NORTH BERWICK — For the second year in a row, Noble High won the Class A South wrestling title in convincing fashion.
Now, the former kings of Maine wrestling are out to win their first state championship since 2011, which was their 11th in 13 seasons.
“Today was just a steppingstone to states,” said 138-pound champ Sam Martel. “That’s what our real goal is, to win states, and to be a top-10 team in New England.”
Noble qualified 10 wrestlers for the state championships next Saturday at Cony High in Augusta, led by individual champions Joshua Cote (126) and Martel. Duncan McGilvery was the runner-up at 145.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the state meet.
Noble ran away with the team title with 205 points. Defending state champion Marshwood and Kennebunk tied for second with 128. Bonny Eagle had 126, and Portland/South Portland was fifth with 103.
Noble’s title was fueled by a dominant performance in the consolation rounds, as Alexander Marchand (106), Dylan Mulligan (113), Jaden Balcewicz (120), Alex Rachkosaie (132), Logan Rendell (152), and Christopher Pilcher (160) earned third-place finishes with pins.
In recent years, the South regional has been a private battle between Noble and Marshwood, which has won six of the last seven Class A titles. This year, Kennebunk led a group of insurgents.
“The competition has definitely gotten closer and you’re seeing a lot of teams filling a lot of weight classes, and it’s good for this tournament. There’s a lot more competition,” said Kennebunk Coach Steve Young.
Kennebunk’s six finalists were the most for any team. Four are freshmen, including 113-pound champ Garrett Dickinson.
“We have a lot of people that joined this season and have over 20 kids,” Dickinson said. “And out of those six (finalists), about everyone has been wrestling since kindergarten. We’ve had a great season so far.”
Bonny Eagle, led by a trio of Frost brothers, also showed improvement. Freshmen twins Caden and Cameron Frost finished first and second, respectively, at 106 and 113 pounds. Sophomore Colby Frost, the state runner-up at 106 last year, pinned Sean Moriarty of Marshwood at 5:30 of the 120-pound final after building a 15-5 lead.
“I think we have a very good shot at winning a state title, maybe not this year but in the near future,” Colby Frost said.
Massabesic, Scarborough and Portland/South Portland each had two individual champions.
For Massabesic, sophomore Noah Beal Hernandez (152) earned a 4-1 decision over Marshwood’s David Spinney, the 2018 state champ at 138, and Matthew Pooler pinned Kennebunk freshman Trevor Fecko at 170.
Scarborough’s wins came from seniors Elijah Holbrook (145) and Addison Boisvert (heavyweight).
For Portland/South Portland, Zack Elowitch won at 160 with an emphatic second-period pin, and Malcolm Gartland won by decision at 195.
“I finished third (in the state) as a freshman and sophomore, second last year, and hopefully first this year. That’s the goal,” Elowitch said.
Cheverus qualified four wrestlers, led by 220-pound winner Sean Sullivan, who beat Sol Demers of Sanford, 3-1.
“Sol is just an amazing wrestler. He’s a strong, strong kid. I wrestled him last week and he beat me in overtime,” Sullivan said.
Aydin Rix McElhinney of Marshwood (132) and Isaac Plante of Sanford (182) also won titles.
Steve Craig can be reached at 791-6413 or:
scraig@pressherald.com
Twitter: SteveCCraig
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