LINCOLN — Prior to Saturday, a girl had never won an individual wrestling title in Maine’s open tournament.

It took Oceanside High junior Maddie Ripley just 1 minute and 44 seconds to make history on Saturday afternoon.

Ripley pinned Nick Allen of Wells in the first period of the 106-pound finals at the Class B championships at Mattanawcook Academy to become the first girl in Maine to win a state title while wrestling against boys.

“It’s crazy,” Ripley said. “I was not expecting the match to go that way.”

Led by six individual champs, Wells cruised to the Class B team title with 181 points. It’s the first state title for Wells since 2019. The Warriors finished runner-up last season.

Belfast (63.5 points) finished second and defending Class B champion Mattanawcook Academy (62) was third.

The closest a girl had come to winning a state title was in 2005, when Marshwood’s Deanna Rix lost 2-1 in overtime to Sanford’s Shane Leadbetter in the Class A 130-pound class. At the time, Rix was trying to become the first girl in the country to win an individual state championship. The following year, Alaska’s Michaela Hutchison accomplished that feat.

Ripley said she felt confident entering the match, having beaten Allen 4-1 in the regional final the week before. Ripley started the match quickly, getting the first takedown on Allen. She then went up 7-1 before using a double-arm maneuver to pin Allen with 16 seconds remaining.

“I knew I could beat him on neutral (positioning),” Ripley said. “I knew I couldn’t let him on top, and I knew I had to get the first takedown.”

After the pin, Ripley ran and jumped into the arms of Oceanside head coach Jason Yates, who is also her stepfather.

“She really worked hard, it didn’t just happen,” Yates said. “It was lifting (weights) after practice, putting the work in, diet. It’s not like she goes out and parties with her friends. She’s at home, eating right, doing the right things. From the beginning of the year, she wanted it.”

Ripley nearly achieved the mark at the Class B tournament a year ago, but fell to Erskine Academy’s Wynn Pooler in the 113-pound final.

“It’s crazy,” Ripley said. “Last year, I won (a Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference). That motivated me so much. This year, I placed second (at KVACs) and that motivated me to this. Hopefully next year, I’ll win both of them (in the same year).”

“She hates losing, first of all,” Yates added. “We never trained her to be a good girl wrestler. We trained her to be a good wrestler. She doesn’t distinguish herself between the two. She expects herself to be as good as everybody else.

“Hopefully, it motivates some other girls to come out (and wrestle), and they can (win titles). I’m just super proud of her.”

Ripley’s brother, Gavin Ripley, also won on Saturday, beating Dyllan Davis of Wells for the 132-pound title.

Wells cleaned up in the championship round, with Calvin Chase (120 pounds), Karter Crosby (126), Griffin Brickett (138), Brody Maxon (145), Eli Potter (170) and Nathan Malloy (285) all winning individual crowns.

“We worked hard, we’re undefeated,” Wells coach Scott Lewia said. “We just had some things to clean up (before the meet). We had a lot of injuries last year when we came in second. Three of the kids who won states today didn’t wrestle last year because they were hurt… I wanted (this title) for them.”

Malloy – a sophomore who was knocked out of competition last year due to a shoulder injury – had one of the more entertaining matches of the night, beating Erskine Academy’s Tyreke Burke 12-10 in overtime.

“It feels amazing, I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was a little kid,” said Malloy on capturing his first state title. “I had surgery last year, got back at it. I didn’t think I’d honestly get this far, but with hard work and my team pushing me, I put it away.”

Tied 10-10 after three periods, Burke tried to put Malloy in a head-and-arm, but Malloy escaped for the victory.

“I knew that head-and-arm was coming,” Malloy said. “I peaked out, I got it, I’ve been working on it all year. Not many people can get that move on me.”

James Dube of Mattanawcook went four overtimes with Ben Ronca of York, managing a reversal to pull off a 4-2 win for the 195-pound title. Ronca promptly congratulated Dube after the match, thanking him for giving “the match of my life.”

“It feels awesome,” Dube said. “I worked my (tail) off for this spot, and I think I deserve to be on top.”

Other champions included Wynn Pooler of Erskine (113 pounds), Lucas Libby of Mountain Valley (152), Isaac Keresy of Maine Central Institute (160), Isaac Hanier of Mattanawcook (182) and Marshall Addy of Medomak Valley (220). Libby was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler.

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