BRISTOL — Middlebury Union High School senior wrestler Gabe LaBerge won his 100th career match on Saturday at the NVAC team championship meet, which was hosted by Mount Abraham.
LaBerge, a 195-pounder, earned the landmark victory in dramatic fashion. He avenged a defeat from a week before to Mount Mansfield’s John Sirois, 5-3, and scored the winning points on a third-period takedown as the clock hit 0:00.
Sirois had bested LaBerge in the final of MMU’s tournament on Feb. 2. The win could also improve LaBerge’s seeding for the upcoming state championship meet, which Vergennes will host on Feb. 22 and 23.
The Tigers finished fifth in the NVAC meet. MUHS defeated Spaulding in a forfeit-dominated first round, 46-34. In two contested matches, Tiger James Whitley won at 132, while Kyle Desabrais lost at 113.
MMU then defeated MUHS, 48-27, with eight matches contested, four won by each team. Whitley, Jakob Trautwein at 182 and Tyler LaPlant at 220 all won by pin for MUHS to go along with LaBerge’s big win. Nate Gebo at 106, Desabrais at 113, Nick Beauchamp at 160 and Walter Odell at 285 lost by pin.
In the consolation round, Essex edged the Tigers, 24-17. The Hornets won five of eight contested matches. Prevailing for the Tigers were Beauchamp, by a first-period pin, and Trautwein and LaPlant by decision. Gebo and Whitley lost close decisions, and Asa Vessa at 170, Chris Gobbi at 195 and Chris Wright at 285 were pinned.