Wolfpack wrestling earns double victory in tri-meet

By Matt Pascarella

As prep wrestling enters the halfway point for the season, the Windham/Gray New-Gloucester/Westbrook Wolfpack wrestling team took on Wells and Deering at Deering in Portland on Tuesday, Jan. 6. Wolfpack knew their competition and planned accordingly with every wrestler ready to leave it all on the mat. The Wolfpack beat Wells, 42-34, and knocked down Deering, 42-32.

Windham senior Josh Hamby stays with his opponent during
a prep wrestling match against Deering at Deering High
School in Portland on Tuesday, Jan. 6.
PHOTO BY MATT PASCARELLA

“I got to win twice, 2-0, got a pinfall, got a lot of points for my team,” said Westbrook freshman Khriz Alvarez. “Overall, the team cooperated very well, put a lot of effort in and we ended up winning both our matches. Wells had a forfeit which stunk, because I really wanted to wrestle. Deering brought the fight – (The Wolfpack) brought the fight back to Deering.”

WELLS

The 126-pound weight class had Westbrook senior Ben Corriveau who quickly pinned his opponent.

In the 132-pound weight class, Gray New-Gloucester freshman Lee Thompson brought his rival to the mat and had control of the match for a majority of it. He soon flipped the Wells wrestler to his back and got the pin.

Westbrook senior Ali fought back hard in the 144-pound weight class and avoided an early pinning possibility. While he gave it his all, he got pinned.

Windham senior Josh Hamby took the mat for the 150-pound weight class. He got the takedown, flipped his competition and got the pin.

Freshman Nate Somma of Windham would not be held down in the 215-pound weight class. He fought hard and pushed the match to a third period. He avoided being pinned and won the match by decision.

DEERING

Thompson held on until the third period and would not be pinned. While he did not get a pin, he did win by decision.

Hamby also pushed the match to the third period. He fought hard, stayed in it the entire time and won by decision.

“I think it was pretty nice; we won both of them which was pretty good,” said Hamby. “A lot of good wrestling out there from my teammates. I feel like Deering stuck with us throughout the meet more than Wells did. Overall, we did well communicating with each other, teammates helping other teammates. Being able to finish a move you start on (needs work).”

Alvarez pinned his opponent after an intense match.

“We had seen Wells before in a couple of tournaments, and I knew they were strong,” said Wolfpack coach John Nicholas. “I also knew they were giving up some forfeits so if we came in with a pretty full squad, we had a good chance of beating them. We still needed to be on our ‘A’ game because it was still a close meet. Kids came through and battled hard. We’re starting to slowly get kids back from sickness and injuries, which is going to be huge for our dual season. We knew Deering had a full lineup – I told the kids ahead of time we may have to move you around or bump you up a weight class, so ... be ready. The kids rebounded and were willing to (fluctuate) weight classes and I think that’s what made a difference in the duals. I was pretty happy overall tonight. I think getting the first takedown in the matches was key and getting the pins when we had the chance – we put the kids to their backs and got the pins, that really energized the team, so we’re going to continue to work on that moving forward.” <