BARRE — Four members of the Middlebury Union High School wrestling team won state titles as the Tigers made a run at a Vermont crown. But MUHS fell just short of dethroning perennial champion Mount Anthony (MAU) in the Vermont championship tournament this past Friday and Saturday in the Barre Auditorium.

The Patriots broke a tie by winning the final two championship contested matcheds, and prevailed with 210.5 points — just 11.5 points clear of the Tigers’ 199.

Spaulding was the only other team in Patriots’ and Tigers’ scoring neighborhood in the 25-team field, with 177.5 points. Otter Valley (109) was fifth, Vergennes (91.5) was seventh, and Mount Abraham (63) was 10th.

Winning individual titles for MUHS were senior Avery Carl at 157 pounds, his second individual state championship and first since he was a freshman; senior Alex Sperry at 144, his first after reaching the podium regularly since he was a freshman; and sophomores Tucker Wright at 175 and Wyatt Kennett at 165, the first for both.

TIGER SENIOR AVERY Carl dominates one of his four opponents, none of whom he allowed to score a point, on the way to winning the 157-pound title at the Vermont high school championship wrestling tournament in Barre on this past Friday and Saturday.
Photo by Jessie Raymond

Also reaching the podium for MUHS were freshman Miles Goetz, second at 106; sophomore Jason Sperry, third at 150; sophomore Parker Carl, fourth at 190; junior Steven Lackard; third at 215; and junior Kameron Raymond, fifth at 285.

Two Commodores also won titles. Senior Isaac Preston claimed his second, earning the 215-pound crown after winning at 190 pounds in 2024. He won both those state titles by pinning everyone in his path. VUHS junior Payton Lavoie won at 190 this year and was voted by the coaches as the tournament’s outstanding wrestler after defeating higher seeds on the way to his title.

Also reaching the podium for VUHS were sophomore Stephen Kittredge, second at 126, and freshman Jackson Scribner, fourth at 138.

Five Otters placed. Senior Isaac Whitney, second at 190, and junior Drake Felkl, second at 215, had the best results. Junior Maisa Allen took third at 113, freshman Colby Benoit was fourth at 144, and sophomore Blake Allen was third at 157.

Four members of the young Mount Abe team reached the podium, all of them sophomores: Baxter Montgomery (third at 120), Isayah Isham (third at 138), Mason Atkins (sixth at 157) and Lincoln Painter (sixth at 165).

MOUNT ABE’S LINCOLN Painter works to break free from his 165-pound foe at the Vermont high school championship wrestling tournament in Barre on Saturday. Painter finished sixth in the weight class.
Photo by Jessie Raymond

The results of the championship matches, with local competitors and local results at each weight class, were:

106 pounds: Brayden Buchanan, Essex, defeated Miles Goetz, MUHS, by technical fall in the final.

Also, Mason Markowski, OV went 0-2.

113: OV’s Maisa Allen finished third with a 2-1 record. Also: Addie Smith, VUHS went 0-2.

120:  Mount Abe’s Baxter Montgomery finished third with a 2-1 record.  Also, Kegan Stone, MUHS went 0-2.

126: Cahota Lafond (Col) pinned Stephen Kittredge of VUHS in the final.

Also: Bradley Lavangie, Mt. Abe went 1-2.

132: Jordan Couture, MUHS went 0-2.

138: Mount Abe’s Isayah Isham took third by defeating Commodore Jackson Scribner in the consolation final. Isham finished with a 4-1 record, and Scribner with a 2-2 mark. Tiger Colton Murray went 1-2.

OTTER BLAKE ALLEN makes a move from on top of an opponent in a 157-pound match at the Vermont high school championship wrestling tournament in Barre on Saturday. Allen was third in the weight class.
Photo by Jessie Raymond

144: Tiger Alex Sperry defeated Michael Grasso of Spaulding, 8-1, in the final.

OV’s Colby Benoit finished fourth with a 2-2 record. Also, Eagle Clayton Markwell lost two close matches.

150: Tiger Jason Sperry finished third, losing his first match and then winning four straight, including the consolation final.

157: Tiger Avery Carl defeated MAU’s Spencer Boucher in the final, 14-0. Carl did not surrender a point in his four matches. OV’s Blake Allen finished third with a 3-1 mark, and Eagle Mason Atkins was sixth with a 2-2 record.

165: Tiger Wyatt Kennett rallied with a five-point third period to defeat Brody Coppins of Colchester, 6-4, in the final. That came after Kennett, the No. 5 seed, defeated No. 1 seed Gabe Bache of Fair Haven, 5-1, in the semifinal round, with another five-point third period.

Mount Abe’s Lincoln Painter finished sixth at 2-2. Otter Lincoln Wilcox, the No. 4 seed, lost both his matches in close bouts, one to Kennett.

175: Tiger Tucker Wright pinned Mill River’s Ethan Patch in the final’s third period after rolling to a 13-3 lead. Wright did not allow a point in winning three close matches in his first three outings.

Also, OV’s Max Potter and Mount Abe’s John Meshna both came up short in two matches.

190: Payton Lavoie, the No. 3 seed, earned his outstanding wrestler award by rallying in the final to pin top-seeded Otter wrestler Isaac Whitney in the second period after trailing, 5-1. That came after Lavoie trailed No. 2 seed Aiden Riordan of MAU, 6-1, in the semifinal round before storming back to win, 9-6. The Commodore pinned his first two opponents.

VUHS JUNIOR PAYTON Lavoie was voted the Vermont high school wrestling tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler after winning the 190-pound title in Barre this past Friday and Saturday.
Photo by Jessie Raymond

Also, Tiger Parker Carl claimed fourth place in this weight class, losing only to Whitney and Riordan in finishing 2-2.

215: Another Commodore made a good case to be named outstanding wrestler. When Isaac Preston pinned OV’s Drake Felkl in the first two minutes of the 215-pound final, that made four straight first-period pins for the two-time VUHS champion in the tournament. Preston also racked up first-period pins of all four of his 2024 opponents at 190 pounds on the way to winning his first state title.

Tiger Steven Lackard, the No. 5 seed, finished third with a 4-1 record, losing only to Preston.

285: MAU’s Ryan Marsden, the top seed, pinned No. 2 Hunter Ferland of Springfield in the second period to claim the title. That result broke a late tie with MUHS for the team points lead.

Tiger Kameron Raymond, the No. 3 seed, finished fifth in the weight class with a 2-2 record. OV’s Keegan Reid was sixth with a 3-2 mark. Eagle Benji Havey lost his two matches.

Also, the previous weekend a qualifying tournament was held for high school girls to compete for spots at the New England girls’ championship. Qualifiers were given their medals Saturday in Barre, including the following local wrestlers: 1. Maisa Allen; OV, first at 114; 2. Addie Smith, VUHS, second at 114; Hailey Isham, Mt. Abe, first at 132; and Commodore Caeleigh White, first at 165.