SANFORD — Championships were tough to come by for Mainers at the Spartan Wrestling Tournament on Saturday.

Lessons from a loss were more readily available.

“For me, I get to see where I am and how hard I have to work to get to where I want to be,” said Scarborough sophomore Jeremy Sendrowski, who finished fourth in a stacked 120-pound class.

Sendrowski won the Class A state title at 113 pounds last season and was second in the New England qualifier as a freshman. None of his in-state competition was the caliber of the field in the Sanford tournament. New England runner-up Kevin Morris of Tyngsboro, Massachusetts, beat Sendrowski 10-4 in the consolation finals.

“There were a couple of studs in my bracket,” Sendrowski said. “All in all, losing is a learning experience for me. It just helps you get better.”

Timberlane, of Plaistow, New Hampshire, won the team championship with 232.5 points, and Danbury, Connecticut was the runner-up with 229. Those two teams dominated the competition, combining to produce 12 finalists and seven of the 14 champions. Timberlane had 13 wrestlers place in the top six. Danbury placed 11 of its 13 wrestlers in the top six.

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Maine had four champions, seven other finalists and three third-place finishers, compared to seven firsts, seven seconds and 10 thirds in 2015.

“This is one of the toughest tournaments in New England because we specifically invite the toughest teams,” Sanford Coach Nate Smith said.

The tournament was first held in 1975.

Foxcroft Academy was the top Maine team with 145 points, led by champions Zach Caron at 145 and Michael Pendriss at 220.

Four-time defending Class A champion Marshwood was fifth, after winning the tournament in 2014 and placing second last year. Marshwood’s Bradley Beaulieu (132 pounds) and Justin Stacy (182) were the other individual winners from Maine.

Beaulieu was named the outstanding wrestler of the two-day tournament for the second time after beating Caleb Austin of Mountain Valley, 7-2. That was a rematch of the Noble Invitational final a few weeks earlier, won by Beaulieu, 5-3.

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“This is a tough tournament,” Beaulieu said. “I learned some stuff at Noble and I wanted to come into this tournament and be more aggressive and stingy in giving up points.”

Other Maine wrestlers who finished second were Kyle Glidden (113) and Aidan Whitis (138) of Marshwood; Eddie DeRoche (145) of Mountain Valley; Josh Smith (160) of York; and Billy Brock (182) and Connor Holmes (285) of Foxcroft.

Smith dropped a 6-3 decision to Timberlane’s Cam Altobelli. He gave up two near-fall points in the final seconds as he tried a desperate escape move.

“I learned I have to practice on bottom a little more,” Smith said. “(This tournament is) competitive and there’s a big trophy at the end. It’s always a good goal to come to this tournament and rip it up.”

“I think it’s the best competition all season in the state of Maine,” Portland Coach Tony Napolitano said.

Marshwood Coach Matt Rix said he uses the tournament as a teaching tool.

“We’ll come in to practice on Monday and I’ll ask each of them, ‘What did you get out of the weekend? Show me something,'” Rix said.

 


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