Noble and Massabesic wrestlers went to Concord, N.H., on Saturday to tune up for this Saturday’s Western Class A regional.

Noble, the two-time Class A defending state champion, finished third in the 15-team Capital City Classic. Massabesic finished seventh in a field that included some of the top teams from Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

“I think we wrestled very well down there and we started to get lined up for the regionals,” Noble Coach Kip DeVoll said. “We told the kids we’ve got to pick up the intensity.”

Neither Noble nor Massabesic was at full strength.

The Knights, who will be attempting to win their 11th state championship in 13 seasons, entered 11 wrestlers in the competition and 10 of them finished among the top four in their weight class.

“We were only one point out of second place,” DeVoll said.

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Cumberland, a perennial Rhode Island powerhouse, won the team title with 257.5 points, followed by Bishop Hendricken of West Warwick, R.I., with 177.5 points. Noble was next with 176.5.

Only seven Massabesic wrestlers competed, but the Mustangs, who were runner-up to Noble in the Class A state meet the past two seasons, got first-place finishes from freshman Tyler Everett at 103, senior Peter LePage at 135 and sophomore Josh Andrews at 215.

“We had three or four kids who were hurt and a couple who were sick with the flu,” Coach Rick DeRosier said.

“We had a nice practice Monday, and we should have everybody back for the regionals.”

 

REGIONAL TOURNAMENTS will be held Saturday in Augusta, Bar Harbor, South Berwick and Rumford.

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The Western Class A regional will be held at Noble in South Berwick, and Cony of Augusta will host the Eastern Class A meet.

Mountain Valley will host the Western Class B regional in Rumford, and the Eastern Class B meet will be held at Mt. Desert Island in Bar Harbor.

The top four finishers in each of the 14 weight classes at each regional meet will qualify for the state meets, which will be held Feb. 12 at the Augusta Civic Center.

Wrestlers from Class C schools in both regions will compete at a qualifying meet Saturday at Jay for a slot in the state meet. Eight wrestlers from each weight class will advance.

CAMDEN HILLS looks like it’s ready to defend its Class B state championship.

Last Saturday, the Windjammers, with 13 of their 14 wrestlers placing among the top four in their weight class, piled up 249.5 points while winning the Class B division at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference meet in Topsham.

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Mt. Blue of Farmington won the conference’s Class A championship with 153 points.

“The kids are looking real good in the practice room, and they’re feeling pretty good about themselves,” Camden Hills Coach Levi Rollins said.

Belfast, which was the runner-up last weekend in the KVAC’s B Division with 217.5 points, will provide the Windjammers with plenty of competition at Saturday’s regional.

“We match up with Belfast nearly head-to-head, and I think pins are going to be a factor,” Rollins said.

 

ALLEN STEIN, a senior and a former Class A state champion from Deering, locked up Navy’s 21-19 victory against North Carolina last Friday night with his 9-6 win over freshman Pat Owens in the 133-pound weight class at Halsey Field House in Annapolis, Md.

It was the 100th career victory for Navy’s coach, Bruce Burnett.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at: pbetit@pressherald.com

 


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