SOUTH PARIS — Dillon Worster is glad to get his match out of the way first so he can relax and watch his older brother, Jeffrey, go to work on the mat.

Jeffrey Worster is glad his little brother gets to go first, too, though for completely different reasons.

The Oxford Hills wrestling brothers watched each other win regional titles in their home gym at Saturday’s Class A North wrestling championships at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School.

Dillon, a sophomore, doubled-up Cony’s Casey Mills, 8-4, to win his first regional title at 182 pounds, then watched Jeffrey, a senior, pin Nicholas Lincoln of Nokomis 1:16 into the 220-pound final, to defend his regional title.

The brothers have been wrestling together for about 13 years, and both used their experience to foil championship final opponents who tried to outmuscle them.

“I knew I had a relatively easy walk to the finals and then I was going to have it tougher in the finals,” Dillon Worster said. “(Mills) is a lot stronger than I am, but I’ve been wrestling a lot longer than he has, so I’m more technical. I knew he was going to try to muscle me out of the gate, and I used my technique and I stuck with it.”

Jeffrey Worster held Lincoln in a half nelson as Lincoln attempted to put his leg over him, which gave Worster an opening to bump his hips over and onto his back for the pin.

“I just wanted to wrestle smart,” he said. “(Lincoln) is a very strong kid, but I think I’m more technical than him, by far. I think it showed. But really, just go in smart and don’t get caught really.”

Jeffrey Worster said watching his brother on the mat doesn’t affect his ability to focus on what he needs to do for his match.

“I actually think it kind of pumps me up a little bit,” Jeffrey Worster said. “Watching him wrestle and watching him go through the motions, I know that he knows what he’s doing. Then if it comes down to a close match for him it gets me amped up because I’m happy for him and then I’m just ready to go.”

The Worsters will get to do cheer each other on in a high school meet one more time at next Saturday’s state championships at Sanford High School, where both will try to win their first state title.

“It’s a pretty good feeling. As an older brother, it’s kind of tough knowing that he’s probably going to have more state championships than me by the end of it,” Jeffrey Worster said with a smile.

The Worster brothers were two of six Vikings to qualify for the state meet and lead them to a fifth-place finish overall. Mt. Ararat/Brunswick (170) knocked off defending regional champion Camden Hills (156.5), Skowhegan (129), Cony (119) and Oxford Hills (117.5).

Vikings Jared Bellemare was runner-up at 113, while Bryce Atkisson (third at 106), Rocco Hayden (fourth at 120) and Cameron Strout (fourth at 145) also qualified for states.

Mt. Blue had two finalists and four state qualifiers. Tucker Nicholas (170) and John Howard (195) finished second in their weight classes, while Mason Rowe (fourth at 148) and Adam Loewen (third at 145) also moved on to next Saturday.

Mt. Ararat/Brunswick will try to defend its Class A state title next week with eight wrestlers qualifying, including regional champions Shea Farrell (132) Spencer LeClair (138), Caden Kowalsky (145) and Ben Laurence (170). Brett Raio (152 runner-up), Caleb Chamberland (fourth 106), Brycen Kowalksy (120 runner-up) and Alex Beal (fourth 220) also qualified.

Coach Erick Jensen liked his team’s progress from the week before, when the Eagles won the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference title.

“Last week, we did well. Let’s improve this week and then hope it carries on to next week,” Jensen said. “That’s ultimately what our goal is. We’ve got a few things to work on, for sure. I was really pleased that we’re taking eight. My 220-pounder came through as an eighth seed today. So we’ll go right back at it and work hard this week.”

 

 

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