Bonny Eagle senior Isaiah Reynolds did not win the 285-pound division at Saturday’s Western Class A wrestling regional championship.

His third-place finish was, however, both a personal victory and a statement that the defending state champion is still a force.

Reynolds competed in just one dual meet this season. Initially he struggled to cut weight after starring as a two-way lineman for the state champion Bonny Eagle football team.

On Jan. 11, his father Peter Reynolds and Peter’s girlfriend Cherrie De Melle were killed in a car crash when the van driven by Isaiah’s brother Zachary Reynolds, 17, crossed the centerline and crashed into a pickup truck on a slush-covered road in Hollis. Zachary Reynolds sustained a broken leg and a concussion.

Isaiah Reynolds, who was not in the vehicle, said he was ready to forget about wrestling but Bonny Eagle’s coaching staff said they could help him cut the 30 pounds he needed to shed.

In his first match Saturday, Reynolds was pinned by Deering’s Michael Darling.

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Reynolds responded with three dominant pins of his own, in 28, 21 and 30 seconds, respectively. Now he wants a shot at regional champ Jed Scott of Sanford.

“I think everyone is just intimidated by Scott because he’s big,” Reynolds said.

A YEAR AGO, Bonny Eagle senior Robert Martin lost a hotly contested match to Marshwood’s Cody Hughes in the regional final at 152 pounds.

Saturday he met a different Marshwood wrestler, Justin Stacy, in the 170-pound final and held on for a 3-2 win.

“It felt way better than last year, that’s for sure,” Martin said.

SANFORD SENIOR captain Andrew Moriarty’s pin of Tanner Andrews of Massabesic in the 220-pound final earned Moriarty both his first regional title and his 100th career win.

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“I was rewarded. I feel like that, yes,” Moriarty said. “You put in the work and it kicks in eventually.”

ALSO WINNING his 100th match on Saturday was Marshwood senior Darren Lapointe, in the semifinal of the 106-pound division. According to Athletic Director Rich Buzzell, Lapointe recently became the first Marshwood student to be accepted to Harvard.

GIRLS’ HOCKEY

WHEN A TEAM WINS a state championship, the coach receives a lot of credit. But sometimes the best coaching happens with a team that does not go all the way to the top. After back-to-back state championships, Greely lost its first playoff game in 2014.

Coach Nate Guerin’s reaction?

“The season was a huge success in my eyes,” said Guerin, who had a team composed of two seniors, one junior, and a lot of youth.

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“It was great to see a young team make strides to improve, and most impressive was how they were able to finish strong at the end.”

Indeed, Greely almost knocked off Lewiston; the Rangers were done in by a fluke, deflected goal, in a 1-0 loss Saturday.

“We didn’t get the bounce we needed – that’s hockey,” Guerin said. “It was fun to watch our girls skate hard and compete for 45 minutes. They never gave up.”

SWIMMING

The Waynflete and Cape Elizabeth girls and Massabesic and Cheverus boys may have taken home the biggest trophies from the weekend’s two Southwestern Swimming and Diving Championships (in Westbrook and Cape Elizabeth), but there were plenty of other winners.

A five-person committee of the Southern Maine Swim Officials Association sifted through applications from graduating seniors and awarded 10 scholarships, based on academic achievements, extracurricular activities, citizenship, swimming accomplishments, coaches’ recommendation and a self-assessment essay.

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The highest-scoring applicant, Megan Zabenko of Westbrook, was awarded the $700 Randy Comeau scholarship, in memory of the former South Portland and University of Maine swimmer who died in a motorcycle accident during his college career.

Nine other winners received $500 scholarships: Laura Bauer of Falmouth, John Devine of Cheverus, Molly Douglas of Westbrook, Ethan DuPerre of Cape Elizabeth, Caroline Herriman of Cape Elizabeth, Sarah Nappo of Cheverus, Emma Pontius of Deering, Jessica Soucy of Cheverus and Alex Tucci of Deering.

The swim officials donate their fees from Southwesterns to fund the scholarships, which have totaled more than $73,000 since 1993. Officials from York County also awarded three scholarships at the South Southwesterns meet, to Collin Chamberlain of Massabesic, Emily Salls of Sanford and Valerie Pendleton of Thornton Academy.

BRUNSWICK DEFENDED its KVAC swimming titles this weekend and set four meet records in the process.

Sophomore Nate Samson won the 200 individual medley in one minute, 59.66 seconds and the 100 breast stroke in 1:00.99. The IM record had stood since 1995 and the breast stroke since 1989. Freshman Caitlin Tycz won the 100 butterfly in 55.74 seconds and anchored the 200 free relay to a time of 1:40.97. The rest of the record-setting relay: sophomores Emma Blair and Lynsie Russell and senior Madeline Cowan.

Samson and Messalonskee junior Kristy Prelgovisk earned Swimmer of the Meet honors. Samson was also part of a 200 medley relay team that set a school record (1:42.81) and included junior Jacob Cost, sophomore Ben Farrell and freshman Henry Raker.

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TRACK

Kate Hall, the nonpareil track star from Lake Region, said Saturday her favorite things about the sport are the people and the community.

“I definitely love the people,” Hall said after winning the 55-meter dash.

“It’s so friendly. Everyone helps everyone else. You cheer your opponents and your teammates on. It’s not like other sports. In basketball, you don’t talk to your opponent. You’re trying to get the basketball from them. You’re not helping them. I love track so much and I hope I keep improving,” she said.

Hall used to play basketball and soccer until starting high school where she focused on track.

Of her last effort in the long jump Saturday at the Western Maine Conference Championships, in which she fouled, Hall said: “On the board, it said it was 20 feet, 5 inches, including the foul. If I hadn’t fouled by about two inches, it would have been just over 20 feet.”

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That would have been Hall’s personal best, eclipsing her current best of 19 feet, 11 inches, set in early December at a meet in Rhode Island.

On her second jump, Hall broke her conference record with a leap of 19-8¼. Hall also won the senior 55 in 7.18 after running 7.08 in the prelims, just off her all-time state best of 7.01. Later, Hall added a win in the senior 200 in 25.68. She also ran anchor in the 800 relay.

BOYS’ BASKETBALL

The fifth-seeded Cape Elizabeth boys’ basketball team gave top-ranked Greely a good battle before losing Friday night. For Cape to be successful, and it has been in 11 out of 18 games, the Capers have to execute the fundamentals and bring a certain tenacity. It’s a been a common theme for Coach Jim Ray and his team the last few years. The Capers are usually the smaller team on the court.

“For a team like us to win, it’s going to take a type of tenacity,” said Ray.

“We can’t afford to miss checkouts under the boards. We have to learn to turn down shots that aren’t good shots. We have to use our body and take a hit in the air and score. I thought we did a better job in the second half and were much tougher,” he said.

Cape has learned to do all those things that Ray preaches. They wouldn’t be the fifth-ranked team if they hadn’t.

Cape will play+ fourth-seeded Yarmouth (14-4) in a Western Maine Class B tournament quarterfinal game at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Portland Expo.

– Staff Writers Steve Craig, Kevin Thomas, Glenn Jordan and Tom Chard contributed to this report.


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