Maine Amateur Wrestling Alliance

The Bangor Auditorium is the site for the first ever two-day Maine state wrestling championships as Class A, B, and C grapplers compete on six mats for individual and team honors. Opening ceremonies are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., today. Action continues Saturday morning at 9:30 with the championship finals scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

Familiar names are expected to vie for the team championships. In Class A, Mt. Blue High School has what many believe the best chance of dethroning three-time defending champion Noble High School of Berwick. Camden Hills High School is favored to defend its Class B crown, while Lisbon High School is the overwhelming pick to repeat in Class C.

Three local wrestlers will attempt to defend state titles. Mt. Blue's Scott Webber (112 pounds) opens the tournament against Marshwood High School's Jake Smith. Teammate Matt Waite (215) faces Brent Armstrong of Deering High School in the opening round while Skowhegan Area High School's Brandon Hamilton (152) goes against Windham High School's Eric Ewing.

Other Eastern Maine A champs in action are: Mt. Blue's Shane Webber (103) and Seth Webber (119), Gardiner Area High School's Taj McKay (135) and Liam Kozma (130), and David Folsom (189) of Skowhegan.

In Class B, Winslow High School's Dan Stace (140) has been a runner up in state competition twice and looks to close out his senior campaign with a state title. Stace will face Chris Randall of Fryeburg Academy on Friday evening.

Monmouth Academy's Aaron Kaluzynski (103) was a Class C state champ as a freshman, but dropped to third place last season. He hopes to reclaim the gold this year and opens the tournament against Ben Boss of George Stevens Academy. Wiscasset's Paul Rines (140) and Matt Reed (145) each won Western Maine C titles last Saturday. Tonight, Rines faces Cory McDonald of Mattanawacook Academy while Reed takes on Caleb Pelletier of Foxcroft Academy.

Admission is $5 per day for adults and $3 for students. Spectators are reminded that no food or beverages can be brought into the Bangor Auditorium.

They'll be plenty of history made hide when the Class A, B and C state wrestling meets are contested Friday and Saturday. The event will be interesting for two reasons because it's the first-ever, two-day event and the initial visit to the vintage Bangor Auditorium.

This is the second-straight year that all three state meets will be completed under the same roof. The venue last year was the Augusta Civic Center and was met with approval by the competitors and 3000 spectators.

The auditorium floor has space for six 30 by 30 feet mats, so each class will use two. The quarterfinals will be held at 5 p.m. this evening and the championship semi-final are scheduled to begin Saturday at 9 a.m.

The 42 wrestlers automatically qualified by placing in the top four, in 14 weight divisions, at the respective regionals last Saturday. The brackets were pre-set, based on the reverse order of individual finishes.

The competition is anticipated to be extremely close with several teams capable of winning it all. The defending champions include Noble in Class A, Camden Hills in B and Lisbon in C.

Mount Blue qualified 10 wrestlers and may have the best chance to upset Noble. The Cougars fell nine points shy last February of dethroning the three-time defending champions. A lot of circumstances will be determining factors, including individual match-ups between the two teams.

"In the state meet there are no easy matches,"Mount Blue coach Nate Phillips said. "I've told the kids that every match is important and you've got to be ready to wrestle for the entire six minutes. Seth Webber is a perfect example because his only loss resulted when he let up in the third period."

Seth Webber (27-1 at 119) a regional champion, was ahead 10-0 but eventually lost to Ken Belanger of Massabesic. The two will face each other tonight.

The Cougars are counting on two-time state champions Scott Webber (112-pounds) and Matt Waite (215), who are both 32-0. Freshman Shane Webber (28-3) and Ryan Hutchinson (29-2 at 140).

Noble (nine) features Kyle Desmarais (103), Adam Hale (119) and Greg Cotreau (125). Westbrook (nine) can't be over looked Nick Levigne (27-1 at 103), Lew Emery (30-0 at 119) and Chris Tracy (29-3 at 215).

