PARIS — The New England Qualifier wrestling meet Saturday featured a milestone, several pins, some one-point wins and so much more.
Noble had two champions, as Joshua Cote took the 126-pound title by pinning Travis Foster of Wells, and Sam Martel beat Ellsworth’s Logan Lord in the 138-pound final.
Cote’s pin came late in the second round. He already had a 10-3 lead.
“Leading up to (the pin), I tried to get as many points as I could,” Cote said. “I got him on his feet, took him down again, so in case anything happened I would have a good lead, then I used a simple stack that I’ve been doing. I felt like I was in control.”
Martel had a more difficult match against Lord. They were tied after two rounds, before Martel took control for an 11-4 win.
“It was tough,” Martel said. “It was tough when I was on top because he … (has) pretty flexible shoulders, so it was hard to work my wings in and stuff.”
Cole Dunham of Oxford Hills got to wrestle in front of his home fans one last time this season. He won the 182-pound championship over Ihsan Myers of Morse, 7-3.
“I’ve had trouble with him all year because he’s really good at defending me, he spars pretty good,” Dunham said. “I know he doesn’t really shoot, so it did surprise me when he shot that one time. Other than making sure I controlled the match, (the strategy) was just don’t let him get on top of me.”
In one of the most exciting matches of the day, Jackson Sutherland of Mattanawcook scored two points in the final 10 seconds to defeat Brycen Kowalski of Mt. Ararat, 6-5, for the 113-pound title.
Mountain Valley’s Darin Buono got his 150th career win with a 16-8 decision over Brady Mitchell Damms of Mt. Ararat in the 195-pound final.
Portland’s Zach Elowitch captured the 160-pound division, beating Elias Miller of Medomak Valley, 4-1.
“I just wanted to wrestle my match,” Elowitch said. “I didn’t want to force anything because I knew I could score some points. I didn’t want to put myself in a bad situation.”
Matthew Pooler of Massabesic pinned Zac Wilson of Piscataquis in the second period to win the title at 170 pounds.
The top three in each weight class qualified for the New England championships next weekend in Providence, Rhode Island.
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