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VASSALBORO — The Falmouth golf team fell one shot short of an SMAA championship last year.

The Navigators were eager to return to the top this season — and one of their newest players ensured they did.

Six Falmouth players broke 80, led by Dante Iannetta at 73 and senior transfer Sawyer Hebert at 75, and the Navigators shot 304 to hold off defending champion Cheverus (313) at the SMAA qualifier at Natanis Golf Course on Monday.

The Navigators and Stags, with Thornton Academy (325), Gorham (336), Deering (337) and South Portland (338), qualified for the Class A tournament Friday at Natanis. The Trojans were led by a 79 from Jacob Litwinetz, Gorham got a 79 from Charlie Sands, Deering had a 75 from Sam Carter and South Portland was led by Lucas Turkewitz’s 79.

Falmouth won the SMAA championship in 2024. The Navigators made it a goal to reclaim it.

“One hundred percent. We’ve got a lot of depth this year,” Iannetta said. “(Monday) showed it. We’ve got to do it one more time.”

On the Arrowhead side, Winthrop, which won the MVC title and automatically qualified for Saturday’s Class C championships last Thursday, nipped Maranacook for the top score at the conference qualifier. The Ramblers shot 331 while the Black Bears, paced by medalist Jack Fontaine’s 74 and Josh Herzing’s 84, were at 332. Madison, led by a 79 from Colton Pelletier, shot 345 to qualify as well.

“It’s very important (to score well), especially with me not playing well as our No. 1, it helps the team’s confidence a lot,” said Drew Mertzel, the 2025 Class C champion whose 83 was Winthrop’s second-best score behind Lincoln MacArthur’s 78, while Parker Dow (84) and Sam Corgan (86) also qualified. “(We know) if someone’s not having a good day, our team’s there to back us up.”

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Cheverus, last year’s SMAA and Class A champion, got a 1-under 71 from medalist Sam Sirois and a 74 from Keane McGrath, but was taken down by Falmouth, which was in top form.

“They all got off to good, solid starts,” coach A.J. Simokaitis said. “In years past, whether it’s nerves or whatever it might be, you have one or two guys throw in a big number early in the round. … (This) gave them a little peace of mind, a little cushion.”

Iannetta notched three birdies to post the Navigators’ low score, and Victor Keefer (77), Alex Novick, Griffin Jacobsen and Anthony Graceffa (79 apiece) also shot under 80. The second-lowest score, though, went to Hebert, who led North Yarmouth Academy to the Class C title last year and had three birdies of his own Monday.

“I was just setting myself up, I wasn’t going for anything,” he said. “Falmouth is really competitive golf. … I was No. 7 at the beginning of the year and I needed to work really hard to get up there.”

The Navigators, however, weren’t rejoicing. Two years ago Falmouth won the SMAA qualifier but took fourth at states.

“Be happy with it but go through, find where you lost shots,” Iannetta said. “You can always make improvements.”

Back playing where he tied for second at states last year, Sirois made six birdies, including one on the 13th where he rolled in a bending 25-foot putt and gave a one-handed shrug after it fell.

“Hitting-wise, it wasn’t great, so the putter saved me a lot today,” he said. “(I made) a lot of 5- and 4-footers today, that’s big for me.”

The top score in the MVC event went to Fontaine, who excelled around the green. He birdied the opening hole, had birdies on two of the first three holes on the back, and notched his first eagle when he chipped in on the sixth.

“It was pretty nice,” he said. “I didn’t really believe it at first. And then I (looked) at the hole and there it was.”

In the MVC, individual qualifying spots went to players shooting 84 and under. That included Chris Johnson (78) and Dom Mangold (83) of Kents Hill, Vincent Chapman (80) and Jacob Irish (83) of Dirigo, Patrick Murphy (80) of Monmouth, and Maddox Foster-Grey (84) of Mt. Abram.

In the SMAA, Cheverus also took scores from Joe Stratman (81) and Mike Ray (87), while Thornton got an 80 from Henry Litwinetz, an 83 from Ryan Johnson and an 83 from Blake Goulet. Lukas Taafe shot 83, Payton Wilkins 84 and Andrew Cabral 90 for Gorham. Deering got an 82 from Liam Brunelle, an 89 from Cole Barringer and a 91 from Dominik Anthony, and South Portland got 86s from Jacob Robin and Noah Bates and an 87 from Gavin Schuster.

Qualifying individually were Portland’s Max Schaffer (Portland, 79), Jackson Humphrey (Bonny Eagle, 81), Jacob Willey (Noble, 81), Hunter Pulkkinen (Windham, 81), Caden Tito (Thornton, 81), Josh Albert (Scarborough, 82), Nolan Moore (Noble, 83), Graeme Thompson (Thornton, 83) and Luke Rice (Westbrook, 84).