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RUMFORD — Looking through the bracket of the Franklin Savings Bank Invitational wrestling tournament Saturday at Mountain Valley High School, you wouldn’t notice that the Dirigo Cougars have started the season at a disadvantage. Five Dirigo wrestlers — Leighton Waite, Tanner Bradeen, Gio Patterson, Xavier Ocasio and Kaeden Swan — reached the championship round.
After finishing as the runner-up to Wells at the Class B state meet last season, the Cougars again look like title contenders, even though they’re not at full strength.
Dirigo lost junior Hudson Lufkin, the returning Class B champion at 157 pounds, because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament sustained during football season. Lufkin was off to a sensational start as the Cougars’ quarterback before he was injured in the third game of the season.
“That’s 20-some points (lost) at states,” said Dirigo wrestling coach Dana Whittemore. “He didn’t lose to in-state (competition) last year. We thought we could make it up somewhere, some guys need to step up. … It’s piling up. We’re young down (in the lower weight classes), but we have talent up high.”
The Cougars are also without senior Caiden Skidgell, the defending state champion at 138 pounds, because of a leg injury that will keep him out until January.
Still, those injuries haven’t taken away the Cougars’ hope that they can make a charge at a state crown. Whittemore believes the team has one of the best groups in Maine in the higher weight divisions.
“The guys from 157, from Swan, all the way up through heavyweight, we have a lot of confidence in them, they’re wrestling hard,” Whittemore said. “Our message in the room is, ‘You guys at 157 on up, keep doing what you’re doing, keep getting better. Us coaches will try to bring the younger kids from 106 to 150 along.”
Bradeen, a senior, was the runner-up at 165 pounds in the Class B South meet last season before placing fourth at states. He competed Saturday at 175 pounds.
“He just wrestles so hard, and he’s gutsy,” added Whittemore. “He’s a quiet leader.”
Waite, a junior, was the regional runner-up at 144 pounds last season and finished fourth at the state meet. He’s taken a jump in weight classes this winter, finding early success at 165 pounds.
“We’re practicing hard and our cardio is super good,” Waite said. “We’re just keeping practices good and making each other better, giving each other good looks.”
Patterson, a senior, provides a strong presence at 190 pounds. Ocasio, a sophomore, picked up the biggest win of his young career on Saturday in the 215-pound division, beating Brady Godin of Wells in the quarterfinals. His usual competition weight is in the 180s, so he was giving up nearly 30 pounds to most of his opponents in the tournament.
“A lot of the time, knowing we have a lot of kids (is promising),” Bradeen said. “We have a lot more numbers now than we did before. I think a lot of the older guys have stepped up in helping them and helping ourselves get better.”
Lufkin, considered by many as one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the state, has done his part in providing guidance to his teammates. But the frustration of not being able to compete has been obvious.
“It was pretty upsetting,” said Bradeen. “He’s just good for the (practice) environment. He pushes you when you’re not pushing yourself.”
“He was one of the guys I worked with the most,” Waite said. “He taught me a lot of what I know now. He’s helped me out a lot. Next year, he’ll be back and better than ever.”
Despite a student population of just 228 — the smallest in Class B South — Dirigo has had consistent success under Whittemore. That, he says, comes from a strong foundation in the
Dixfield area’s youth wrestling program.
“That’s where it all starts,” Whittemore said. “I’ve got former kids that I’ve coached who are running our youth program now. They’ve got 60-70 kids in that room. Our middle school program is strong. It all starts there.”
