DIXFIELD – The gymnasium walls at Dirigo High School are crowded enough, but senior wrestlers Jon Smith and Derek Daley insist upon starting their own wall ornament.

They’re already members of the 100-win club. While it’s a nice achievement, it’s becoming a common one.

To paraphrase a current catch phrase about life expectancy, 100 is the new 75. Thanks to the jam-packed slate of multi-team holiday, league, regional and state tournaments from December to February, the best wrestlers may take the mat more than 160 times in four years.

Smith and Daley each topped the century mark as juniors, joining six others in that ring of honor. But with Smith leaving Kyle Miele’s previous school record of 113 triumphs in the dust and Daley following suit, they’re now determined to set the bar at nosebleed height for the next generation of Dirigo grapplers.

“To get it as a junior is nice. It’s not a tough feat to get now in four years,” Smith said. “We’re both trying to get 150 now so we can put a new banner up there.”

Going undefeated is Smith’s best hope of setting the milestone. He went 43-0 in winning the 140-pound state title last winter, backing up his sophomore crown at 135.

Life at 145 hasn’t started any differently. Smith’s closest rival in terms of geography and skill is Derek Sicotte of Mountain Valley, whom he defeated 5-2 in the finals of last month’s Atlantic Tournament at Wells.

In a four-team meet Saturday at Monmouth, Smith pinned all three of his foes, including two in a staggering 12 and eight seconds.

“Jon’s just natural. No matter what Jon does, he does well,” said Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert. “He’s a great baseball player and a great soccer player.”

Daley is an all-around athlete, himself. Gilbert admits that the Cougars “stole” him away from the basketball team in middle school. Older brother Josh also shone in both winter sports during grammar school but chose the hardwood over the mat as a freshman.

Josh and Derek had a brotherly competition brewing throughout their respective careers to see whose team could deliver Dirigo a state championship trophy first. Josh’s senior basketball season ended with a loss to Boothbay in the 2007 Western Maine final at Augusta Civic Center, only two weeks after Derek and the wrestling team captured their first Class C crown since 1996 in the same arena.

“I wouldn’t be wrestling if (Smith) didn’t wrestle,” Daley said. “That’s what made me kind of stick to it.”

Daley was Maine’s individual champion at 119 pounds in ’06. He nursed a rib injury at 130 all of last season but still snagged third at states.

That disappointment behind him, Daley proved himself fit at 135 with a title in the McDonald’s Tournament at Mountain Valley on Dec. 15.

“It’s motivation, really,” Daley said of last season’s ups and downs. “I’d like to go out of school with us two on top.”

Smith also set aside a promising basketball career for wrestling, but in his case, the first love was never a toss of the coin. Following the path of his father, himself an accomplished high school wrestler, Smith fought his first match in second grade.

“There’s a lot of natural talent on the team. We both used to play basketball,” said Smith. “A lot of us have natural balance and ability. It’s everyone.”

Neither athlete has cemented his 2008-09 plans. Daley is not sure if he will play sports in college. Schools have shown interest in Smith for all three of his talents.

Both are certain that their previous choice of wrestling will render future decisions and challenges less intimidating.

“Wrestling,” said Daley, “makes a lot of things easy.”