In his first year as Mountain Valley head coach, Chris Bean has two difficult building projects on his hands.

Bean is building a new home and trying to rebuild one of the state’s top wrestling programs. The Falcons lost nine starters off last year’s Class B championship team.

“It’s been a tough start,” he said. “But things are looking good the last two weeks.”

The Falcons had their best day of the season last Saturday at Morse, avenging an early-season loss to Wells and edging Belfast in a dramatic dual.

“It came right down to the wire against Belfast. If our 106 (Nicole Burgess) didn’t fight so hard not getting pinned we wouldn’t have won,” Bean said. “It took every point we could get. We won by two and it came down to the last match.”

The Falcons started the season with just 11 wrestlers, five of them freshmen. With such small numbers, it’s been a struggle to remain competitive all season, especially since one injury or an illness can be so disruptive.

They lost one of their top freshmen, Nate Boucher (126), to a broken arm in preseason. Boucher returned recently, but Dakota Jacques (113), another top freshman, went down with a possible broken thumb.

But the return of two accomplished wrestlers has bolstered the Falcons for the stretch drive.

“Some kids that were working finally came out. They decided they wanted to wrestle,” Bean said.

Robert Worthley (152), who placed at state as a freshman then stopped wrestling to work, has decided to give it one more shot as a senior. Senior Ryan Glover, last year’s state champion at 285, has come back to defend his title.

Bean is also encouraged by other wrestlers who are peaking at the right time. Senior Joe Provencher (138) has recovered from a slow start. Freshman Ian Austin (145) has wrestled well in a class dominated by veterans.

The Falcons have one more regular season meet scheduled. This Saturday they will host perennial Class B nemesis Camden Hills, Medomak Valley and Morse. Then it’s on to Mid-States on Feb. 4.

Quiet week on the mats

Most of the local teams have a quiet schedule leading up to their conference meets on Feb. 4. Dirigo and Lisbon travel to Fryeburg Academy today to face the Raiders. Monmouth travels to Wells on Saturday for a tournament scheduled to include Fryeburg and York. Mt. Blue travels to Camden Hills on Wednesday and hosts Belfast and Nokomis on Saturday.

Oak Hill has a full slate with a dual at Lincoln Academy on Wednesday, a tournament at Mt. Ararat on Saturday and a home meet with Camden Hills and Mt. View next Monday. Oxford Hills hosts Skowhegan and Belfast on Wednesday and travels to Brewer on Saturday for a quad with Brewer, Cony and Erskine.