MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury Union High School wrestling team concluded its dual-meet season on Tuesday by defeating visiting Essex, 42-24, and Champlain Valley, 42-26, sweeping non-forfeited matches, 8-0, and taking them all by pin.
Coach Ethan Raymond said the two wins on the team’s senior night bumped the Tigers up to the No. 3 seed for this Saturday’s Northern Vermont Athletic Conference dual-meet championship, which will be held at Vergennes.
Vs. Essex, Nate Gebo at 106 pounds, Jake Trautwein at 182, Chris Gobbi at 220 and Benn Lussier at 285 all won by forfeit.
In contested matches:
•  At 120, Kyle Desabrais pinned Calvin Powell in 1:13.
•  At 126, Alex Sheldrick pinned Matt Turner in 3:50.
•  At 152, James Mason pinned Francisco Velasquez in 1:12.
Vs. CVU, Gobbi and Lussier again won by forfeit.
In contested matches:
•  At 106, Gebo pinned Jarrett Legg in 4:32.
•  At 120, Desabrais pinned Brandon Tiesco in 3:42.
•  At 126, Sheldrick pinned Cooper Bouchard in 1:56.
•  At 152, Mason pinned Ethan Fuller in 49 seconds.
•  At 182, Trautwein pinned Troy Bergeron in 0:45.
Meanwhile, VUHS wrestlers are looking forward to this Saturday. The Commodores are coming off a good showing at the Feb. 1 Mount Mansfield Cougar Wrestling Tournament, where two of the six VUHS wrestlers who competed brought home championships in their weight classes. Freshman Brandon Cousino won at 152 pounds and senior Kaegan Pearsall (currently ranked number 1 in the state by VermontWrestler.com) took the 160 crown. Ryan Paquin placed third at 182.
In addition to Pearsall, Cousino and Paquin, other Commodores ranked by VermontWrestler.com are Kyle Kingsley at 106, Ethan Reardon at 103 and Trevon Smith at 126.
Mount Abraham is also scheduled to compete on Saturday in Vergennes.
At the NVAC Championship Duals this Saturday, Feb. 15, at VUHS, wrestling starts at 9:30 a.m.; admission is $4/adults, $2/students. Concessions will be offered.