Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance

When Josh Thornton puts his mind to it the Mountain Valley wrestler can be a force and the results spoke loud and clear as he won the 140-pound championship at the Redskin Invitational tournament.

The win by Thornton proved to be important, twofold. On an individual front it provided the sophomore with confidence and the knowledge 0f knowing he had the ability to win it all. Also, the four-points Thornton earned were added to the team score (157 points) as Mountain Valley finished fourth, ahead of Marshwood 153 and Lisbon 152. Cumberland, RI 241 was champion, followed by Massabesic 197 and Camden Hills 174.5.

Lisbon champions were Mike McNamara (130), Marcus Bubar (145) and Joe Doughty at 215. Matt Nicholson (135) was a finalist.

The spacious Sanford Armory served as a back drop for the prestigious two-day event. It was the second-straight weekend Lisbon and Mountain Valley competed against highly-ranked teams; they finished fourth and sixth in the Noble Tournament.

Mountain Valley raised its level as eight individuals earned medals by placing in the top six of their respective weight classes.

“J josh thornton very very good tournament,”MV coach Gary Dolloff said. “He looked at his seed and bracket and was not very happy, but got threw some very tough matches.”

Thornton avenged a loss to Kalman who had won in the Noble finals, but wasn’t about to be derailed, this time. In the Redskin final, Thornton escaped with six seconds left in regulation and then escaped in triple overtime to pull out a 3-2 decision against Brandon Rich of Camden Hills. The win will be big psychologically because the two wrestlers could face each other in the Class B state meet, next month. Former Falcon Ernie Matthews stuck Rich in the finals at the 2009 state meet.

Rumford wrestlers Larry Gill (119) and heavyweight Steve Nokes each won championships in the first-ever Redskin in 1976.

Teammates Taylor Carey and Christian Durland each placed third at 152 and 215, respectively. In tournaments, the ability to wrestle back through compiles valuable team points. Carey, who was a finalist at Noble, and Durland each beat Camden Hills opponents in the consolation finals. Carey 5-1 over R.J. Muir and Durland 7-5. “I think things turned for us with the team siiting by the mat,”Dolloff said, watching 215-pound Ryan Glover (competin at 285). “Ryan got put on his back by (No.2 seed) early in the match by a larger opponent, but came back and pinned him. We rallied around that and kids responded.”

Matt Duka 160 and Glover each placed fourth. Ryan Burgess (112) and Josh Allen (189) each placed fifth, while Tim Ross was sixth at 130.

“Even the kids that didn’t place wrestled real well tough,”Dolloff said. “One-point losses by Cody Magoon, Joe Provencher Robert Worthley cost them for medals. But, I think the team turned a corner and are headed in the right direction for the second half run of the season.”