RUMFORD — Maddie Ripley made history last winter by becoming the first girl in Maine to win an individual state championship while wrestling against boys. On Saturday night, the Oceanside High senior added another chapter to the record books.
Ripley beat Noah Parenteau of Belfast 6-3 to win the 113-pound title at the Class B championships at Mountain Valley High.
“(It feels) pretty good,” Ripley said. “My goal coming into this was, I didn’t want to undersell (any opponent). I wanted to work on each match at a time. I was really looking forward to that finals match, because I wrestled him at the end of the year, and now I can say (I’m a champion) at 106 and 113, which is pretty awesome.”
As a team, Oceanside finished fourth with 71 points. Wells (97 points) won its second consecutive Class B title, and sixth out of the last seven possible years (there was no 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic). Mattanawcook Academy (86) was the runner-up, and Lincoln Academy (74) was third.
Ripley held a 2-0 lead through the first two periods. In an effort to get points for a takedown, Parenteau let Ripley escape not once, but twice. Though Parenteau did get a takedown in the third period, the two allowed points ultimately helped give Ripley the victory.
“I knew that he was a top rider, and I was surprised that he let me up, because my strong (position) is neutral,” Ripley said. “I seem to catch people a lot, and when he let me up, I thought, ‘I guess it’s my time to shoot.’”
“I felt pretty confident and she felt pretty confident,” said Oceanside Coach Jason Yates. “We knew it’d be close, but (the advice) was stay in good position, take good shots, get the takedown, and the rest would be easy.”
Ripley went to work early Saturday, pinning Asher Bishop of Woodland in the quarterfinals. She then beat Bucksport’s Bo Provencher by a 12-5 decision in the semifinals. Parenteau, the Class B North champion, beat Nick Allen of Wells by pinfall in the quarterfinals before defeating Keygan Boucher of Mountain Valley by an 8-5 decision in the semifinals.
Ripley, who beat Boucher 1-0 for the Class B South title at 113 last week, made history last year when she pinned Allen in the final of the 106-pound class.
“(Winning another title) means a lot, because I know winning may mean other females coming into the sport with women’s wrestling, and I’m just super excited about that.”
“I think the biggest thing (the state title wins) did was take the pressure away,” added Yates, who is also Ripley’s stepfather. “There was so much talk her sophomore year, ‘Are you going to be the first one?’ That’s gone. With the amount of girls we have wrestling in the state, there’s going to be more to come, and fast.”
It was a big night for the Ripley family as a whole, as twin brother Gavin beat Dyllan Davis of Wells for the 132-pound championship. It’s his third consecutive Class B title.
Gavin Ripley was quick to credit Davis after his victory.
“(Davis) is an incredible opponent, I wish he was my practice partner,” he said. “We definitely push each other, and we’d honestly be New England champs if we were on the same team. It’s not friendly, by any means, but we just push each other, and he’s incredible.”
Ripley was also excited for his sister’s victory.
“I was more pumped up for that than me being a three-time (champ),” he said. “Maddie deserves to be state champion every year, and each of the last two years, she’s gone out and done it. She’s incredible, and I’m so pumped for her.”
Wells had one individual state champion in senior Calvin Chase, who topped Sean Bonzagni of Morse by a 10-8 decision.
The Warriors had two runner-ups in Davis and William Martinez (190), along with a third-place finisher in Dominic Buxton (165),
“It feels great (to be champs), especially senior year, to go out with a big win,” Chase said.
“This was probably the hardest (state title) out of all of them,” Wells Coach Scott Lewia said. “There’s a lot of things that didn’t go our way. But the kids battled, and we’re happy to bring it home. But it was easily the toughest one (to win).”
Individual champions included Adam St. Cyr (138), Jayden Lafrenye (165) and Jakobi Hagar (175) of Lincoln Academy; Dominic Simpson (106) and Ryker Evans (144) of Belfast; Caiden Skidgell (120) and Hudson Lufkin (157) of Dirigo; Lucas Libby (150) of Mountain Valley; Ben Ronca (190) of York; James Dube (215) of Mattanawcook Academy and Wyatt Weaver (285) of Bucksport.
Lafrenye was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Wrestler. Oceanside (B South) and Caribou (B North) won the sportsmanship awards.
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