NORTH BERWICK

The one thing that has been on Mt. Ararat junior Robert Hetherman’s mind since last February was returning to the state finals — and this time getting to the top of the podium.

Hetherman, who fell short in last year’s state finals, accomplished his goal as the standout captured the 170- pound championship at Saturday’s Class A Wrestling Championships.

“Robert has worked so hard to accomplish this first goal,” said Mt. Ararat/ Brunswick coach Erick Jensen.

Hetherman knew that his road to the state championships would probably include a showdown with Noble standout Otto Keiser, who beat Hetherman during the regular season.

“It was just like every day at practice, I was busting my (butt) because I knew that there was Otto right there, right behind me, because he beat me at Vermont. After he beat me at Vermont, that was my (motivation), I have to beat him now at states,” said Hetherman, who made it to the finals with a pin in the quarterfinals and a 7-2 decision over Portland’s Clautel Buba in the semifinals.

Hetherman seemed to be in control in the finals as he jumped out to a 6-2 lead before Keiser hit a five-point move and nearly pinned Hetherman late in the second period.

“That’s what the kid from Noble does, he’s a big-move guy,” said Jensen. “That’s what he did to Robert two weeks ago out at Essex, Robert was ahead and he ended up catching him, and he almost did it again. Luckily, Robert was able to fight off his back.”

Hetherman wasn’t going to let his gold medal dreams end on his back.

“When I was on my back, I thought of my coach telling me, ‘don’t give up, don’t give up,’ and that just inspired me because it reminded me every day at practice, him pushing me,” said Hetherman.

He was able to fight off his back and eventually retook the lead in the third period. The junior standout held Keiser down the rest of the way and picked up an 8-7 win.

“When I was down, I just thought all that extra hard work I had put in just to get here will show now and I just busted out of that, and I was not going to let him win because I wanted it more,” said Hetherman.

Hetherman nearly tackled Jensen when the final buzzer sounded and, after shaking hands with Keiser and getting his hand raised, the standout once again found his head coach.

“I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘I did it, I did it, coach I did it,’” said Hetherman of the moment he jumped into Jensen’s arms. “I’m just so overjoyed and so happy and I can’t lose this excitement right now. I’m just so hyped.”

Hetherman quickly pointed out all the help he had on his way to the state crown.

“My coaches, my mom, my dad, John Raio, everyone that has helped me, my teammates, everyone just pushing me to be the best. It’s awesome and I thank them so much for it,” said Hetherman.

Jensen credits Hetherman’s offseason work, which includes some non-wrestling workouts, for pushing the standout over the top.

“He went to camps, he wrestled a lot, but he also actually boxes, he’s a heck of a boxer,” said Jensen.

Jensen believes Hetherman has a chance to make some noise at All States and the New England Wrestling Championships over the next few weeks.

“Obviously, we want to continue all the way through All States, win that tournament and place high at New Englands. I think he’s capable of doing that,” said Jensen.

Mt. Ararat/Brunswick had two other wrestlers earn spots on the medal stand with both John Hetherman and Christian Jensen placing fourth.

Coach Jenson was happy to see John Hetherman reach the podium at 182 pounds.

“John’s happy, he was out last year and came back and placed this year as a senior,” said Jensen.

The Mt. Ararat/Brunswick coach was also thrilled to see his son place in a rugged 138- pound weight class.

“Christian came in and battled and took fourth in a really tough class,” said Jensen.

Reed gets silver

Hunter Reed of Morse finished

third last year at the Class B state meet, but this season, the Morse senior had to battle the best wrestlers in Class A in order to reach the podium.

The senior battled his way into the 152-pound state championship match on Saturday.

“Our goal was to get him to a state championship and that’s what we did. I couldn’t ask for anything better,” said Morse coach Mike Bennett.

Reed picked up a pair of major decisions to reach the 152-pound title match against Skowhegan standout Julian Sirois.

In the Class A North Regional meet, Sirois pinned Reed at the 3:38 mark of the championship bout.

Saturday’s match was a different story as Reed gave Sirois all he could handle before dropping a 6-1 decision.

“He left it all on the mat,” said Bennett of Reed. “He was aggressive, attacked when he had to and left it all on the mat, no let up. It was what I wanted to see out of my senior captain … it was pretty cool.”

Bennett gave credit to Sirois.

“He’s one of the best in the state … you have to give that kid credit, he’s really good,” said Bennett.

Notes — Skowhegan won the team championship, which was the first for the East/North team to win title since 1989 … Skowhegan won three individual titles with Cody Craig (106) and Kameron Doucette (160) joining Sirois on top of the podium … Other individual champions were Marshwood’s Kyle Glidden (113), Bradley Beaulieu (132), Aiden Whitis (138) and Justin Stacy (182), Gardiner’s Peter Delgallo (120), Noble’s Jake Martel (126) and Josh Grenier (145), Cony’s Max Storey (220) and Nokomis’ Chris Wilson (195) and Hunter Glidden (285). … See full results on B3.