RUMFORD — Caleb Austin has competed in several important wrestling events, and is well aware of what is necessary to be successful
But the Mountain Valley standout couldn’t hide his pride after winning a record-tying fourth individual championship Saturday at the second annual Franklin Savings Bank Invitational.
The rest of the Mountain Valley team followed suit, scoring 216.5 points with 11 medals, including champions Vinny DeRoche (106 pounds), Ethan Boucher (138) and Eddie DeRoche (145), to pull away from runner-up Dirigo, which finished with 138 points.
Foxcroft Academy (110.5), Skowhegan (109) and (Oxford Hills (108) rounded out the top five.
The event was reshuffled after several teams were unable to attend due to the inclement weather.
”We had to do some scrambling around,” meet director and Mountain Valley athletic director Al Cayer said. ”There was 238 wrestlers signed up and it was down to 91, but there is still some good competition. We were not going to cancel.”
In a tournament format like Saturday’s, a great emphasis is placed on individual performance, but there is still a team element, particularly when it comes to rivalry matchups. Dirigo was leading Mountain Valley 103 to 99.5 after the championship semi-finals. The Falcons advanced nine to the finals, but scored 74 points because three wrestlers competed in round robins. Austin, a defending Class B state champion, had plenty of incentive, and recorded three pins. In the finals, Austin stuck Marcus Caudill of Foxcroft with a far-side cradle for his 100th career pin, and 163rd win.
“I feel quite proud because its a big accomplishment,” said Austin, who had won as a freshman and sophomore when the tournament was named the McDonalds Invitational. He joins former Mountain Valley wrestler Jesse Peterson as a four-time champion.
”I was driven all day long and was confident and excited,” Austin said.
Boucher secured a grapevine to pin Cole Dunham of Oxford Hills (138) and Eddie DeRoche stuck Colin Woodhead of Dirigo The Cougars won two of three head-to-head finals against the Falcons. The Cougars’ Nolan DeGroot (182) and Dalton Berry (195) decisioned Falcons Mike Arsenault and Darin Buono, respectively.
A big surprise was Vinny DeRoche winning his first-ever high school tournament by sticking Rico Ayala of Foxcroft. DeRoche, who stands just 4-foot-5 and weighs 90 pounds, slipped in a half nelson.
”I needed to stay behind him and not get caught in a cradle,” Vinny DeRoche said. ”He was a lot taller than me and his arms went from shoulders to my knees.”
Dirigo seniors Hunter White (152) and Bryce Whittemore (160) each won championships. White shut out Dylan Cobbett of Oxford Hills and Whittemore decisioned Jon Bell of Skowhegan.
In the semifinals, Whittemore won a 3-1 decision against Dawson Stevens (third) of Oxford Hills.
”That was a lot of work, I knew it would be low scoring,” Whittemore said ”(Opponents) have always been shooting in on me, so I started using a wiza too counter them.”
”This was a great day for the younger guys to wrestle and gain confidence,” Mountain Valley coach Gary Dolloff said. ”Like Vinny and Evrit Roy, who came back from 10-0 (quarterfinals) to beat Jon Flagg of Dirigo. Evrit had been using middle school moves against older kids and getting pounded and down on himself.”
Roy reached the finals, as did fellow freshman Victor Verrill, who was pinned by three-time state champion Cody Craig of Skowhegan.
Danny Buteau, the lone Oak Hill wrestler at the meet, executed a standing escape in the third period against Samson Sirois of Skowhegan to win 1-0 for the second-straight year.
”I was surveying the competition and not allowing myself to look to far ahead,” said Buteau, who is a three-time Class B state champion and was voted the Jerry Perkins award as the Most Valuable Wrestler. ”I knew it would be a tough match. (Sirios) tried holding me down with a leg spiral, but I knew that I could stand because standing up is a strong point.”
Alex Shorey of Mountain Valley and Jon Wainwright of Dirigo each placed third at 113 and 138, respectively.
”It was good seeing Verrill get through to the finals,” Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. ”The rest of the guys all wrestled up to their seeds. But we still have a long way to go.”
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