Ben Abbott has excelled on the mat and in the classroom during his time at Winslow High School. Abbott ran his season record to 37-0 while capturing the 195-pound class at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships Saturday in Topsham.
Abbott is also ranked seventh in his senior class and is a member of the National Honor Society.
Abbott was third in Class B at 160 pounds last season. A growth spurt — he grew two inches — made for an easy transition to the 195-pound class.
“Last season I was normally about 170 while wrestling 160, so sometimes cutting weight was pretty difficult,” said Abbott. “Going up a couple weight classes has been great. I’m walking around about a pound under the 195 mark, so I feel more energetic and overall better for competition. I’ve certainly had more success at the higher weight and I think it was the perfect choice for my senior year.”
The 6-foot-3 Abbott usually towers over his opponents, but he had to learn to use his height to his advantage on the mat.
“I wasn’t all that tall until I hit high school, and going into my sophomore year my style began to change,” he said. “I started working for leg rides on top and using my length to stretch people out. Being taller than other people, I usually wasn’t the physically strongest wrestler so I had to be smart and use technique.”
First-year coach Tony Dalisio is pleased with what he’s seen.
“Ben’s excellence on the mat is only outdone by his model leadership as a team captain,” said Dalisio. “He is a person of substantial character who will no doubt make lasting contributions in his future endeavors.”
Abbott, a three-season athlete, was an all-conference center in football and also competes in three events for the track team.
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Madison’s Matt Brown captured the title in the 285-pound class by scoring pins in each of his three matches at the Mid-State League Tournament last weekend.
In the championship finals match, Brown threw second-seeded Brendan Dean of Wells to his back and got the pin at 1:34 in the first period.
“We worked all week with him being more aggressive in neutral and controlling the tie up,” said Madison coach Scot Padelford. “Saturday was the most consistent I have seen Matt wrestle all year. He wrestled with a lot of confidence.”
Cole Mongeon (113) placed third for the Bulldogs, while Cara McGray (106) was fourth.
Seth Padelford, who was projected to be the top seed at 220 pounds, missed the meet due to injury. He is expected back for the B South regional.
Oak Hill’s Danny Buteau won the 132-pound class and was also named the Outstanding Wrestler at the Mid-State League tournament. Buteau picked up wins by pin over opponents from York and Monmouth in preliminary matches before beating Wells’ Cullen Cummings in the championship finals by a 7-2 margin. Buteau has rarely been tested in a season that has seen him roll up 37 wins, mostly by pin.
“It was definitely one of more challenging matches this year,” said Buteau. “But I felt really good going into the match and got a quick takedown and I knew I had it then.”
Zoe Buteau placed second at 126-pounds and Connor Burns was fourth at 145-pounds. Oak Hill placed fifth out of 10 schools and earned the sportsmanship award.
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Skowhegan will seek to defend its A North title when it heads to Nokomis in Newport on Saturday for the 11-team regional. Skowhegan’s Cody Craig, Ricky Oberg, Samson Sirois and Cooper Holland each won individual titles last season. Mt Ararat is projected to be well-positioned to challenge Skowhegan for the team title.
In other regional action, Gardiner will travel to Massabesic High School in Waterboro for the A South tournament. MCI, Winslow and Mount View will compete in the B North tournament at Caribou High School. Erskine, Madison, Monmouth and Oak Hill will be at Wells High School for the B South meet.
Wrestling action at all venues is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m.
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