The Falcons overpower the Cougars in a wrestling match.
By Bob McPhee
Staff Writer

RUMFORD – Chris Brennick knew it was time to take the offensive. The Mountain Valley sophomore mapped out a strategy and decided to stick to it.

The Falcons executed several pins to build up an insurmountable lead en route to a 65-12 win against undermanned Dirigo Wednesday night in Mid-State League wrestling action. Class B Mountain Valley (6-1) wasn’t taking anything for granted and proceeded to win nine of the 10 actual matches. Class C Dirigo (8-3) knew it had a chore because Mountain Valley beat the Cougars 49-15 last month.

The 160-pound match certainly proved to be extremely competitive as Brennick was forced to rally in the third period against the Cougars’ Randy Hall. An escape and an aggressive takedown put Brennick ahead 13-12 with 23 seconds left in regulation But he tried to ride Hall out and was dinged one point for stalling at the buzzer.

“I knew that I needed to get going in the third period,” Brennick said. “(Hall) was leading by three points, so I couldn’t stop. In overtime, I shot in for a double leg and just knew that I needed to hold on.”

In the extra session, Brennick shot in to score a takedown in 23 seconds.

Mountain Valley moved ahead with three pins, beginning with Devon Roberts who secured a flash on Matt Smith at 125. Chris Cayer used an arm bar to turn Nate Carrier at 135.

The Cougars Jamie Bedard (140) fell behind on some quick moves by Aaron Arsenault. The Falcon wrestler had a double-leg body ride in and tweaked Bedard’s head.

“I really felt better using the legs more,” Arsenault said. “I’ve been trying to use them more and I find that I have more energy later in the match. Coach (Gary) Dolloff is also working us harder.”

Dirigo got on the scoreboard when freshman Kyle Meile stuck Cody Grassruk at 145. The Cougar wrestler countered a move and ran with it. The Cougars were hurt by three forfeits.

“Actually, this meet was better than the last one,” Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. “The kids fought till later in the match. The boys are coming along and I think the rivalry will be more heated next year.”

Ben Madigan (152) used two takedowns and a head and arm to gain a 9-1 major decision against Devin Brann. The Falcons Chris Smith (171), Travis Dragoon (189) and Mike Hanson pinned opponents. Hansen slipped in a half nelson on Nate Conley. In the final match, Falcon freshman Zach Bradley used a series of pinning combinations in a 19-4 technical fall against Aaron Patenaude (119).

“In (hindsight) we had some good performances last weekend at the Redskin,” Dolloff said. “There was 25 teams competing and it was the toughest field that I’ve seen there. We’ll see how the team does from now until the end of the season.”