Windham/Westbrook/Gray New-Gloucester wrestling finds success at Zeb Leavitt Memorial Tournament

The Windham/Westbrook, Gray New Gloucester
prep wrestling team finished in second place with
a score of 136 just behind Sanford at the Zeb
Leavitt Memorial Tournament at Cheverus High
School on Saturday, Jan. 15.
PHOTOO BY BROOKE REID 

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham/Westbrook/Gray New-Gloucester wrestling team turned in an amazing showing in their first tournament of the season at the Zeb Leavitt Memorial Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 15 at Cheverus High School.

The team was more than ready for this tournament, and it felt great to return to the mat after Covid took a year from them last season. This was the first time the program placed in a tournament when they finished second with a score of 136.

Windham/Westbrook/Gray-New Gloucester put six wrestlers in the finals and had two individual champions: Windham junior Scott Ingalls who won the 170-pound final and Windham freshman Ayden Cofone who won the 113-pound final.

“Everyone on the team chipped in during the day,” said Windham/Westbrook/Gray-New Gloucester coach John Nicholas. “We talked about what it takes to win a tournament and for most of the day we were in first place before slipping a bit in the late rounds. However, we were very competitive all day and pulled off a few upsets along the way.”

Cofone was expecting some hard matches for himself and the whole team and said it felt good to have upperclassman cheering him on as he wrestled. 

According to Cofone, tt meant a lot for him to be on a team that took second place and this win will definitely be motivation for the team, as well as him, in future meets and tournaments.

“This whole season the whole team has been going hard in practice, really preparing us for any competition we face,” said Ingalls. “Getting into the final felt great, as during freshman year I never qualified to wrestle for first or second. It really gave me a confidence boost going into my final match. This top two finish really shows that if we work hard in practice and deliver on the mat in competition, we can really be a top contender.”<