WATERBORO — It was an emotional night at Massabesic High School on Wednesday, as five Mustang senior wrestlers fought for the last time on their home mat. But the Mustangs used that emotion to their advantage, as they won all but two matches against rival Sanford, including senior Travis Walton ending the night by winning the only match that went the distance, beating Sanford’s Andrew Moriarty 8-3.

The meet began with Tanner Andrews giving up his spot in the 285-pound match to his brother, senior Josh Andrews. The elder Andrews, the defending state champion at 220 pounds, had no one to wrestle at his weight class, so his brother gave him one last chance to taste victory in front of the home crowd. Andrews gave the fans one last championship-caliber match, as he showed off a wide range of moves before finally pinning Sanford’s Zach Courcy in the second round.

“I thought that was kind of nice, that his brother gave him a chance to get (one) last match in on senior night,” Massabesic head coach Rick DeRosier said. “My hat’s off to Tanner.”

The Mustangs then continued to feed off the emotion and the energy of the night, winning five straight matches, all by pin.

Senior Adam Blaisdell took the 106-pound match over Sanford’s Pedro Gil with a quick first-round pin. Mike Aboud, senior Lucas Dion and Tyler Everett all followed suit with first-round wins of their own. Everett’s win was the 100th of his three-year career.

Nick Staples went to the third round with TJ Dabrieo before finally pinning the Sanford senior.

The Spartans finally got their first win of the meet when senior captain Jake Dexter got a first-round pin of Logan Martin in the 145-pound match.

“Jake Dexter is a veteran, and he knows how to get it done all the time,” said Sanford head coach Nate Smith.

Sanford’s only other win was senior Nick Jaques’ first-round victory over Dalton Smith in the 160-pound match. The win was extra special for Jaques, according to Smith.

“Nick was probably my performance of the night. This was literally his second match of his career, and he came out with a win in a varsity match,” said Smith.

Trevor Burns and Mike Risti got third- and second-round wins, respectively, for the Mustangs before Walton and Moriarty gave the fans a fitting finale.

DeRosier said the team had a little extra something on the night, but it used it to its advantage.

“They wrestled tough, all of them. A lot of them were kind of hyped up and ready to go, and wanted to wrestle,” said DeRosier.

DeRosier said it was tough to see some his wrestlers on the home mat for the final time. He said he’s seen some of them wrestle for longer than just their four years in high school.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” said DeRosier. “I’ve seen some of these guys come up through the program. I’ve been lucky enough to coach them at the youth and middle school level before they come up.”

— Contact Wil Kramlich at 282-1535, Ext. 323 or follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.