Skowhegan wrestlers saved their best performances for the Class A state championship meet this season. Six Skowhegan wrestlers placed in the top four in their weight classes, including four finalists.

John Swett (113 pounds), Kaleb Brown (138), Carter Stevens (145) and Christian Jackson (160) each placed second and helped the Indians earn a tie for third place. Levi Hayden (171) and Zach Witham (220) also earned medals.

For leading their team to an outstanding end-of-season performance, Skowhegan co-coaches Tenney Noyes and Brooks Thompson have been named the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel Wrestling Coaches of the Year. Mt Blue High School’s Bob O’Connor and Cony High School’s Shawn Totman were also considered.

“A lot of people think that it’s odd that we are co-head coaches, but it works great for us,” Noyes said. “There are facets of wrestling and coaching which Brooks excels at, there are facets of wrestling and coaching that I excel at, and in some areas we overlap.”

Noyes and Thompson have a long friendship that sprung up in their days wrestling in the Skowhegan program.

“I started helping coach when I was in high school,” Noyes said. “I would go down and help out the middle school, and I got hooked.”

At the time, Thompson was in middle school. Thompson would go on to be a two-time state finalist while in high school and took his turn helping at the younger levels under is father’s encouragement.

“My Dad told me it was time to give back to the (younger) kids,” Thompson said. “I liked it a lot. The idea of teaching someone and watching them get better and better every day is great.”

Thompson and Noyes both work jobs outside of the Skowhegan school system. Thompson works at the Bangor office of Norris Inc., which specializes in fire alarm and security systems.

“They work around my wrestling schedule and without that I wouldn’t be able to coach,” Thompson said.

Noyes works full-time for the Maine Army National Guard.

“I start work at 6 a.m. so that I can get to wrestling practice at a reasonable time,” he said.

Noyes describes the Skowhegan wrestling program as a family and credits others with being instrumental to the success at the varsity level.

“I cannot give enough credit to (assistant coaches) Dave Bell and Devin Provencal for all of their help throughout the years,” Noyes said. “Skowhegan has an outstanding feeder program that helps Brooks and I look good.”

Along with his duties as a varsity assistant, Bell also coaches the pee wee and middle school programs. Dale Thompson, a former Skowhegan state champion, also coached the middle school program for many years until Bell took over.