Maine wrestlers learned first-hand exactly how competitive the next level is this past weekend at the New England high school wrestling championships in New Haven, Conn.

Four individuals from Maine earned medals in the two-day event at Hilltop High School.

The dozen local wrestlers failed to medal, but the efforts extended in respective performances told a different story.

The wrestling started positive for Ernie Matthews (135 pounds) of Mountain Valley and Lisbon teammates Cam Bubar (171) and Joe Doughty (215), who each recorded huge wins in the second round Friday night. Unfortunately, any momentum was dashed when the trio lost decisions in the quarterfinals. Matthews lost 5-0, Bubar 10-6 and Doughty 14-7.

Then in the consolations, Matthews couldn’t avoid leg-rides and came up short 6-2 to Eric Harrison of Weymouth, Mass.. Doughty was pinned and eliminated, also. Bubar executed a takedown in a 2-1 win against Alex Giampapa.

In the next consolation round, Bubar was stuck by Joel Altavesta of Tewksbury.

“Lisbon won five matches at the New England Tournament this year,” Lisbon coach Mark Stevens said. “The most ever, I believe, and there were a few more close matches that could have gone the other way for us. Wrestling is a sport where peaking in performance at the right time is most important. Even though the All Star tournament helped to bridge the long gap of time between states and new englands, four weeks is obviously too much.”

Lisbon’s seven qualifiers were the most from Maine, including Forrest Cornell (103), Mike McNamara (125), Marcus Bubar (145), Kyle Huston (152) and Dan Skoefield at (285).

In elimination matches, Marcus Bubar lost 8-6 and Craig Morrill 125 of Oak Hill lost a 10-0 major decision.

The format changed to a double-elimination tournament this year, so those who lost early matches had an opportunity to compete in consolations matches.

“Both Mountain Valley kids looked good,” Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. “Ernie was in a good position and Ryan (Burgess) was wrestling on a mat beside Caleb (Hall of Dirigo) and in control. I was surprised they didn’t place.”

Burgess (103) rebounded in winning two of three consolation matches. He posted an 8-4 decision against Mike Trask of Merrimack, N.H., and pinned Dylan Bryant on Danbury, Conn., at 5:03. Burgess who had lost 7-6 in his first match, couldn’t shake Tanner Burke in a 7-4 defeat.

Dirigo teammates Hall (103), Brandon Jonaitis (135) and Josh Palmer (160) were each eliminated Saturday morning.

“Whenever I take kids to New England for the first time, its best not to have high expectations,” Gilbert said. “It’s a different environment, and the wrestling styles need to be (experienced). The kids wrestle and see what they have to come back to work on. Caleb and Brandon both performed, well.”

Hall, a freshman, was pinned and then received a rare bye when Gage DesRosier of Massabesic was disqualified from the event. Hall then dropped a 16-0 technical fall. Jonaitis, a junior, was decisioned 19-4 and was pinned in his final match. Palmer needed to refocus after losing a heart-breaking 1-0 decision (escape in second period) in an opening match. Midway through the third period, Palmer chose neutral on a restart, but could not secure a takedown. The Cougar senior came back to score, but eventually lost 12-7 to Cole Frost of Vermont.

Maine finalists were Joey Eon (145) Massabesic, Ryan Toussaint (125) of Deering; Peter Gilman (140) of Massabesic and Travis Spencer (189) of Belfast. Toussaint and Eon had each won by one-point, respectively, in the semifinals. The other Maine medalist was Steve Martin (171) of Bonny Eagle who placed third.

Kote Aldus of Belfast, the 2007 New England champion, was disqualified, and Nate Lavallee (285) of Cape Elizabeth, a finalist last year, was out with an injury.