Oxford Hills has 2001 state champion Seth McAlister (27-2 at 125) and Ryan Bryce (25-2 at 160).

"Seth is focused as ever, his eyes are on the prize,"Oxford Hills coach Chris Cobbett said. "There are some who say our east region is weak, but the the region is in the same boat. The scores drop off after the top three teams, but we also have some quality individuals."

Ben Goulette (24-0 at 145) of Morse and Brandon Hamilton (32-0 at 152) are each defending state champions.

Mountain Valley met its objective by qualifying 11, however, the wrestlers must score collectively to challenge Camden Hills for the crown. The Falcons have finished second two years in a row.

There are high expectations for regional champions Ian Venskus (23-7 at 103), Travis Child (18-straight wins at 112), Ben Madigan (26-9 at 130) and Kirk Nelson (30-3 at 152). Nelson and Nick Ouimet of Belfast will have a rubber match in the finals.

Venskus and Child will eventually meet Camden Hills wrestlers Jake Rollins and Kyle Sylvester. The Windjammers also have defending state champions Levi Rollins (125) and Chris Resmen (unbeaten at 135).

"We're set up pretty good,"Falcons coach Gary Dolloff said. "The kids are focused and we had some intense practices this week. Camden Hills can be dethroned, but I wouldn't discount Belfast out of the hunt."

Buck Brown (32-1) of Fryeburg will defend his crown at 160. Oak Hill potential medallists are Ben Johnson (125) and Adam Buckingham (275).

Defending Class C state champion Lisbon is in the catbird seat after the entire team qualified for the state meet. The Greyhounds regional champions were Troy Clark (29-4 at 112), Derek Guisto (33-3 at 119, Will Vice (29-6 at 125), Nate Hix (33-3 at 130), B.J. Hamm (34-1 at 135) and Adam Lord (28-5 at 215). Joey Schreiber 32-3 will defend his crown at 189.

Former Monmouth state champion Aaron Kaluzynski (29-2) will contend at 103. The Mustangs Wes Danforth (119), Ryan Audet (130) and Nate Butler 215 could also place.

Dirigo () could play a spoiler and finish in the top three led by 2001 state champion Nick Gurney 37-2 at 160. The Cougars other threats include David Flagg 24-9 at 145, Curtis Brann (152), Derrick Gilbert (27-10), Scott Skibitsky (215) and Richard Williams (19-6 at 275).

"We've got some good shots,"Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. "The pairings could help us, but we won't be shut out. I don't think we'll be able to stay with Lisbon and Dexter."

ROCKPORT - For brothers Levi and Jake Rollins, wrestling is life and life is wrestling.

Those statements may seem simplistic, but they are closer to the truth than one might think.

The siblings have experienced unparalleled success on the mat for years and are important reasons why the relatively young Camden Hills squad may pin down its third straight Class B championship this weekend at Bangor Auditorium.

The brothers already have league and regional crowns under their belts and could win state titles this weekend.

At first glance, Levi and Jake may not look the part of wrestling champions. In this case, at least, looks are deceiving.

One cannot realize how talented the slender siblings - 130-pound Levi and 107-pound Jake - are unless one witnesses their mat magic.

Few wrestlers can more quickly or efficiently dispatch their opponent better than Levi and Jake Rollins. What the brothers lack in visible bulk and strength they make up for with near flawless technique and an unparalleled desire to succeed.

The 5-foot 9-inch Levi, a junior, has compiled a 31-1 record, with 19 pins at 125 this season. Levi's career mark is 101-8. Barring injury, Rollins is on pace to break Tim Boetsch's school career win mark of 126.

The 5-7 Jake, a sophomore, is 31-3, with 17 pins at 103.

Interestingly, the brothers are the first offspring of a former Windjammer wrestler to compete for the team. Their dad, Greg, also wrestled for Camden-Rockport in the 1970s.

