Westbrook had a strong showing in last weekend’s Tiger Tournament at Gardiner High.

The Blue Blazes finished third overall and had two wrestlers win their weight classes.

Cony won the tournament with 175.5 points, followed by Mt. Blue with 173. Westrook had 104 points. Nine teams scored.

Graham Strondak won the 170-pound division and Devon Grant captured the 285-pound class. Both were well-contested matches. Strondak edged Caleb Farrington of Mt. Blue 7-6, and Grant decisioned Jacob McGowan of Maine Central Institute 3-1 in overtime.

Strondak upped his record to 7-0. Grant is 6-1.

Other Blazes making strong showings included Andrew Rogers, who lost in the 106-pound championship final; Max Storm, a freshman who lost in the 126-pound championship final; Cal Randall and Brandon Conley in the 145-pound consolation final, Scott Kilpatrick, who lost in the 138 consolation final and Teejay Salisbury, who lost in the 220 consolation final. Storm was seeded sixth, but pinned the third and second seeds to reach the final, where he was pinned by Kevin Moore of Mt. Blue.

“We’re off to a good start,” said Westbrook Coach John Nicholas. “We finished fourth in our invitational tournament the week before.”

Westbrook has only two seniors, including Strondak, who is competing at 170 pounds but may decide to drop to 160.

The Blazes have had only one dual meet, a 59-21 loss to Fryeburg Academy, a team Nicholas feels is one of the best in Class B.

Westbrook will travel to Kennebunk High today for a meet with the Rams and Sanford.

On Dec. 28, the Blazes will host their sixth annual alumni meet beginning at 6 p.m.

YORK IS another team off to a fast start. The Wildcats are 10-0 in dual meets.

They will be competing Friday in the Atlantic Invitational at Wells High.

“I thought we would be around .500 at this point,” said Coach Bryan Thompson. “We had only one state meet scorer returning from last year’s team in John Goyetche, who finished fourth at 152.  We have five freshmen in the varsity lineup and they’ve done everything we’ve asked of them. We do have experience in the middle weights.”

The freshmen in the lineup are Adele Goyetche, sister of John, at 106; Griffin O’Connor, 113; Alex Papp, 132; Mark Slusher, 182; and Zach Handley at 195.

Slusher has the best record on the team at 11-0.

“Some of them are forfeits but the majority are legit,” said Thompson of Slusher’s record.

York has 28 wrestlers on the team.

“It seems like half of them are between 140 and 152 pounds. We have a lot of competition at practices for the middle weight classes,” said Thompson.

He feels the competitiveness at practices has prepared the Wildcats well.

TOP SQUADS from Class A, B and C will compete Friday at the Atlantic Invitational at Wells.
The 18-team field includes Biddeford, Bucksport, Camden Hills, Dirigo, Fryeburg Academy, Hollis-Brookline in Hollis, N.H., Kennebunk, Lincoln Academy, Lisbon, Maine Central Institute, Marshwood, Medomak Valley, Monmouth Academy, reigning Class B state champion Mountain Valley, reigning Class A state champion Noble, Oak Hill, Wells and York.
Wrestling starts at 9 a.m.

SOME OF central Maine’s top teams will be showcased next Tuesday at the Cony Duals in Augusta.
The field will include wrestling squads from Brewer, Cony, Erskine Academy, Gardiner, Madison, Monmouth Academy, Morse, Mt. Ararat, Mt. Blue, Oxford Hills, Skowhegan, Winslow and York.

TOP DUAL MEET: Three-time defending Class A state champion Noble goes head-to-head tonight against powerful Massabesic at Biddeford.

– Staff Writer Paul Betit contributed to this report.

Staff Writer Tom Chard can be contacted at 791-6419 or at: tchard@pressherald.com
Twitter: TomChardPPH