WELLS — The Wells wrestling program has had a resurgence over the past few years and a big part of that has been senior Nolan Potter.
Potter would add to his legacy in the WHS wrestling room when he won his second straight state championship on Saturday at the Class B state meet.
“It was huge … after you win a wrestling state title it’s unlike anything else I’ve ever experienced — it’s just a moment of pure emotion and joy the second after you get your hand raised there,” said Potter on winning his second gold. 
What made it even more special for the two-time champ was that he got to stand on the podium in his hometown.
“Having it done in my home gym, in front of my family and all the Wells fans and all my friends that came it’s just something that I will never forget,” Potter said.
Wells coach Scott Lewia was thrilled to see Potter go back-to-back.
“He’s been a beast these last two years. Anybody that has stepped up and challenged him he has just taken it to them. He’s had a great career,” said Lewia.
Potter would face Penobscot Valley’s Joe Tuulima in the 220-pound finals on Saturday and would take a commanding lead before ending it with a stick.
It wasn’t the opponent Potter was expecting, but he was able to adjust mid-match and get the fall.
“I was fortunate enough to kind of catch the end of his match against (Dirigo’s Nolan) DeGroot, so I kind of had an idea of what he was trying to do. He was a very good wrestler, very strong and physical kid. He knew what I was going to do, so I kind of had to adjust my strategy,” said Potter.
It also helped that the Warriors had already locked up their second straight team title before Potter even took the mat in the finals.
“It wasn’t any added stress, I could just go out and focus on knowing you had to do your job now and get your goal done, personally,” said Potter. “Obviously our goal was to win a team title, but I also really, really wanted to win an individual one as well. I could just focus on that after we knew we had won the team title, so it kind of helped me a little bit.”
A state finals match will make even the most experienced wrestler a little nervous, but for Potter the nerves came in the match before his — when teammate and friend Mike Wrigley was trying to win his first state gold.
“Oh jeez, I was probably more nervous for Mike. I mean that was his first one and the poor guy had been in the finals for the past two years and just came up short. I wanted it so bad for him and I’m really happy he was able to get it,” Potter said.
Winning a team championship at their home gym is also something that Potter and the rest of the Warriors will cherish forever.
“It’s unreal,” said Potter. “The team title in the home gym … I mean it was just awesome because at the end of it both the basketball teams came back from there games, so a bunch of students were there and congratulating us. With all the fans there and I got to talk to some of the peewee wrestlers — it was just really fun.”
Potter was thrilled to see the youth wrestlers at the state meet because he knows it should motivate them to get there in a few years.
“For them to come and watch that whole state meet, it’s huge because some day they’ll want to be there too,” said Potter. “If you look at our youth program this year, I think we had 65 kids signed up for peewees. Sixty-five kids is unreal … even if three-fourths of them go on to high school, that’s still a huge team. It’s exciting to see because I feel like wrestling is coming up in Wells and more kids are getting into it.”
The journey isn’t over yet for Potter who is looking to make it two straight All-State titles this weekend at Nokomis.
“I’d like to do what I did last year at All-States. I know I’m going to have some tough competition, but I’m very excited to go up to Nokomis and hopefully win the All-States as well. That would be my goal,” said Potter, who also wants to make some noise in Providence in two weeks. “My ultimate goal is to place at New Englands this year. I’d love to end my wrestling career (on the podium) at New Englands.”
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

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