Dual meets don’t necessarily tell the whole story about who should be favored at the wrestling state championships next month, but Mountain Valley received temporary bragging rights and a wealth of confidence from Saturday’s 40-31 road win at Camden Hills.

Ryan Burgess, Derek Sicotte, Matt Duka, Eddie Estes, Brian Cogley and Steve Jeselskis each won a head-to-head match for the Falcons, who also beat Class C power Dexter and Medomak Valley in the quadrangular meet.

If it sounds presumptuous to call the weekend showdown a Class B championship preview, consider this: No current Class B school other than Camden or MV has won a state title since 1996. After sharing the state championship with the Windjammers in 2005, the Falcons ended their coastal rival’s streak of five consecutive crowns with a stand-alone title in ’06.

Camden Hills regained the championship outright last winter. When Mountain Valley dropped to third in the standings, it marked only the second time this decade that the ‘Jammers and Falcons didn’t wind up one-two.

There’s extra reason for optimism if you’re a fan of the Falcons. This year’s Class B championship meet is scheduled for Puiia Gymnasium in Rumford on Saturday, Feb. 16.

It’s a stretch

As Lewiston indoor track and field coach Ray Putnam watched his team gather in a circle, jump in place and let out a group yell across the field house at Bowdoin College, he couldn’t help but wonder about the wisdom of the team-building exercise.

“I hope that’s not their idea of stretching,” Putnam said.

If your aching muscles and creaking joints aren’t responding well to the extremes in temperature this winter, don’t assume that it’s a sign of advancing age. The Blue Devils are as young, aggressive and athletic a group as you’ll ever find, but Putnam has seen as many of them sitting on a training table as crouched in front of starting blocks lately.

Lewiston won the boys’ meet by a narrow margin with Hossain Naji and Jeff Lucier still hampered by injuries. On the girls’ side, Lea Morin joined the list of walking wounded and went home early after an impressive victory in the 55-meter sprint.

“She was a little sore. Not hurt, but we didn’t want to push it,” Putnam said. “If we ever get healthy, we could be dangerous.”

Wave goodbye

After nipping at the heels of Leavitt’s Justin Fereshetian and Mt. Blue’s Nordic tandem of Welly Ramsey and Derek Rowe, Spencer Eusden of Oxford Hills stole the spotlight Saturday at the Maranacook Wave Race.

Eusden’s time of 12:05 topped Fereshetian by one second to win the individual portion of the boys’ event. Lauren Turner put two Leavitt skiers in the top five by finishing fifth, with Rowe sixth and Ramsey 11th.

Class B Yarmouth pulled off a narrow win in the boys’ division, with Leavitt second and Mt. Blue third.

Cape Elizabeth, Waynflete and Greely took the team hardware south with a 1-2-3 finish in the girls’ competition. Leavitt edged Mt. Blue for fourth. Adele Espy of Waynflete clocked the top solo time. Shelby Aseltine bolstered her strong freshman resume for Mt. Blue with a fourth-place finish, just ahead of Maranacook’s Emily Harriman.

Mat musings

Forrest Cornell of Lisbon (96 pounds) was one of 10 Mainers to win an individual title in the 15 weight classes at the Essex (Vt.) Invitational. The Greyhounds were the top local team among five Maine schools in the top seven. Massabesic and Noble wound up one-two in the competition, with Deering and Mt. Ararat also earning high marks.

Oak Hill set a school record Saturday with its 14th dual meet win of the season, 51-27 over Mt. Blue.

Space for rent

Schools with plenty of prospective athletes continue to have trouble filling the 14 weight classes at dual wrestling meets.

In Cony’s victory over Mt. Blue on Saturday, eight would-be matches ended as forfeits or double forfeits, including every division above 152 pounds.

Dirigo breezed even more quickly through Lake Region when the Lakers couldn’t produce a competitor in nine different bouts, with not a single available wrestler beneath the 145-pound class. Of the five matches that made it to the mat, each ended by a Cougars pin no later than the second period.