For wrestlers across the state, the biggest target date is Feb. 15, when the Class A and B state individual and team champions will be determined.

For the first time since 2011, all wrestlers will be competing at the same venue, giving wrestlers, parents and fans a chance to see all of the state’s best. The Colisee in Lewiston will be the host site.

“I think it’s going to be great. The coaches are excited about it, having everyone at one venue. I think it will be fun,” said Mike Bisson, assistant executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association and the MPA’s wrestling liaison.

The Augusta Civic Center was the host site in 2011 when A, B, and C championships were held at the same time. Since then, each class championship has been at a separate site. Coaches have been asking for several years to bring the championships back under one roof. With three of the state’s biggest venues (Bangor’s Cross Insurance Center, the Augusta Civic Center, and Portland’s Expo) already booked for the Maine Principals’ Association’s basketball tournaments, the challenge was finding a fourth venue, Bisson said.

“With the Colisee under a new general manager, who is actually the old general manager, he said he’d like to try it,” Bisson said.

Count Bryan Thompson, coach at Class B York, among those happy for a return to one venue.

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“I am thrilled Class A and B are once again held in the same venue on the same day,” Thompson said. “It’s a real treat for wrestlers, parents and fans to see Maine’s best under one roof.”

Wells Coach Scott Lewia said having both tournaments together “is just good for our sport.” Lewia’s teams have won two straight Class B championships and six of the last seven. Each has been special. But a bigger venue would have given more Warrior fans a chance to watch the action.

“I really think more people are going to go and watch knowing you have a comfortable seat,” and that there is room for them.

At even the best high school state championship sites, like Sanford and Mt. Ararat high schools in the south, there is little room for spectators, not once 132 active competitors (eight per 14 weight classes), other teammates, coaches, managers and immediate family fill the stands.

Thompson and Lewia both noted that wrestlers from different classes compete against each other all season at dual meets and tournaments. Thompson said it’s “been a shame” they couldn’t see half of their peers compete for state titles.

The A and B North regionals will also be held together, at Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Feb. 8, while the South regionals will be at Noble High in North Berwick for Class A and Fryeburg Academy for Class B.

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“The North regionals are together, so hopefully that could happen down the road for the South,” Lewia said. “There’s no plan for that now.”

Participation growth continuing?

The revival of wrestling in Maine began in 2022-23 with a modest 7% growth and then took a big jump last season as the total number of wrestlers grew by 18% from 852 to 1,006, according to MPA participation data. The number of boys increased from 759 to 875 (15.3% increase), and girls’ participation jumped 40% from 93 to 131 in the first year of Maine adding a girls’ team championship to its individual tournament, and the New England championships hosting its first all-girls’ tourney.

Many observers think the growth – both overall and especially on the girls’ side – is continuing this season.

“It seems as if the numbers have increased statewide,” said Camden Hills Coach Patrick Kelly. Kelly reports 27 wrestlers for his squad. The Windjammers had 17 last season.

Marshwood, a former power, has seen an increase from 16 to 25 to 35 over the past three seasons, reports Luke Howarth, the co-coach with his father, Tom Howarth.

Third-year Portland/South Portland Coach Ted Banks said his squad has 38 wrestlers this year, up from 31 last season and 25 in Banks’ first year.

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“I’m building the program in phases and phase one is get a lot of participation and show them this can be fun,” Banks said.

Bisson said “girls’ wrestling is just taking off,” and that he’s excited about the introduction of new programs. Edward Little had immediate success last season in its first varsity campaign, placing seventh at the Class A North regional, with five of its 22 wrestlers advancing to the state championship.

“Adding Edward Little, what a tremendous addition. They did it right. They built it up from the youth level,” Bisson said.

A seven-team co-op in Penobscot County, with John Bapst as the host school, is providing easier access to the sport for athletes from John Bapst, Bangor, Brewer, Hampden Academy, Hermon, Old Town and Orono.

“When you only had Nokomis and Ellsworth offering wrestling in that Bangor area, very few were willing to travel that far for practices,” Bisson said.

Major milestones back in play

When the entire 2020-21 wrestling season was canceled because of COVID pandemic precautions, it ruined the chance to attain some of Maine’s most cherished individual career achievements for a four-year period.

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You can’t be a four-time champion without a fourth season. No one is going to win 200 career matches in three seasons.

This winter, those marks are back in play because seniors are competing for a fourth season. While it is believed no one is in line to win a fourth individual state title, Windham/Gray-New Gloucester/Westbrook’s Ayden Cofone can get to 200 wins.

A senior at Windham, Cofone’s career record is 152-10. The last 200-win wrestler was Oxford Hills’ JJ Worster, who finished with 207 wins in 2020. Worster was the 14th Maine high school wrestler to reach the 200-win mark.

Cofone is expected to compete at 126 pounds, just one division up from last year, when he was the Class A North and New England Qualifier champion at 120 pounds. Cofone won state titles his first two seasons but was beaten by current Noble junior Brady Ouellette in last year’s Class A final.

From Montana to Massabesic

Defending Class A champion Massabesic added three quality wrestlers to the program when the Grunhuvd family moved from Montana to Waterboro. The impact will be greatest for the Massabesic girls’ team, which has gone from three to seven wrestlers and adds Sophie Grunhuvd and her (not twin) sister, Nevaeh, who are both juniors and both two-time placers at the Montana girls’ high school championship.

Montana’s overall high school sports participation is less than Maine’s, by about 12,000 total participants and roughly 5,500 fewer girls. But girls’ wrestling in the Big Sky state is far ahead of Maine. Last season, 581 girls wrestled in Montana compared to 131 in Maine, according to the annual National Federation of State High Schools’ survey.

Last season, competing in 24-wrestler brackets, Nevaeh was third at 132 pounds and Sophie was fourth at 126. Eon said he expects the pair to compete somewhere in the 132/138/144 brackets and both could vie for varsity co-ed slots.

“They told me they wrestled a strictly girls’ schedule,” said Massabesic Coach Joe Eon. “They never wrestled against boys.

“On paper, and how I see them in the room, they’re very competitive and good wrestlers.”

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