GARDINER — Schools large and small converged on Saturday, Dec. 14 for an early-season wrestling tournament, which mimicked the look of a postseason meet, as 20 teams attended.Belfast was among those and the Lions continued their hot start to the campaign, as they finished fifth with 79 points, as Kennebunk took home the top spot with 89.
Belfast finished the tourney with four top-four wrestlers, led by Gavynn Young (1st at 113 pounds), Connor Fournier (2nd at 106), Cam Watts (2nd at 220) and Brian White (3rd at 195).
The team scores were: Kennebunk 89, Morse of Bath 82, Cheverus of Portland 82, Cony of Augusta 80, Belfast 79, Windham/Gray-New Gloucester 77, York 59, Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield 56, Nokomis of Newport 56, Portland/South Portland 55, Westbrook/Gorham 53, Mount Blue of Farmington 49, Gardiner 47, Monmouth Academy 29, Hermon 24, Bangor 16, Falmouth 13, Greely of Cumberland 4, Wiscasset 4 and Hall-Dale of Farmingdale no score.
The individual Belfast results, with Lion wrestlers listed first, were:
106 pounds — Connor Fournier pinned Jacob St. Pierre, MtB, at 0:49; beat Alissa Caltagirone, Yor, 11-7; and lost to Ostin Smith, Mon, 5-1, in the championship final. Fournier finished second.
113 pounds — Gavynn Young pinned Dyllan Lingley, Con, at 1:32; pinned Reese Hesseltine, Wis, at 1:34; and pinned Brett Bognosian, Chev, at 0:54 in the championship final. Young finished first.
145 pounds — Jonah Lovejoy pinned Charlie Salow, Por/SP, at 0:25; was pinned by Adam Loewen, MtB, at 0:52; and lost by major decision to David York, Ken, 15-4.
152 pounds — Gabe Kelley won by major decision over Mason Rowe, MtB, 13-3; was pinned by Mason Savary, Mor, at 4:57; and lost by forfeit to Abdullah Abdullah, Por/SP.
160 pounds — Jackson Lapierre was pinned by Brad Couture, MtB, at 2:29 in a pigtail match.
170 pounds — Elijah Charbonnier was pinned by Caden Schleis-Hoyman, Con, at 3:16; pinned Dana Purington, Gar, at 2:40; and was pinned by Theo Burns, Por/SP, at 2:43.
182 pounds — Nathaniel Porter beat Jack Cole, Por/SP, 12-6; lost to Isaak Sinclair, Mor, 3-2 in triple-overtime; and lost to Greyden Lindstedt, Chev, 6-0.
195 pounds — Brian White pinned Jake Butler, Wind/Gr, at 1:37; was pinned by Trevor Fecko, Ken, at 0:22; pinned Bryce Bussell, MCI, at 0:31; and pinned Sebastian Merrill, Chev, at 3:36 in the consolation final. White finished third.
220 pounds — Cam Watts won by major decision over John Howard, MtB, 12-3; pinned William Orso, Yor, at 3:42; and was pinned by Sean Sullivan, Chev, at 0:47 in the championship final. Watts finished second.
285 pounds — Rayon Kirby won by major decision over Déja Douglass, Mor, 13-1; was pinned by Jeffrey Kirk, Ban, at 1:10; and was pinned by Chris Fortin, Ken, at 2:29.
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