When Boothbay Region High School sophomores Antonio Maulolo and Howard Carter first set foot on the Lincoln Academy wrestling mat, they knew they would be outsiders.

The pair admitted that their initiation period had them pitted against the Lincoln wrestlers as rivals but soon, the pair became fully initiated onto coach Don Waltz's team and will wrestle Saturday, Feb. 9 at the state meet in Augusta Civic Center.

“In the beginning it was kind of awkward,” Carter said. “But you get to know everyone and we're all friends now.”

The wins, losses, pins, bumps and a bruises all serve as reminder of what Maulolo and Carter would eventually like to see – a Seahawks wrestling team.

While both said they are happy to be wrestling for the neighboring school they would both like to see a program return to Boothbay.

In the meantime, they will keep putting in their sweat equity with the Eagles.

“It's all hard work but it's always worth it,” Maulolo said. “Everything you do in practice, even if doesn't seem like much, adds up.”

The pair wrestled during the February 2 regional meet in Bucksport, where Carter finished third in the 170-pound class and Maulolo fought off injuries to take home a fourth-place finish in the 220-pound class.

For the year Maulolo is 13-3 with 12 pins in the 220-pound class while Carter is 14-9 with 10 pins in the 170-pound class. Maulolo was the top seed in the regional meet.

The pair admitted to being rusty when they first arrived on the mat but that soon faded.

Carter last wrestled in fifth grade while Maulolo hit the mat in sixth. In their return they have found a completely different landscape.

“You like to think that you are big and bad at Boothbay Harbor until you run into some of the guys who have been wrestling for a long time,” Carter said. “But it's good – it just shows you how far I need to go. I have to keep pushing.”

“It's shown me that I still have a lot of work to do,” Maulolo said. “I'm going to be very busy this off-season.”

It's the conditioning that Coach Waltz, a 2006 Lincoln Academy graduate, said makes his wrestlers stand out; of the nine members of his team, seven qualified for the state meet.

“Building up strength is probably the hardest part,” Maulolo said. “You come across guys who are a lot stronger than you and have been doing it longer.”

Maulolo said he wasn't just hobbled before the regional meet; he was coming off a prior injury and was forced into light workouts that showed during the meet. He said his opponents obviously had a full week of full-strength practice.

“It all matters,” he said. “It's all about the third period. That's why we practice hard. You just need to push through it.”

With a season full of matches and practice behind them, they will both go into the state meet looking to bring home top marks for both Lincoln Academy and Boothbay Region, Carter said.

“It gets to the point where every little thing is life or death on the mat,” he said. “If you think you're going to lose, then you have no chance. You have to go in knowing you can win.”

Ben Bulkeley can be reached at 207-633-4620 or bbulkeley@boothbayregister.com. Follow him on Twitter: @BBRegisterBen.