The Windjammers have had many brothers on the team, including, to name a few, the Powers, Kellys and Glovers. Few competed on the same team together and none have combined to enjoy the kind of success the Rollins siblings have experienced.

"They both are very skilled, technical wrestlers," said veteran Windjammer coach John Kelly. "Jake probably could have been a champion at 103 last year but he had to wait in the wings of his brother. But when Levi made the move up (to 125), that opened the opportunity for Jake this year.

"They are just the type of kids you never hear complain in practice. Even when things are not going well for them, they do not complain. They work through it. They have a great work ethic.

"They are not real strong, but what they do have for strength they know how to use it by applying technique at the best possible time. Both of them have beaten some quality opponents."

Kelly said the brothers have high expectations. He added that Levi, as a team captain, is never overbearing with his leadership. "He leads by example and when he needs to say something he does."

As a sophomore competing at 103, Levi finished 31-3, with 18 pins, won the state, regional and Atlantic Invitational meets. He was second at KVACs.

As a freshman at 103, Levi was 32-4, with 11 pins. He placed first in the regional and KVACs, second at the states, third at the Atlantic and fifth at the Redskin Invitational.

As a junior high wrestler at Mary E. Taylor Middle School, Levi won two Pine Tree Wrestling League state crowns, finishing undefeated his seventh- and eighth-grade seasons.

As a freshman, Jake only wrestled in six or seven varsity matches.

Jake said he was willing to wait until Levi was finished competing at 103 before taking over in the weight class. "It bothered me a little, but I knew Levi really wanted to win states. I've been waiting all my life for Levi, so what is another year," Jake joked about his freshman year.

Levi said he wanted to stay at 103 last year to have a better chance to place in the New England championships. That did not happen, so, in retrospect, he wishes his younger brother had gotten the opportunity to compete in more varsity matches as a freshman.

Levi said he likes his new weight class because it is closer to his natural weight. "You have to wrestle a little bit differently at 125 because there are stronger kids," he said. "I feel a lot stronger now."

The brothers, who credit coaches John Kelly, Patrick Kelly, Perry Goodspeed and their dad, Greg, for helping them succeed in wrestling, enjoy being known as the grapplers with solid technique.

"(Using) technique usually will win over a stronger kid," Levi said. "Strength does help, but if you know more moves (than your opponent), you usually win."

The siblings said they may look like they formulate a strategy before hitting the mat, but in truth, they improvise as they go.

"You really can't make a plan," Jake said. "Because then you get sidetracked. You are thinking too much. You can't think. It has to be reaction."

The brothers enjoy having each other on the team. "I can always give him some pointers or yell at him," Levi said with a laugh. "It is good to have a younger brother underneath you wrestling. It makes you feel good when he wins. I almost like watching him win more than having me win."

The two cheer each other on. "He is a big influence on me," Jake said of Levi. "I watch how he wrestles and try to be like him. When I watch my weight, whatever he eats I eat. He really helps me out a lot by giving me pointers."

Jake said he really enjoys seeing how confident Levi is on the mat. "I wish I could be that confident," the youngster said.

Levi said he is confident because of all the success he has had and the hundreds of matches he has competed in. "I don't get nervous anymore," Levi said.

The siblings said they still enjoy traveling around New England most summer weekends to wrestle. Levi said it is important to compete in the summer because they see opponents with different styles. It helps the brothers improve their skill.

The siblings want to win state titles this weekend, place at the New Englands and possibly compete for Maine in the longstanding Friendship Series, an annual wrestling exchange between Nebraska and Maine.

The two also enjoy mountain biking. Levi has been part of Camden Hills three straight state championships. Jake was on last fall's title team.

The brothers, also fine baseball players, said mountain biking and wrestling take a tremendous amount of discipline. The two sports are more individual and require a high level of self-motivation.

Jake is quick to point out there are no teammates to substitute for you in either sport. Once you begin a race or match, you are alone.

