Marshwood’s Jack Anderson, center, and Noble’s Wyatt Chandler wrestle in the duals state championships on Saturday in Sanford. Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald

SANFORD — Truth is, everyone who has a passing interest in Maine high school wrestling knows that Noble High is a formidable team.

But the Knights felt a reminder was in order. And they sent it in a big way when they steamrolled Oxford Hills, 60-12, in Saturday’s Class A championship round of the MPA-sponsored State Duals Wrestling Championships at Sanford High.

It was Noble’s second straight Duals title and third in the five seasons the meet has been held. Next week teams will head to their respective regional championships with the Class A and B state tournament championships to be held Feb. 15 in tandem at The Colisee in Lewiston. Noble finished runner-up to Massabesic at last year’s Class A meet after winning its 13th Class A title in 2023.

“This tournament kind of shows the state of Maine who we are,” said Noble senior Kaden Dustin, a two-time individual state champion. “We wrestle out of state competition to get better and (then) we come up here in the postseason and show the rest of Maine what we’ve been doing all year.”

Dustin added, “We try to really dominate, especially in this finals match, to really put an emphasis on it.”

Owen Gray, Noble’s 130-pounder, said now it’s up to the Knights to keep improving.

“It really shows our team how good we are for the rest of the  year. It shows us we can step levels every week,” Gray said.

When it comes to domination, few teams have done like Wells in the Class B ranks.

The Warriors won Saturday’s Class B Duals championship with a 48-34 finals win against Mattanawcook Academy, putting the match away with pins in the final two bouts by Alex Albright at 157 pounds and Dominic Buxton at 165.

When Albright took the mat, with just two bouts remaining, Wells had a narrow 36-34 lead.

“A lot of pressure was taken off earlier. We had a lot of big matches that turned out to be pins,” Albright said. “I was very confident in myself and our 165-pounder, Dom, but the (earlier) weights had really sealed the deal.”

One of the highlights of the day was Jonathan Martinez getting a pin win for Wells in the 285-pound class. A senior, Martinez has had infrequent varsity matches, backing up 2023 state champion Nate Malloy. Wells coach Scott Lewia said Malloy was out of action this week for a discipline issue and could be back for next week’s regional.

“I was really excited because I’ve never really wrestled in this big of a moment; wrestling to help my team win states,” said Martinez, adding that he knows Malloy could return to the Warrior lineup. “I’m a senior so I knew that this could be my last time to wrestle. I went in with a lot of confidence and I knew I had something to prove.”

It was Wells’ fourth Duals title and third in a row. Wells has won six of the past seven Class B tournament titles, only stopped by Mattanawcook in 2022.

“It’s not the same-old, same-old,” Lewia said. “It’s getting tougher every year. I think things are getting a lot closer.”

Lewia had a good point. Noble’s lopsided win against Oxford Hills was the exception in a tournament that featured the top four teams from both the North and South regions in Class A and B.

In the Class A quarterfinals, North No. 1 Camden Hills beat host Sanford, the fourth seed from the South, 39-38. Sanford was docked a controversial one-point unsportsmanlike penalty in the next-to-last match. Oxford Hills and Massabesic tied, 33-33, with Oxford Hills advancing via tie-breaking criteria because it had more wins. The other Class A quarterfinals had Marshwood edging Mt. Blue, 41-36, and Noble, the top seed in the South, beating North No. 4 Edward Little, 49-26.

In the semifinals, Noble had to rally from an 18-0 deficit to beat Marshwood, 45-32; and Oxford Hills got past Camden Hills with more ease, 50-18.

The Class B quarterfinals were more one-sided. Wells beat North No. 4 MDI, 66-16; Mattanawcook beat South No. 4 60-13; North No. 2 Mt. View beat Monmouth/Richmond 53-24; and South No. 2 Dirigo beat Caribou, 54-30.

Wells had to have a good performance to subdue KVAC Class B champion Mt. View, 49-29, in its semifinal match, while Mattanawcook beat Dirigo on a tie-breaker of fewer forfeits after the teams had tied, 42-42.