RUMFORD – Whenever the Dirigo and Mountain Valley wrestling teams take it to the mat, anything can happen – and it did at Puiia Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

The Cougars received some big wins early, including Chad Oakes at 125 pounds and the clincher by Josh Palmer (160) en route to a 39-25 triumph in a Mid-State League dual meet.

Class C Dirigo (19-3) accomplished a milestone with its first-ever season sweep against Mountain Valley (5-3). Each match provided intense moments. Class C Dirigo beat the Falcons last month and last Saturday in the semifinals at the Kennebunk duals.

“This was definitely an important meet,” Palmer said. “They want to beat us, and we want to beat them. The fact that we had beaten them before gave us a great deal of confidence.”

Dirigo led 27-21 with four matches left and saw Jon Smith decision the Falcons’ Derek Sicotte in a close tumble at 145. Smith, a two-time Class C state champion, broke a scoreless dual by executing an escape and takedown in the second period.

The Falcons responded quickly as Taylor Bradley (152) won a 14-4 major decision over Alex Miele.

“I’m happy with the effort,” Falcon coach Gary Dolloff said. “The coin flip was huge because it limited our options at a couple weights. We got out experienced tonight. Still, we had our moments like with freshmen Robert Sager winning at 135, and Josh Thornton wrestled well.”

The Cougars’ Brett Staples outwrestled Cody Magoon 7-0 at 119, and then Oakes stuck T.J. Burgess with 20 seconds left in the match. The action was tight because Burgess led 7-6 after the second period.

“It felt good to get a win,”Oakes said. “I felt comfortable at 125 and will stay there if I win a wrestle-off.”

The Falcons’ Ryan Burgess (112) and Ernie Matthews recorded pins, and Sayer decisioned Brandon Jonaitis 16-1. Thornton lost 8-4 to Derek Daley, who utilized two takedowns in the third period.

The Cougars started with pins by Adam Gatchell and Kevin O’Leary at 189 and 215, respectively. James Olson won a major decision over Eddie Estes in the final match

Stephen Jelselkis stuck A.J. Carrier at 285.

“The team is wrestling well and now we have options,” Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. “Chad’s win was the turning point. Winning the coin flip allowed us to take odd or even matches, so they had to send out wrestlers first. In some matches that’s a big advantage.”