TOPSHAM — It’s louder, more intimate, more urgent.

That’s what happens when two quality wrestling teams meet in a dual-meet format, and that was definitely the case Saturday at the Maine Principals’ Association’s State Duals Championship at Mt. Ararat High in Topsham when Class A foes Noble and Sanford squared off in the championship round.

Starting at the 215-pound weight class, Sanford got the jump with a quick first-period pin from Canton Hill, one of its top wrestlers. But the Spartans’ momentum was first thwarted and then flipped by two Noble sophomores who represent how wrestlers big and small can make their mark on the mat.

Shawn Leach in the 285-pound weight class – the heaviest in high school wrestling – rallied from an early deficit to record a pin and tie the team match. The next match was at the lightest division, 106 pounds, where Noble’s Hannah Perro, one of the top female wrestlers in the state, got another pin. The Noble coaches and wrestlers were bouncing up and down like House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” was blasting on a basement stereo.

“I realized I had to set the tone and pin this kid,” Leach said. “Then Hannah definitely put it into drive.”

Noble rolled to a 58-17 win for its second Class A title in the four-season history of the MPA Duals, having won the inaugural event in 2020.

On the adjoining mat, Wells again showed it is the dominant team in Class B with a 60-23 victory against Oceanside. It was the Warriors’ second-straight dual meet championship, and third overall.

“I just like dual matches better than tournaments,” said Wells Coach Scott Lewia. “It’s more exciting. I mean, listen to it. It’s one right after another from your team, and I think the crowd gets into it a little more.”

Wells has had to adjust its lineup throughout the season. Senior Calvin Chase missed the first half of the year recovering from a ruptured spleen. Eli Potter, a 2023 state champion who would be wrestling at 190 pounds, is out for the season because of a shoulder injury. Another wrestler was at a family wedding on Saturday.

“We’ve never had our full healthy lineup this year,” Chase said. “But it’s all of us adapting, really. It’s next man up mentality, really.”

Wells’ 215-pounder, Jonathan Martinez, his brother, William Martinez at 190, and freshman Brady Godin at 175 were key examples of the Warriors’ ability to adapt and thrive. Godin had two pins. William Martinez has taken the slot that belonged to Potter and had two decisive pins Saturday. His shift down from 215 meant it was up to Jonathan Martinez to lose a significant amount of weight so he could slot into the 215-pound class.

Wells, like Noble in Class A, is also the defending champion in the traditional tournament format where wrestlers compete individually in a seeded bracket, accumulating team points as they progress.

“I think we really wanted to come here and get this one and then go and kick butt next week, too,” said Wells 132-pounder Dyllan Davis.

The dual-meet format starts with the top four teams from both the North and the South in Classes A and B, as selected by the MPA Wrestling Committee.

Saturday’s event was altered significantly when Massabesic, the top seed from Class A South and the defending Dual Meet champion, determined it could not attend because of numerous wrestlers being ill.

The other three Class A South teams moved up a spot in the seeding and host Mt. Ararat/Brunswick filled in as the South No. 4.

Class B North No. 4 Mattanawcook Academy also did not attend because of health issues. With no replacement team, Wells received a quarterfinal bye.

Class A quarterfinal results were: South No. 1 Noble over North No. 2 Mt. Blue, 40-32; North No. 1 Camden Hills over Mt. Ararat, 51-30; South No. 2 Sanford over North No. 3 Windham/Gray-New Gloucester, 60-18; and South No. 3 Marshwood/Traip over Oxford Hills, 60-18.

Noble, which used several junior varsity wrestlers in the quarterfinals after clinching the team win, advanced to the final with a 51-15 semifinal victory against Marshwood.

Sanford similarly took it to Camden Hills, 60-22.

South teams swept the Class B quarterfinals. No. 4 Mountain Valley beat North No. 1 Mt. View, 55-24; No. 2 Oceanside defeated North No. 3 Dexter, 37-36; and No. 3 Dirigo beat North No. 2 Piscataquis, 56-24. In the semifinals, Wells defeated Dirigo, 58-23, and Oceanside knocked off Mountain Valley, 39-34.

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