Biddeford/Thornton’s Joseph Lathwood, left, and Marshwood’s Jack Anderson compete in the 165-pound division during the Class A state championship wrestling tournament at The Colisee in Lewiston. Lathwood went on to become the first Thornton Academy wrestling to win a state title in program history. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Joseph Lathwood can brag like few others, especially in Maine, about the places he has earned his wrestling education.

Lathwood, a senior on the Biddeford/Thornton Academy wrestling team, comes from a military family. His father, Joe Lathwood, is in the Air Force, stationed in Portland. During his four years of high school, Joseph Lathwood has lived in Hawaii, Missouri and Maine. In 2021, he won a Hawaii High School Athletic Association title at 120 pounds for Honolulu’s Moanalua High School.

On Feb. 15, Lathwood was at The Colisee in Lewiston, some 5,092 miles from Honolulu, beating Jack Anderson of Marshwood by technical fall (19-4), in 93 seconds to capture the 165-pound Class A championship, the second state title of his career and his first in Maine. He’s the first grappler in Thornton Academy history to win a state crown.

It was one of the highlights of a season that included a regional, state and New England Qualifier titles for Lathwood, who lost just once, and in controversial fashion, at the New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships. He also was named wrestler of the meet at the Class A championships.

For his success on the mat, Joseph Lathwood is the 2024-25 Varsity Maine Boys Wrestler of the Year. Brady Ouellette of Noble and Kylan Berry of Marshwood/Traip Academy were also considered.

“I thought (the season) went amazing,” Lathwood said. “Starting off the year with an injury and coming back, zero losses (during the season) and winning states. Going to New Englands and competing. It didn’t go as planned, and I got hurt, but it was still amazing.”

Lathwood transferred to Thornton Academy prior to his junior year. He got off to a strong start in Maine wrestling, winning the 157-pound weight class at the annual Noble Invitational. He didn’t suffer a loss during his junior year, but his season was cut short due to a torn meniscus and sprained MCL in his knee, which kept him from competing at the Class A championships. He was still rehabbing the injury at the start of the 2024-25 season.

“I was very focused (on the rehab),” Lathwood said. “Honestly, I just kept doing what I was doing, or at least trying to, and if I can’t, supplement it with something I can do. I was just trying to eat the right foods, drinking my water, stretching, all that stuff. Let it heal, while still focusing on wrestling.”

Thorton Academy/Biddeford’s Joseph Lathwood, top, throws Kennebunk’s Moose Keys to the mat during the Class A South championship. Brianna Soukup/Portland Press Herald

When Lathwood was ready to wrestle, he made the most of his opportunity, especially in the postseason. Each one of his championship victories — regional, states and the New England qualifier — came by technical fall, which is a margin of 15 points. Lathwood said his win over Anderson at the Class A meet was his best performance of the year.

“His movement, the way he creates angles and gets his opponents to really have to chase him is next level,” said Biddeford/Thornton Academy coach Anthony Cincotta. “For him to move at that level and not even having gone to college is pretty crazy. He’s just very technically proficient. He has great technique and knows how to apply it.”

Lathwood was on a winning path at New Englands, beating Matthew Gish of Cromwell, Connecticut 18-3 in the Round of 16, and Matthew Pappas of Cranston, Rhode Island 13-6 in the quarterfinals. Lathwood faced Marc Maurath of Newton, Connecticut, in the semifinals. Maurath held a 7-6 lead late in the match when it appeared Lathwood secured a takedown, which would have given him the win. However, the referee ruled Lathwood’s maneuver didn’t meet the criteria of a takedown and Maurath was ruled the winner.

“(Lathwood) dominated the whole match, and (Maurath) had one sequence to get ahead. Joseph had, and from how the crowd reacted, they believed it as well, that he had a takedown. I personally thought he met the criteria of a takedown as well,” Cincotta said. “But it was close. He came over to us after the match and said in a really cool, calm collective way, ‘Oh, I thought that was a takedown.’ The composure of it all was pretty impressive. That’s just how he is.”

Lathwood added: “It was a tough loss, but it’s just a wrestling match, and there’s more to wrestling than just that. I needed that loss. I hadn’t lost in a good amount of time. Having a good match like that makes me excited for the future. I can learn and grow.”

After winning his state title in Hawaii, Lathwood’s family moved to Missouri. To add to his repertoire and improve his game, Lathwood began working with BullTrained Wrestling and MMA, run by Sammie “The Bull” Henson, a silver medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Henson was also a two-time NCAA champion at the University of Missouri.

“It was crazy, we’d do 6 a.m-11 a.m. practices and then we’d do a 6:30 p.m. practice — all while being homeschooled — and I’d be getting a lift in the in-between,” Lathwood said. “Physically, it was very tiring. But it matured my long-distance wind.

“(The travel) has made my (wrestling) style the way it is. Hawaii is really big on judo, and using more big throws, especially in folkstyle and freestyle. Coming (to Maine), you don’t really see many of those big hip throws or arm throws in those folkstyle matches. If you keep the pace and have more strength, you’ll win. In Missouri, (wrestling) is more of a brawl. If you have more technique, you’ll win.”

Lathwood, who has been wrestling since he was 6, has big aspirations with his wrestling career. He hopes to one day be able to compete in the Olympics. Wrestling in college is a possibility for Lathwood, who has been talking with multiple Division I schools, as well as the University of Southern Maine, but has not yet made a decision on which college he will attend.

“It’s been my goal for a while, to get to that world (championship) and Olympic level,” Lathwood said.