WELLS – The seat could have been inscribed with Matt Rix’s name on it.
The Marshwood High wrestling coach sat down before the start of the 106-pound match and it remained in his seat until the 195-pound match concluded as a parade of Hawks dominated the finals of Saturday’s Atlantic Invitational at Wells High.
“Twelve finals. That was great,” Rix said.
With assistant coach Pat Howard in the chair next to him, Rix watched nine of his wrestlers claim weight-class wins as Marshwood made it clear it is primed for a repeat Class A title.
“We don’t do a lot of fancy moves,” Rix said of his team. “It’s a lot of conditioning. We’re right where we should be.”
Marshwood won the 14-team meet with 237.5 points. Dirigo (133), Wells (113) and York (92) rounded out the top four, each with one champion.
Wells Coach Scott Lewia admitted it did get a little frustrating seeing Marshwood roll one wrestler after another into the finals, “but they’re tough. They’re solid all the way through. I knew it would be like that, that they’d put that many in the finals.”
Marshwood senior Tyler Davidson was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler after he defeated Fryeburg Academy sophomore Zach Sheehan, 6-2, in the 120-pound class. Davidson is a three-time state champ, winning at 113 last year. Sheehan is the defending Class B champ at 120.
“It was probably because we have some history. He beat me last year by a few points at the Noble Invitational,” said Davidson, who added it was his first-ever win against a Sheehan.
Fryeburg senior and defending Class B 113-pound champ Connor Sheehan (currently injured) has beaten Davidson several times.
Other Marshwood champions were Elliot Allen at 113 pounds (pin), Nick Janes (138, pin), Jackson Howarth (145, 1-0 decision), Cody Hughes (152, 13-4 decision), Terence O’Brien (160), Luke Howarth (170), Brett Gerry (182) and Dan Lizotte (195).
“I don’t think it was so much that we were trying to make a statement,” said O’Brien, a senior who has worked his way into the starting lineup this year. “We just come out and wrestle our hardest and whatever happens, happens.”
O’Brien was nearly pinned by Wells’ Teddy Durfee in the first period before coming back in the second to record a pin.
Gerry is undefeated this season and battled for a decisive third-period takedown to claim a 6-4 win against Nelson Pepin of Dirigo.
Lizotte was all over York’s Zach Handley to win at 195 with a 19-8 decision.
One of the most hotly contested matches was at 170, where Howarth caught Wells’ Michael Curtis with a late reversal for a 4-3 win. Prior to Howarth’s move, he was on his back and the Wells coaching staff — and most of the partisan crowd — was screaming for a pin call.
“Those are both two good quality kids,” Lewia said. “They’ll both be right there at the end of the year.”
Griffyn Smith of Dirigo (106), Colin Sevigney of Wells (126) and Dominick Day of Biddeford (132) beat Marshwood wrestlers to win their weight classes. Also winning titles were York’s Alex Mercurio at 220 and Kennebunk’s Richie Platt at 285.
“It’s not the biggest tournament but it is nice to win in your home gym, with your home fans,” Sevigney said. “It’s early in the season. It’s just kind of a benchmark to see where I am in terms of the competition and where I can improve.”
Staff Writer Steve Craig can be contacted at 791-6413 or at:
scraig@mainetoday.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
