By Bob McPhee,Staff Writer

RUMFORD – The Lisbon wrestling team didn’t panic and remained in control to win the Class C Western regional championship with 230.5 points.

The Greyhounds collected their fifth-straight regional crown thanks to eight individual champions. Dirigo received big wins by Derek Daley (103) and Josh Ronan 119 to finish second with 132 points over Traip’s 126.

Lisbon (13 qualified) enjoyed a perfect finals do to shining performances by Justin Cornell (112), Charlie Stambach (125), Dan Cornell (130), Josh Dubois (140), Nic Adams (152), Mark Stambach (189), Jake Sprinkle (215) and Elijah Trefts at 275.

The finals started with a bang as Daley fell behind 5-0 to Kristi Pearse of Wiscasset. The Cougar freshman, with a school-record 30 wins, regrouped and stuck his opponent in the second period.

“I was nervous,” Daley said. “But my coaches told me to remain calm and keep my eyes open. I got aggressive and she didn’t (react) to well to it because she walked in to a throw.”

Pearse walked in to a throw just inside the out-of-bounds line.

Cornell stuck Jeff Stevens of Traip and then Ronan followed by trailing 6-2. The Cougar wrestler remained composed and pinned Shawn Mcguire of Wiscasset.

Lisbon flexed its muscles as Charlie Stambach stuck Jon Smith. The Greyhound state champion beat Smith of Dirigo in overtime last week. Dan Cornell capped off a big day by winning a 12-2 major decision against CJ Maguire of Wiscasset. Cornell was behind 10-1 in the semifinals, but rallied for a 16-11 win over Mike Jonaitis of Dirigo.

“The kids believe in themselves,” Lisbon coach Mark Stevens said. “We’ve been in a lot of big tournaments and they all know that any thing can happen. The incident with Tyler (Clark) was unfortunate, but it surely wasn’t his fault.”

Clark, state finalist in 2004, was half a pound over weight. He was under weight at his school.

Sprinkle stuck Pat O’Leary of Dirigo. Dubois, Adams and Trefts also won by pins. The Greyhounds’ Jeff Cossar (103), Ryan Guisto (135) and Rob Tietjen (171) each finished third.

Dennis Trask (145) of Monmouth won a crown and teammates Paul Kinsey (112) Mike Danforth 125, Zac Sager 160 and Joel Emery 189 each placed third.

The Cougars Devin Brann (160) and Randy Hall (171) were finalists. Jonaitis and Adam Getchell (140) wrestled back for thirds.

“I’m pleased with the efforts,” Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. “O’Leary got us going with a big win and Troy Houghton, who has wrestled half the season, is going to the state meet.”