LEOMINSTER — The Leominster Blue Devils’ win over North Middlesex Regional’s wrestling team was determined in the last match of their dual meet on Wednesday. That’s when sophomore Eddings Ofori, who wrestles in the 126-pound weight class, pinned Nick Colorito in a whopping 34 seconds.

“It came down to the last match. We were up by two, but if they would have won, they win,” said Leominster High School’s wrestling coach Matthew Schiller. “So, we needed to win that match – it looks like they had a first-year guy and we had a first-year guy and it just came down to our first-year guys.”

It was hard to tell whether Schiller was satisfied with the 42-34 win for his team following the meet at the Blue Devils’ home gym on Dec. 23. The longtime coach carried on his 20-some-odd-year tradition of grasping his head in dismay or shouting “half, half, throw the half!” or “Peterson! Peterson!” from a folded metal chair on the edge of a wrestling mat somewhere in the Central Massachusetts region.

Schiller said that the teams were pretty evenly matched not just because of the proximity of the final score, but because there are many beginning wrestlers on both teams. 

“It’s a good match because it’s two comparable teams that basically went at it, it showed that we were pretty even, it came down to the last match, and that’s what you want,” said Schiller. Adding, “I am happy because they are young just like we are. We are just learning how to wrestle right now.”

Schiller added that Wednesday’s win was a good “victory” for the team, which put the Blue Devils’ in-league bout ratio at 2 – 0. However, he said his team hasn’t been performing well outside the league. 

So far this season, the Blue Devils beat Shepherd Hill in Dudley’s high school team 48-36. But Leominster was soundly beaten by Sharon High School, losing 72-4 during a quad meet on opening weekend, which took place on Saturday, Dec. 11. The other teams representing high schools from Lincoln-Sudbury, Brookline and Mansfield, beat the Blue Devils as well. 

A week later, the Blue Devils placed 6 out of 8 at the notoriously difficult Milford Tournament. It wasn’t a complete loss though, a glimmer of hope for the team came from freshman Luke Grebinar, the team’s 132 pounder, who like a phoenix rising from the ash, placed second for his weight class in the tournament.

North Middlesex’s loss may be attributable to their limited mat time as compared to the Blue Devils, who’ve been wrestling more experienced teams out of their Division I league. According to head coach Justin Leonard, his team of newbies have only wrestled twice so far this season.

“We are growing every week and I am impressed with all their growth in the three weeks that we have had a program. We have only wrestled two matches so far and we have been competitive in both, and considering that we are all freshmen and sophomores primarily, I am very excited to see where we can go as a program,” said Leonard.

The Blue Devils will be returning to the wrestling mat on Wednesday, Dec. 29, when they’ll face off against Nashoba Tech, Shepherd Hill and Triton in a tri-meet.