Mountain Valley faced one of its prime Class B challengers Saturday and stepped up to the task.

The Falcons topped Camden Hills, 42-27, thanks to clutch performances by their upper weights.  Matt Duka (160), Taylor Carey (171), Christian Durland (189), Josh Allen (215) and Ryan Glover (285) all recorded pins to rally the Falcons.

“They’re going to be our main rival in the state, so it was a good showing for us,” Falcons coach Gary Dolloff said. 

Ryan Burgess (103) and Tim Ross (130) also picked up big wins for Mountain Valley. Ross blanked Thomas Cassidy, 2-0, while Burgess edged Coleman Powers, 3-2.

“Burgess had been at 112 and dropped down to 103, where he was a state champ,” Dolloff said. “He did well, but 112 was a tough weight class. We went to one tournament and there were six state champs in that class.”   

The development of junior Christian Durland continues to impress Dolloff. Just one year into the sport, Durland has become a major point producer for the Falcons at 189 and 215.

“You can see almost every day on the mat he’s getting more confident and his technique is getting better,” Dolloff said.

Juniors Cody Magoon (125), Josh Thornton (140) and Josh Allen (215) and sophomores Taylor Carey (171) and Ryan Glover (285) all have state aspirations. Glover has held his own with wrestlers who have outweighed him by 60 pounds. In a possible preview of the state title match, Thornton edged Camden’s Brandon Rich for the Redskin Invitational championship on Jan. 9, then dropped a 2-1 decision in last Saturday’s meet.

The Mid-State League championships kick off the post-season Saturday in Wells and the Falcons are hoping the leadership of Burgess, Duka, Ross and Thornton will help them reach their peak.

“This is a really good team to coach,” Dolloff said. “They’re really coachable. They like each other. They like being around each other. There’s good leadership.”

Raiders of the lost meet

Mountain Valley was scheduled to face more tough Class B competition Monday in Oak Hill, but the meet was postponed due to icy road conditions. Fortunately for the Raiders, the meet could be rescheduled to Tuesday so they could avoid yet another lost opportunity. 

Oak Hill coach Shane Bouchard thought he had a packed schedule before the season began, with over 50 matches on the slate. But storm cancellations have wreaked havoc with the Raiders’ mat time.

“If you got by actual meet numbers, I think the number is 13 or 14 total lost,” he said. “It’s kind of been the story of our season.”

Bouchard said that number doesn’t include the open dates the Raiders couldn’t fill due to conflicts or other logistical problems or the matches wrestlers have lost against independents. Few of the meets have been rescheduled, and even some of the ones that were, such as a home meet against Madison, Monmouth Wells and Winslow scheduled for Martin Luther King Day, ended up being canceled on the make-up date because school was canceled.

“Wrestling is just really hard to reschedule because all of our Saturdays are already booked. With two days for basketball in the gym, that leaves you three weekdays, and it’s tough to get a Wells to come up in the middle of the week,” Bouchard said. “It’s a scheduling nightmare to reschedule wrestling.”

Bouchard isn’t complaining, though. Dealing with the weather is part of wrestling in Maine.

“The big harm is you get a little rusty. We wrestled Saturday (in wins against Skowhegan and MCI) and looked a little rusty which, hey, it happens. It’ something we can’t control,” he said. “I do feel bad for a couple of kids because it probably cost them a shot at 100 wins.”

Senior Dillon Tibbetts (171) had an outside shot at the milestone when the season began but is now at 78 wins. Junior Craig Morrill (130) is 16 wins shy of 100 and would likely have reached that mark this season and gained more ground on the school record of 112 victories shared by James Borkowski and Dillon’s brother, Clyde Tibbetts.

Cornell owns Essex

Lisbon junior Forrest Cornell won his second straight title at the Michael J. Baker Classic in Essex Junction, Vt. over the weekend. Cornell, a two-time state champ, upset three-time Essex and Maine Class A champion Gage DeRosier of Massabesic for the 112 title. Art Stambach (189) became the third member of his family to win an Essex title, following older brothers Charlie and Mark, a two-time champion. Cornell and Stambach led Lisbon to a fourth-place finish (161.5). The Maine contingent had a strong showing in the Green Mountain State, with Massabesic winning the team title, Noble placing third and Mt. Ararat sixth.