Skowhegan will pursue a team title while many area wrestlers go after individual titles at the state championships Saturday.

The Indians may have the horsepower to become the first team north of Portland to win the Class A title in over 20 years. Skowhegan will be led by defending state champion Cody Craig (106). Seven of Craig’s teammates — Ricky Oberg (120), Samson Sirois (126), Cooper Holland (132), Luke Bolster (138), Julian Sirois (152), Kameron Doucette (160) and Logan Stevens (182) — claimed Northern regional titles and are in excellent position to score big points for the Indians.

Skowhegan Area High School’s Kameron Sirois, left, receives two points against Camden Hills High School’s Eli Smith, right, in the 160-pound class in the regional finals Saturday in Skowhegan. Staff photo by Michael G. Seamans

The Class A state meet will be held at Noble High School in North Berwick. The Knights — along with Marshwood — are the chief obstacles to Skowhegan’s quest.

“Skowhegan will need everyone to wrestle their best matches of the season this Saturday,” said Indians coach Tenney Noyes.

Cony’s Max Storey (220), along with Nokomis’ Christopher Wilson (195) and Hunter Glidden (285), also won Northern A individual titles. Gardiner’s Peter Del Gallo (120) goes after his fourth straight state championship.

The Class B championships will be held at Oceanside High School in Rockland. Oak Hill junior Danny Buteau (120) will compete for his third consecutive state title. Winslow’s Ryan Fredette (170) and Devon Vigue (113) are also returning state champions.

Wrestling action at both sites is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.

• • •

Maine Central Institute’s Zyanthony Moss is young but rapidly improving according to Huskies coach Mike Libby.

Moss, a sophomore in just his third season of wrestling, won the 120 pound class at the Northern B regional tournament.

“Zy has used his athleticism and hard work to make himself into a solid young wrestler,” said Libby. “Sometimes he is unorthodox, due to the fact that he is so inexperienced. But his knowledge base is growing with every tournament, every match and every practice.”

Moss entered the regional tournament as the No. 2 seed and beat seventh-seed Cameron Cookson of Foxcroft Academy and third-seed Degan Eastman of Mattanawcook before knocking off top-seeded Austin Merando of Belfast by a 7-4 decision in the championship finals.

Moss also serves as team captain of the Huskies squad.

“With such a young team he was a clear choice for captain, which is a tough task for a sophomore,” said Libby. “I think he has learned to be a leader that his teammates respect even through his learning process.”

Moss raised his career record to 29-11 with the wins at regionals and will compete for state honors at the Class B state tournament at Oceanside on Saturday.

“He is just a good kid who makes you smile and it’s always rewarding as a coach when you have a kid like that find success,” said Libby.

• • •

Wrestling at home was good for Winslow High School.

The Black Raiders hosted the Northern B regional and finished fourth in the 15-team field. Four Winslow grapplers advanced to the championship finals and three earned gold medals.

Top-seeds Devon Vigue (113) and Ryan Fredette (170) had little trouble winning their weight classes. Vigue pinned Bucksport’s Foster Ashmore in the first period to claim his title while Fredette scored a 12-0 major decision against Oceanside’s Dallas Ball.

Patrick Hopkins, on the other hand, was a surprise winner at 182 pounds. Hopkins entered the day as the No. 4 seed and knocked off the No. 1 and 2 seeds to win the weight.

Hopkins trailed top-seeded Jacob Waterman of Belfast 6-2 in the third period before pulling off a reversal and then a pin to advance to the finals. It was a similar scenario in the championship match against Foxcroft Academy’s Billy Brock.

Hopkins was down 7-4 in the third period before catching Brock in a head and arm throw, which took the Foxcroft grappler directly to his back. Hopkins secured the pin with just 17 seconds left in the match.

“Both pins came from scramble situations,” said Winslow coach Kris Segars. “Patrick caught them out of position and took advantage of it.”

Hopkins usually weighs about 10 pounds lighter than his weight class limit and is well aware of the size differential between himself and his opponents.

“I had to keep in mind that they were both probably stronger than me, so I couldn’t overpower them,” Hopkins said. “I just tried to keep the pace up and kept working.”

Hopkins’ season record stands at 39-9 with the wins.

Teammate Ben Abbott placed second at 160 pounds.

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