NEWPORT

The New England Qualifier brings the best wrestlers from across the state together and each athlete has one goal in mind: Punch their ticket to Providence.

For Morse/Wiscasset senior Sam Strozier, Saturday’s meet was his last chance to qualify for the New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships — and he got the job done with a third-place finish at 182 pounds at Nokomis Regional High School.

“It feels great because I’ve really wanted to go here,” said Strozier, who is a senior at Wiscasset.

Morse/Wiscasset coach Mike Bennett was thrilled to see the senior finally secure a trip to Providence.

“It was his dream, it’s what he’s wanted to do all year … I couldn’t be happier,” said Bennett.

Bennett had a feeling that Strozier was going to have a good day at Nokomis after seeing him put in a strong week of practice.

“He worked hard all week. (He) practiced in the mornings with the Mt. Ararat kids, so shout out to (coach) Erick Jensen. He’s a standup guy and (runs) a good program,” said Bennett.

Jensen was happy to help Strozier prepare for the qualifier and was thrilled to see him earn a trip to Providence.

“I know that Sam was lacking some workout partners so he asked to come down and he did the same thing last year. He’s a great kid and I was really happy for him,” Jensen said.

Strozier started the day with a pin of Ellsworth’s Charlie Hughes and that set him up with a match against four-time Class B state champion Ryan Fredette of Winslow. Fredette ended up earning a 19-2 technical fall win over the Wiscasset senior, but not before Strozier had him in some precarious positions.

“It was great. I knew it was going to be tough going in there … I was just hoping to tire him out and throw him, which I did twice but couldn’t sink it,” said Strozier, who rebounded from the Fredette loss with a pin in the consolation semifinals.

Bennett was proud of Strozier’s fight against Fredette.

“He looked good today … he took it to Fredette,” said Bennett. “He chucked him twice, dude — that was awesome!”

Strozier, who picked up an 11-0 major decision over Cony’s Aaron Lettre in the third-place match, is going to take that same aggressive approach to the New England meet.

“We’re not changing anything … actually, we’re going to tell him to be more aggressive and throw, throw, throw. They won’t expect it and I think we’re going to take some kids off guard down there,” Bennett said.

“Win some matches — throw some people,” said Strozier of his goals.

Mt. Ararat/Brunswick had two wrestlers just miss out on a trip to New Englands as sophomores Ben Laurence (132) and Brett Raio (145) finished in fourth place on Saturday.

Laurence dropped his first match but rebounded to have a strong day as he beat former state champion Matt Thompson of Marshwood and Noble standout Joe Pilecki in back-to-back matches to earn a spot in the third-place bout.

“He’s been fighting some illness this week, so I was real proud of the way he battled back especially after that first round loss,” said Jensen. “He beat two really tough kids, the Marshwood kid and Noble kid, back-to-back and just came up short in the end.”

Raio and sophomore Caden Kowalsky (138) were actually late entrants into the New England Qualifier as they replaced a top-four finisher from states who was unable to make it on Saturday. Raio took advantage of the opportunity and went 2-2 on the day to place fourth.

“It’s huge … he’s a gamer,” said Jensen of Raio. “Every match he goes out there to wrestle and win.”

Jensen was happy to have the three sophomores gain experience at the All-State meet.

“I’m just glad they got the opportunity to be here, so hopefully next year we’ll get over that hump,” Jensen said.