"Wrestling is such an intense sport and when you win you feel so good," Levi said. "I don't consider it a sport."

"For us, wrestling is a way of life," Jake said.

For the Rollins, it is a good life. Especially when they are on the mat.

At the outset of this winter season, the varsity / prep wrestling team made a commitment: to infuse this community with a varsity attitude. We spoke of an attitude which would carry far beyond the blue padded walls. This varsity approach to daily life meant that in every action you would be a reflection of the best Hyde has to offer. Now clad in Carolina and navy blue warm-ups as you go to meals, proctor 2/4, and attend classes, your presence and impact is scrutinized even more closely. Wes and Alex, four-year wrestlers who entered this campaign knowing that this is their team - and season - to own, have carried that proud torch to all areas of the school. But the true test of our spirit and our commitment is yet to begin.

Our lives are defined by the challenges we choose to meet head on … and by those we choose to avoid. Each afternoon we fog the gym windows in passionate pursuit of our best. Yet there are those in our midst who have not carried this vision beyond the room, ones who have disguised their lack of commitment with their talent or even with their physical effort in the room. Now that their true nature has become more evident in Monday's conscience-clearing bust, we are faced with a challenge: for if your season-long sweat in the room is to mean anything, the strength of our team lies not in its individuals but in the collective efforts of everyone.

Last Sunday's Super Bowl illustrated teamwork at its finest moment. It began with a team, the New England Patriots, who insisted on being introduced as one collective unit. It concluded in a two-minute drill which defined a team which fosters an unyielding belief in each and every player on their roster. This Saturday is an opportunity: some have toiled behind the scenes, perhaps with less limelight; other starters will be challenged to believe in the power of the room to make every one of us a worthy representative of Hyde wrestling.

All season you have voted on who has earned the right to step inside your room. Now by their selfish actions, certain individuals have demonstrated that they have held something back from you - and from giving their best. They have, by their very own actions - or lack thereof, eliminated themselves from this weekend's roster. Next week they will have to opportunity to regain our faith, perhaps even to earn a jacket or a starting position on the Class A roster. But today a select few chanted "together" as we traversed the snow-covered running trail. This weekend belongs to us.

As your coach I have wrestled with my own vision for this home meet, the Northern New Englands. In the end, in all humility, I rest firmly in my belief that the team who best represents Hyde is the one who first represents themselves best. You wrestle as you live; you live as you wrestle. In my twenty-seven years of coaching, I have found no sport which better reflects a person's true character.

This is now a moment which demands the best in each and every one of us. This is our moment. How will we choose to have it remembered?

FARMINGTON-It's no secret that wrestlers are a different breed and Matt Waite is no exception, however, he's fully aware of the mental and physical demands both past and present. The Mount Blue High School senior has already won two state championships, but the mission won't be complete until he steps on the top of the podium at the state meet Saturday night at the Bangor Auditorium.

Waite has been unstoppable this season and is a favorite to win the Class A crown at 215-pounds. He has compiled a perfect 32-0 record, but even more impressive is the overwhelming domination that's applied to each match. The same no-nonsense approach will be utilized when the quarterfinals are contested Friday.

"Yes, I'm on a mission,"Waite said. "I push myself hard and my mind set entering each match is to be aggressive. I don't want an opponent to think that they can beat me, so a message needs to be delivered right away."

These are not idle threats that are intended to intimidate opponents. Instead, Waite uses the thoughts as a self-motivator before each match. The results have been extremely productive because Waite has 30 pins.

"I'm on the mat to get business done,"Waite explains. "The idea is to get things over with as quickly as possible and not waste any extra energy."

Waite had wrestled for Mount Blue as a freshman, but transferred as a sophomore and won a Class C state title at Dirigo in 2000. The Canton resident transferred back to Mount Blue and won another state championship at 189.

This post season has been over powering with three pins each in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships and regional. In fact, he never went beyond the first period last Saturday and was on the mat a total of one minute and 55 seconds.

