Mayfield (Windham/G-NG)
132 – Gabe Rosado (Windham/G-NG) won by fall vs. Josh Pease (York)
138 – Scott Ingalls (Windham/G-NG) won by fall vs. Ben Boksanski (York)
145 – Austin Bennett (York) won by fall vs. Will Colby (Windham/G-NG)
152 – Owen McDuffie (Windham/G-NG) won by decision vs. Owen MacIntosh (York)
160 – Andrew Martin (Windham/G-NG) won by fall vs. Zoe Lafleur-Kief (York)
170 – Louie Escamilla (York) won by fall vs. Austin Goslant (Windham/G-NG)
182 – Dante Felix (Windham/G-NG) won by fall vs. Luke Healy (York)
195 – Jason Hart (Windham/G-NG) won by fall vs. Eben Wilson (York)
220 – Will Orso (York) won by fall vs. Garrett Allen (Windham/G-NG)

Windham/G-NG forfeited to York at the three lowest weight classes, handing victories to Wildcats Alissa Caltagirone at 106, Thomas Holly at 113 and Ronan Thompson at 120; York forfeited at 285, delivering six points to Windham/G-NG’s Trenton McNally.

Windham/G-NG head coach John Nicholas praised his kids. “Owen…controlled his match to pick up a big win for us. Dante and Jason wrestled up a weight and picked up key pins. The meet finished in a tie, 39-39, and went to tiebreaker criteria. Unfortunately, York was able to get the win, due to giving up [fewer] forfeits. I was happy how the team battled right to the end and showed that we are always in it.”

Windham/G-NG vs. Massabesic
132 – Jack Trask (Massabesic) won by fall vs. Rosado
138 – Ingalls won by major decision vs. Jack Carroll (Massabesic)
152 – McDuffie won by major decision vs. Jake Langevin (Massabesic)
160 – Matt Pooler (Massabesic) won by fall vs. Martin
195 – Sean Wakefield (Massabesic) won by fall vs. Hart
220 – Jacob Breton (Massabesic) won by injury vs. Allen

Windham/G-NG forfeited to Massabesic at several scattered weight classes. The Mustangs thereby picked up Ws for Daniel Belanger at 113, Mariah Jacobsen at 120, Micah Fitzgerald at 145 and Noah Beal-Hernandez at 182. In turn, Windham/G-NG picked up forfeit points in three spots: Mayfield won at 126, Felix at 182 and McNally at 285. There was no match – neither side fielded a competitor – at 106.

“I definitely feel like we’re making progress,” Nicholas said, asked about the Windham wrestling program since it formed into a co-op with G-NG. “We have five wrestlers from G-NG that are all contributing to the team, and we have more G-NG wrestlers in the middle and youth wrestling programs.

“We’re also getting more kids from both schools that have previous wrestling experience, which is key to building a successful program. We’re working hard and are determined to make our team a very competitive team in duals and tournaments. I think other teams are starting to take notice.”

Windham/G-NG competed in Gardiner’s annual tournament on Saturday the 14th, claiming fifth place from among the 20 squads that participated. Martin won the 160 title, McDuffie came in second at 152, Rosado third at 132 and Hart third at 182.

The team also competed at the Greater Portland Cup, held at Deering, on Saturday the 21st; there, the team placed second, going 4-1 on the day. Their only loss came against Cheverus, who ultimately won the tournament. Martin, McDuffie and Allen all went 5-0, while Matt Sirois went 3-0 and Rosado and Hart went 4-1.

Windham/G-NG hosts Scarborough on Monday the 23rd.