NORTH BERWICK – Nine Marshwood High wrestlers captured individual titles as the Hawks claimed their first Western Class A championship Saturday.

All 14 of Marshwood’s wrestlers qualified for the state Class A championships, which will be held Saturday at Windham.

“We have an opportunity to make some history at Marshwood,” said Matt Rix, who is in his 27th season as coach of the Hawks.

Marshwood has never won a state Class A championship. The Hawks won four Class B state titles before moving up in class in 2000.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve had some great practices,” Rix said. “We made some mistakes a few weeks before, and the last couple of weeks have been flawless.”

The team scores were Marshwood 271.5 points, Massabesic 210.5, Kennebunk 102, Noble 97.5, Sanford 72.5, Portland 72, Biddeford 60, Deering 36, Bonny Eagle 23, Cheverus 21 and Scarborough 12.

Five wrestlers from host Noble’s starting lineup were academically ineligible to compete, and it will probably cost the Knights a shot at winning a fourth consecutive state championship.

Five Noble wrestlers qualified for the state meet.

“Five guys going up to the (state tournament) against as many wrestlers as Marshwood has makes it impossible,” Noble Coach Kip DeVoll said.

The individual winners for Marshwood were Elliot Allen at 106 pounds, Tyler Davidson at 113, Jackson Howarth at 132, Cody Hughes at 138, Nicholas Janes at 145, Lucas Howarth at 152, Ryan Stacy at 160, Jake Barrisano at 195 and Nick Ricker at 285.

The other individual winners were Ian Whitis of Cheverus at 120, Ethan Gilman of Massabesic at 126, Evan Fecko of Kennebunk at 170, David Norton of Massabesic at 182 and Josh Andrews of Massabesic at 220.

For the most part, the individual seedings held up. Every top seed advanced to the championship round, and only two second seeds failed to make it.

WESTERN CLASS B: Mountain Valley, the defending state champion, had 10 of its 14 wrestlers qualify for the state meet in the nine-team regional held at York.

The team scores were Mountain Valley 164.5 points, York 142, Fryeburg Academy 141, Wells 139, Morse 121.5, Gardiner 82, Lincoln Academy 55, Gray-New Gloucester 6 and Oak Hill no score.

The individual winners included Kyle Bontin of Morse at 106 pounds, Connor Sheehan of Fryeburg Academy at 113, Colin Sevigney of Wells at 120, Brandon Gill of Mountain Valley at 126, Nathan Boucher of Mountain Valley at 132, Danny DalGallo of Gardiner at 138, Wyatt Brackett of Morse at 145, Wyatt Thornton of Gardiner at 152, John Goyetche of York at 160, Michael Curtis of Wells at 170, Marc Suprenant of Wells at 182, Mitchell Chesley of Gardiner at 195, Noah French of Wells at 220 and Alex Mercurio of York at 285.

WESTERN CLASS C: Dirigo of Dixfield outpointed host Bucksport in an 11-team regional meet.

The team scores were Dirigo 194.5, Bucksport 157.5, Winslow 122, Madison 100, Mt. View 82, Lisbon 73, George Stevens Academy 38.5, Monmouth Academy 23, Hall-Dale 15, Orono 14 and Spruce Mountain of Liverm ore Falls 10.

The individual winners for the victorious Cougars included Caleb Hall at 132 pounds, Brett Whittemore at 138, Jesse Hutchinson at 145 and Gavin Sanders at 182.

The individual winners for the Golden Bucks were Matthew Stewart at 106 pounds, Jacob Stewart at 152, Jordan Fogg at 160, Nic Bishop at 170 and Chris Powell at 195.

Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:

pbetit@pressherald.com

Twitter: PaulBetitPPH