Head Coach: Bryce Thurston

Assistant Coach: Mike Mowry

Team Roster: (Weight class) 106 Lucas Spencer, freshman; 113 Connor Sheehan, junior; 120 Zach Sheehan, freshman; 126 Matt Frost, senior, and Connor Smith, freshman; 132 Ryan Buzzell, sophomore; 138 Jake Thurston, junior (co-captain), and Wayne Smith, sophomore; 145 Kirk Hubbard, senior (co-captain), and Andrew Rascoe, junior; 152 Fred Stearns, senior, and Aldi Dinoshi, junior and Willy MacFawn, freshman; 160 CJ Bartlett, junior; 170 Forrest Stearns, sophomore; 182 Tevor Henschel, freshman; 195 Ian MacFawn, junior, and Liam Fenton, sophomore; 220 Derek Leavitt, senior; 285 Angel Escalante.

Top Returnees: Connor Sheehan, two-time state finalist, returning state champ, fourth at New Englands; Jake Thurston, two-time state place finisher, first time state finalist; Matt Frost, two-time state place finisher; Kirk Hubbard, CJ Bartlett, Ian MacFawn all qualified for the state championships last year; Fred Stearns would have gone as well, but was ill that day.

What will it take for the team to be better than a year ago? “We graduated one state finalist and a state champ and we had some pretty strong upper weights that graduated last year. But, we gained a few good freshmen, one of which has earned many outstanding wrestling awards at the middle school level,” Coach Thurston said. “If we work real hard, we can get some guys to the States this year.”

Based on what you have seen in the preseason, what do you feel are the team’s strengths and weaknesses? “I think we have quite a bit of heart throughout the whole team. Our light to middle weights have quite a bit of experience and talent,” Coach Thurston said. “We need to work on the upper weights to use more technique and attack a little bit more. We all need to work on our conditioning and muscle fatigue a lot more.”

Three goals you may have for the team? “I hope we don’t have any injuries at the end of the season. I would love to see each wrestler achieve goals they set for themselves,” the coach said. “I hope the guys create great memories throughout the year and have a lot of fun as a team.”

To be competitive, what are three key things your squad must do? Strength, conditioning and technique.

What three things have you encouraged about this year’s team? “I think they all get along real well and we have some guys that have been so close to the top of their class and some that already have been,” Coach Thurston said. “I think this makes them want to get there again or improve to get there this time.

What a Player Thinks

What do you see as the three keys for success this season?

Kirk Hubbard (co-captain): Commitment, working hard as a team and setting goals for the season. We all have specific goals and we plan to reach them.

What are you most excited about?

Kirk Hubbard: I am excited to see lots of improvement this year, especially in tournaments. We have a lot of new wrestlers so we have a lot of potential.

“We will have a good season if we…”

Kirk Hubbard: We will have a good season if we stay together as a team. We have to have each others’ backs throughout the season. If we don’t stick together as a team and work together, we cannot reach our goals.

The Schedule

Sat., Dec. 10, 9:30 a.m., Fryeburg Invitational

Wed., Dec. 14, 6:00, Westbrook

Sat., Dec. 17, TBA, at Mountain Valley

Fri., Dec. 23, 9:00 a.m., at Atlantics

Thu., Dec. 29, 8:00 a.m., at Noble (scrimmage)

Fri., Dec. 30, 8:00 a.m., at Noble

Sat., Jan. 7, TBA, at Nokomis

Wed., Jan. 11, 4:00, at Westbrook

Sat., Jan. 14, 11:00, at Windham

Wed., Jan. 18, 6:00, Mountain Valley

Sat., Feb. 4, 9:30 a.m., at Mid States

Sat., Feb. 18, 10:00 a.m., State Championships