ESSEX — Another title for Vergennes Union High School junior Brandon Cousino highlighted the efforts of Commodore, Mount Abraham and Otter Valley wrestlers at Essex High School’s Michael J. Baker Classic on this past Saturday.
Cousino’s 182-pound title helped VUHS earn the best finish among the three local teams, 10th among the 28 schools competing; VUHS earned 78 points.
Noble (Maine) won with 218 points, followed by Champlain Valley (145.5) and Beekmantown, N.Y. (143).
Mount Abraham took 16th (42 points), and Otter Valley was 23rd (16).
Cousino won three of his four matches by pin, all in the first period, and the fourth by a technical fall. He improved his record this winter to 22-0.
Ryan Paquin placed third for VUHS at 170 pounds, compiling a 4-1 record at the tournament in the process, while Jeb Hodsden took fifth at 152 pounds with a 4-2 mark.
Also competing for VUHS were Ethan Reardon at 132, Kyle Kingsley at 138 and Eddie Haskell at 285. All three compiled 1-2 records, with Haskell’s victory by pin the first of his career.
For the Eagles, Kevin Pearsall went 4-2 at 170 pounds and reached the podium in fifth place at 170, while Roman Mayer took sixth at 120 pounds.
Ben Murray (2-2 at 126 pounds), Donovan Lamore (1-2 at 106) and Josh Hardy (1-2 at 138) also won matches for Mount Abe. Also competing for the Eagles were Dawson Lamore at 106, Gary Conant at 126, Christian Little at 132, Hailey Trayah at 195 and Ryan Durfee at 220.
Matt Fox took sixth for OV at 160, winning three out of five matches in the process. Nate Doty at 285 went 2-2, but came up just short of the podium. Jacob White won a match at 126 for OV, and Dan Whitney at 113 and Josh Beayon at 170 also competed.