Biddeford’s Brian Livermore picks up the fall during Wednesday’s match against Windham.
With eight forfeits leading to 48 points, the host Tigers also dominated the action on the mat as they won all four bouts by fall on their way to a 72-0 victory.
The Tigers got pins from Chris Doner at 113 pounds, Brian Livermore at 145, Myles Villarreal at 160 and Chris Lantagne at 220.
Harmonie Collbroth (120), Josiah Garcia (132), Dwayne Dyer (138), Billy Doner (152), Trevor Therrien (170), Matt Gagne (182), Shayne Welch (195) and Devin Butler (285) all accepted forfeits in the win.
Biddeford’s Chris Doner works for a fall during Wednesday’s match against Windham.
“They are good guys and I feel for them,” said Vermette of the Windham coaching staff. “I’ve been in that predicament with six or seven kids, so it’s good that they are still coming and wrestling.”
This season, Vermette doesn’t have to worry about numbers as the Tigers (10-1) are filling almost every weight class and are currently in the midst of the best start in his seven-year tenure.
“This is the best start since I’ve been here. Last year was my best year at 17-9 and I think I’m going to better that,” said Vermette.
Vermette knows how important a solid youth program is to building a strong high school program – although most of his current wrestlers didn’t start the sport at a young age.
“Most of these kids on my high school program didn’t wrestle youth and some didn’t even wrestle in middle school,” said Vermette, who is proud of how far the Biddeford feeder programs have come in recent years. “We do have established programs now. We just had our middle school signups and we had over 20 kids, our youth program’s got 25, so we are building our program.”
Vermette is hoping to continue to build the Biddeford program into one of the best in the state.
“I just want to improve every year. I will have a few down years, but our junior high is building and I want to be competitive every year. I’m not saying we are going to be state champions anytime soon, but I want to be competitive and I think we have a competitive program,” said Vermette.
Respect for the Biddeford program has been growing each season, according to Vermette.
“I think, you know, in the past people would say, ‘we are wrestling Biddeford, it’s going to be an easy night.’ Well, it’s not an easy night anymore. We are doing a good job and I’m proud of these kids,” said Vermette.
The Tigers will head to the Kennebunk Duals on Saturday.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 322. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.
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