WINSLOW — Maine wrestling fans have been lucky enough to witness wrestlers like Gardiner’s Peter Del Gallo, Marshwood’s Brad Beaulieu and Skowhegan’s Cody Craig win four straight state championships in recent years.
If you head to Wells High School on Saturday you will have another opportunity to see history as Winslow senior Ryan Fredette has a chance to win his fourth gold medal.
“Just the fact that I already have three and nobody at Winslow High School has ever gotten the fourth (title) is pretty spectacular I think,” said Fredette, who has pinned his last three state finals opponents.
The senior, who won the 182-pound title at Class B North regionals last week, is excited to be back in the postseason.
“It’s been a long year … just going through the whole season and waiting for the state tournament and New Englands,” Fredette said.
Fredette will be thrilled to add another state gold to his collection, but the ultimate prize will be handed out in a few weeks in Providence.
“The New England title is definitely my goal this season,” said Fredette.
The Winslow standout’s first trip to New Englands was during his sophomore campaign and ended with disappointment as he was one win away from the podium.
“That pissed me off that I was one match from placing, so I went in last year hoping to do as well as I could,” said Fredette.
Fredette followed that up with a run to the New England finals last season. He would drop an 8-6 decision to Concord’s George Tarwo in the 182-pound title match.
One thing that has motivated Fredette this season was watching Beaulieu and Craig capture New England gold last season.
“It definitely (motivated me) because I’ve been wrestling, especially with Cody, for as long as I can remember. So just seeing him win just put an extra emphasis on ‘if he can do it, I can do it,’” said Fredette.
Fredette, who is the only Winslow wrestler heading to states, spent some time this week working out with Craig’s former teammates to get ready for the tournament.
“Most of my practices this week I’m going to be at Skowhegan. I’ve done a lot of practicing with Skowhegan over the years, we kind of collaborate a lot,” said Fredette, who said getting to practice in a strong wrestling room like Skowhegan is key to his success. “It’s huge. We’ve just always been there as long as I’ve been in high school. The last couple years there was me and my practice partners Ben (Abbott) and Pat (Hawkins) but they both graduated last year. The extra practice and more people in the room really helps me out a lot.”
Fredette is hoping that extra work in the Skowhegan room will help him thrive over the next three weeks — and cement his legacy as one of the best to ever do it in Maine.
“I just want to be remembered as one of the best. I’m not out here to be average … I want to be the best that I can be,” Fredette said.
— 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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