Wolfpack wrestling team earns back-to-back wins in meets against Deering and Scarborough

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham/Gray New-Gloucester/Westbrook varsity Wolfpack wrestling team showed they are gearing up and ready as they head toward the postseason during meets against Deering and Scarborough/Gorham on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at Deering in Portland. The Wolfpack ousted both teams with big wins, beating Deering 70-12, and Scarborough/Gorham 72-12.

Wolfpack wrestler Christian Harvey of Windham works to
flip his opponent to his back on Wednesday, Jan. 10 with
Scarborough/Gorham at Deering High School in Portland.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“I thought overall the team wrestled great,” said Wolfpack coach John Nicholas. “Everyone seemed to come together today and wrestled hard; they were really cheering each other on. They really pulled together and looked tough ... we’ll use this as a springboard headed into the playoffs. I thought a lot of the pinning combinations they’ve been working on in practice they put to work. We got a lot of pins, we scored a lot of team points with those, so it was good to see what we’ve been working on in practice they’re using out there on the mat. We really got to ramp up the conditioning in practice and I think if they do that with the technique they’ve been using, we’ll be pretty strong come regionals.”

Deering

In the 157-weight class, Westbrook senior Tyler Worcester won and Windham junior CK Kennedy won his match when he pinned his opponent in the first round.

Westbrook senior Gavin Tanner kept his opponent held to the mat in the 175-weight class and worked to flip him to his back. Tanner did not give up and won his match 12-0.

“We’ve wrestled Deering before, and we’ve beat them before, so I’d say we were expecting to win for sure,” said Tanner. “We hadn’t faced Scarborough/Gorham yet, but we were expecting to do the same thing, just come in and wrestle how we wrestle. I wrestled good on top, kept them down pretty good, got them to move back a couple times so that went well for me. [As a team,] we were all cheering each other on really well, fighting off our backs and working really hard to win every single match. We have a lot of young people on the team, and I think we have a lot of maturing to do and I think we ... can all get better. Today went really well, we were wrestling some teams that weren’t as good as us, it shows us where we can improve and [what] we can work on.”

Senior and Windham wrestler Griffin Moreau worked to flip his opponent in the 285-weight class and pinned him in two rounds.

In the 123-weight class Westbrook sophomore Ben Corriveau kept his opponent to the mat and pinned him.

Coach Nicholas said Corriveau’s wrestling looked good.

Windham junior Ayden Cofone quickly drove his opponent to the mat and got the pin in the 126-weight class.

In the 132-weight class, Westbrook senior Owen Pilsbury stayed with his opponent, held them to the mat and won his match.

Scarborough/Gorham

Worcester won in the 157-weight class against Scarborough/Gorham, as did Kennedy in the 165-weight class and Tanner in the 170- weight class.

Moreau pressured his opponent, held him to the mat and pinned him for the win in the 285-weight class. According to Coach Nicholas, Moreau has been looking strong all season.

In the 113-weight class, Windham junior Addison Leger won, and Windham freshman Amelia Brickel won in the 120-weight class.

Corriveau worked to flip his opponent. His opponent stood up but was taken right back to the mat. Corriveau pulled his opponent’s arms from the mat and pinned him.

“I’ve been not feeling so good with my elbow,” said Corriveau. “I was looking to keep it chill, and not overdo myself. I got two pins and two more wins to go toward my 100 wins. I got two good cradles in on my opponents. [opponents put leg up and able to wrap my arms around their leg and their head and tip them onto their back]. The team is good at rooting each other on and keeping each other positive. We’re a really strong team and family. We need to work as a whole team instead of ... individually.”

Pilsbury pinned his opponent.

In the 144-weight class, Windham senior Christian Harvey has been looking solid all season. He brought his opponent to the mat, held him there; he made it very hard for him to get up. Harvey got the win. <