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February 11

HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING: Cougars hope to defend title

BY TERRY DEVEREAUX Correspondent

Mt. Blue High School is the defending Eastern Maine Class A wrestling champion, but the Cougars will have to hold of strong teams for Skowhegan and Cony if they want to repeat.

REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

East A: at Westbrook H.S.
East B: at Medomak Valley
East C: at Penobscot Valley
West A: at Noble
West B: at York
West C: at Bucksport

Mt. Blue, Cony, Erskine, Skowhegan and Nokomis will travel to Westbrook High School to compete in the Eastern A regionals today. Regional will take place across the state, with the top four finishers in each weight class in each regional tournament qualifying for the state championships.

Mt. Blue and Skowhegan both have four top seeds based on preliminary seeding results. For the Cougars, Tyler Craig (106 pounds), Khalil Newbill (120), Kevin Moore (126) and Caleb Farrington (170) are all No. 1 seeds. John Swett (120), Kaleb Brown (138), Christian Jackson (160) and Levi Hayden (182) are No. 1 seeds for Skowhegan. Both teams have seven wrestlers seeded in the top four positions.

While Cony only has two No. 1 seeds -- Connor Dufour (132) and Cody Dular (220) -- the Rams have 10 wrestlers seeded in the top four. Depth can play a key role in a regional tournament and the team title definitely is up for grabs, Cony coach Shawn Totman said.

"I have been saying all season that no has ever been handed a regional championship team trophy because their roster looks good on paper," Totman said. "We are in good shape with a lot of higher seeds, but the matches still need to be wrestled. I like our chances, but I am sure that Mt. Blue and Skowhegan feel the same way."

Nokomis has two No. 2 seeds in Jonathan Crocker (126) and Zack McFarlin (182). Erskine's Ryan Wood is a second seed at 170 pounds.

Maine Central Institute will be at Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro for the Eastern B tournament. Jacob McGowan will be the top seed at 285 while teammate Dylan Dahlbergh is the second seed at 106.

Gardiner and Oak Hill will compete in the Western B tournament hosted by York High School. Gardiner's Danny Del Gallo, who is 42-0 this season, will be a top seed at 138. Wyatt Thornton (152), Mitchell Chesley (195) and Zach Abram (160) should also be top-four seeds, according to Gardiner coach Matt Hanley. Oak Hill's top wrestler is Donnie Vannah (145).

Madison, Monmouth, Mt. View, Hall-Dale and Winslow will wrestle at Bucksport High School in the Western C regional. Preliminary seeds place Madison's Cody Soucier (145) and Ryan Malcolm (220) in the top spot in their weight classes. Danny Moreshead (152) and Kyle Foley (170) are second seeds for the Bulldogs. Mt. View's James Blanchette (106) and Matt Wheeler (126) are seeded second. Winslow's Ryan Mosher (120), Kyle Calvo (182) and Aaron Lint (285) are second seeds. Hall-Dale's Wyatt Rush is the No. 3 seed at 138. Monmouth's James Gambino (132) is also a third seed.

All tournaments are scheduled to begin at 9:30 am.

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