Friday, March 29, 2024

Strong postseason results motivate Wolfpack varsity wrestlers

By Matt Pascarella

The Windham/Westbrook/Gray-New Gloucester Wolfpack wrestling team finished its season with a 22-7 dual record. Wolfpack wrestlers finished second at regionals at Oxford Hills on Saturday Feb. 10; were fourth at the Class A state competition on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Cony in Augusta; and placed first at the All-State competition at Belfast High School on Friday, Feb. 23.

Windham senior Wolfpack wrestler Griffin Moreau placed
fourth in the New England competition in Providence, Rhode
Island on Friday, March 1 and Saturday, March 2. Wolfpack
head coach John Nicolas, left, joins Moreau, and assistant
coaches Nick Buckley and Nick Vogel.
PHOTO BY STEVE MOREAU    
Westbrook senior Gavin Tanner won the state and all state competitions. Windham junior Ayden Cofone won all state and was second at the state competition; Windham senior Griffin Moreau came in second in both meets. Tanner was First Team Southern Maine Activities Association (SMAA).

“It meant everything to me,” said Tanner. “I’ve put in so much work and so have my coaches and my family in helping get to where I am and accomplish all my goals, I’m so grateful for them. This All-State tourney was very significant as many wrestlers begin to fade and lose their motivation as the season is almost over. This tournament showed us how bad we wanted it and how tough of a team we are.”

Moreau placed fourth in the New England meet held in Rhode Island on Friday and Saturday March 1 and 2. The Wolfpack had three state tournament finalists and three all All-State finalists. Moreau was All State and First Team SMAA.

At the girls’ state meet held at Winslow High School on Tuesday, Feb. 20, three Wolfpack female wrestlers including Windham junior Addison Leger came in fourth, while Windham freshman Amelia Brickel came in third and Westbrook sophomore Jasmine Sinclair finished second.

In the first year the SMAA provided team recognition for female wrestlers, Leger, Brickel and Sinclair all received First Team SMAA honors.

“I started the season by getting injured, and unfortunately, I was out most of the season,” said Sinclair. “I got cleared to go back to wrestling three weeks before girls' states, and I was nervous to go into a big tournament starting on a fresh slate. I ... didn't know if I wanted to go, but when it came to it, I felt like not only me but also the other girls on the team wrestled well. Throughout the season going to the tournaments, and watching my teammates wrestle I've seen so much more improvement. We had a couple of people on our team who just started this year and ended up being pretty successful, some even earning their [varsity] letter. Although I didn't participate in a majority of the meets and tournaments this year, I still feel happy about the fact that we won four different big tournaments this year in first place. I'm hoping to have an even better season next year, and I hope we just keep improving.”

The All-State tournament featured the best wrestlers from all over the state of Maine.

“The season was a culmination of kids buying into our system and coming up through youth wrestling and sticking with it,” said Wolfpack head coach John Nicholas. “Many of the kids put in a lot of time on the mats over the years and it was great to see them reach their potential. All the hard work our wrestlers and coaches have put in over the last four years. To beat all the top teams in the state and put three kids in the finals was a huge achievement for our program. It shows that everything we did and talked about could be attainable with commitment and dedication.” <

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