New England Qualifier: Eight area wrestlers earn their way to regional championship
Feb. 25—Two wrestlers from Mt. Blue punched their tickets to the New England Championships with top-three finishes at the New England Qualifier on Saturday at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport.
Noah Krysztofiak reached the championship final in the 113-pound weight class before dropping a 2-0 decision to James Blood of Sanford. Preston Garland won the third-place match in the 106-pound weight class, defeating Maddie Ripley by a 4-2 decision.
Six other area wrestlers qualified for New Englands. Lucas Libby of Mountain Valley lost the championship final in the 152-pound weight class when Derek Cote of Noble pinned him. Oxford Hills' Eitan Afriat earned a victory over Eli Potter of Wells in the third-place match of the 170-pound division. Ashton Day of Spruce Mountain won the third-place contest in the 220-pound weight class by pinning Sawyer Merrill of Cheverus.
A trio from Windham/Gray-New Gloucester/Westbrook qualified together. Ayden Cofone (120 pounds) and Gavin Tanner (170) won championships in their respective weight classes, and Scott Ingalls won the third-place match at 182.
Other area wrestlers finished made it to the third-place finals of their respective weight classes. Eli Lindus of Dirigo lost in the third-place contest in the 126-pound weight class in a 12-3 decision to Karter Crosby of Wells. Michael Welch of Skowhegan pinned Curtis Fogg of Oxford Hills in the third-place match at the 152-pound weight class. Oxford Hill's Christopher Levesque lost his third-place match in the 195 weight class, as Ben Ronca of York came out on top in a 4-1 decision.
