SANFORD — Marshwood High senior Bradley Beaulieu met expectations.

Three other Maine wrestlers exceeded their calculations, joining Beaulieu as weight-class champions in the two-day Spartan Wrestling Tournament, which concluded Saturday at Sanford High School.

Beaulieu won his fourth Spartan title, taking the 138-pound class. Coming off his victory at the Lowell Invitational in Massachusetts, which included his 200th career victory in the semifinal round, Beaulieu said he didn’t feel extra pressure as a heavy favorite.

“I mean, I’ve wrestled at all the biggest tournaments and I don’t think pressure really gets to me,” said Beaulieu, who has committed to wrestle for Old Dominion University. “I just like to go out and wrestle and have some fun, so any match, any tournament, I don’t really feel it. I just go out there, do what I do, and have some fun.”

Leo Amabile of Massabesic (113 pounds), Jordan Lang of Camden Hills (132) and Matt Caverly of Marshwood (152) were first-time winners at the tournament, considered the toughest in Maine.

Timberlane Regional of Plaistow, New Hampshire, dominated the team competition. The Owls had nine finalists – the same as all Maine teams combined – and five champions while scoring 321 points. Danbury, Connecticut, was second with 222 points. Marshwood placed third with 188 points and was the only Maine team in the top five.

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Beaulieu, wrestling more aggressively this season, is unbeaten so far and claimed his 206th career win with a 6-0 decision over Cody Lewis of Timberlane in the final.

He will soon pass former teammate Cody Hughes as Maine’s all-time wins leader.

“I think I got stronger. This year I’m not cutting any weight,” Beaulieu said. “I lifted a little more and am taking it a little bit more seriously, trying to get ready for the next level.”

Amabile, a senior, earned Most Outstanding Wrestling honors. Amabile pinned all four of his opponents, including an overtime putdown of Ben Leblanc of Danbury, Connecticut, to break a 0-0 tie in the final.

“I didn’t really know where I am at this point of the season because we’ve missed some of our bigger tournaments (because of weather),” Amabile said. “It’s nice to see where I am. Going against teams like Timberlane and Danbury, that’s the type of competition we need. There’s definitely room for improvement in all my positions, but it’s nice to get the win.”

Lang pinned all of his opponents in the first period, and none recorded a point.

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“I guess over the last year I’ve improved a lot,” Lang said. “There was no way I expected to win down here and to pin every kid in the first round and have no points scored against me.”

Caverly, a senior, was wrestling at 152 pounds for the first time this season. As a junior, he wrestled at 126. Since then, Caverly has grown six inches, and he started the season at 160 pounds.

“I had no idea how I would (fare against) all of these kids,” Caverly said. “Going from sixth place my freshman year (at 106) to winning it this year, that’s what I wanted.”

Mainers who placed second were the Mountain Valley duo of Caleb Austin (126) and Eddie DeRoche (145), Sanford’s Sam Anderson (160), Belfast’s Jacob Waterman (182) and Massabesic’s Noah Schneider (195).

Anderson lost for the first time this season when he was pinned by Ryan Devivo of Xavier High from Middletown, Connecticut.

“I knew I was kind of dipping myself into tougher competition,” Anderson said. “But that’s exactly what I want to see, whether it was a win or a loss. Outside of Maine, it’s like a whole different universe when it comes to competition.”

 


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