The biggest threats in the state meet will be West regional finalists Dick Decato of Noble and Chris Tracy of Westbrook. A potential semi-final match could be against Decato, the defending 215 state champion. If the bracketss pan out, Tracy could be in the finals. Waite decsioned Tracy 6-2 at the Tiger tournament in December.

The match could be of even greater importance because Mount Blue is a contender for the team title again. The Cougars fell nine points shy of dethroning three-time defending champion Noble last year.

"It's hard for me to come up with some thing original about Matt,"coach Nate Phillips said. "I can't really point to a weakness, but a strength that people may not realize, is his quickness. It's deceiving. The heavier wrestlers are usually not known for their (agility)."

"I'm smaller and very use to wrestling against fast opponents. Therefore, my own speed is used as an advantage. I was really surprised when I wrestled against Matt in practice because he is able to shoot in on my legs."

Waite admits that he has learned a lot since placing fourth in the state meet as a freshman. The knowledge received at wrestling camps have helped in developing techniques on the mat. The physical demands are super-seeded by a strong work ethic.

"I still work out after practice,"Waite said. "There's a lot of extra running, plus I've always wrestled with my older brothers Dan and Mike at home. I'm not concerned about not being able to have to go all out for an entire match. Matt Shed who wrestled at Cony comes in and gives me a good challenge."

The extra wrestling partners provide plenty of competition that certainly raises sibling rivalry to the next level. Dan Waite, a two-time state champion, earned All-American honors in 2000 by Wrestling U.S.A. Mike Waite won a state title last season.

"Matt eats and sleeps with wrestling on his mind,"Phillips said. "He's always thinking about his next match and how an opponent is training for it. As a coach that's nice to see because you want a top wrestler like him to remain ready for any thing."

Waite realizes that there's no guarantee and is always saying "on any given day." Friday and Saturday will belong to the Cougar.

Wrestling is a demanding and the competitors must endure the physical and mental aspects being placed upon them at any given moment. The type of student-athlete who chooses to participate in the worlds oldest sport must be willing to sacrifice a piece of them self in order to hopefully succeed.

The rules only permitted males to participate in the state; however, it changed when females were granted the right to step on the mat. The precedent was set by the Maine Human Rights Commission voted 5-0 in the mid-1990s, on a request by Lisa Nowalk of Mount Ararat.

There were people on both sides of the issue, but it didn't deter a few girls from joining some teams. The numbers have decreased, however, this season Heidi Bonerud and Jessica Fox of Monmouth Academy both placed in the Class C regional. It's the first time that two female teammates will compete in a state meet.

Bonerud (18-9 over all) was a finalist at 112-pounds and Fox placed fourth at 125. Ironically, both individuals are wrestling against heavier opponents, in order to compete in their respective divisions.

Bonerud is a natural 103, but she's unable to beat out former state champion Aaron Kaluzynski. Fox was initially certified at 112, but she was unable to get past Bonerud.

"They used to have some interesting wrestle-offs,"Monmouth coach Charlie Fyler said. "The matches were very competitive, in fact some went in to over time. After Heidi had clearly held the 112 spot, I had Jessica recertify at 119."

Fox was behind Wes Danforth, so she was bumped up again. A wrestler is allowed to compete at one weight class above their certification.

Nicole Lemay of Oak Hill will be the first-ever girl to compete in the Class B state meet. The Raiders first-year wrestler was a finalist at 103 in the regional. Last year, Jenn Wormwood of Oxford Hills wrestled in the Class A state meet. Wormwood is a two-time national girls wrestling champion.

They remain behind the scenes and receive little recognition, however, the countless hours provided by responsible managers is vital to a wrestling team. That is exactly how important Kelly Rasama and Jill Wormwood of Oxford Hills have been throughout the entire season.

"On a scale of one-to-10, they are on the very top,"Vikings coach Chris Cobbett said. "They are willing to do tasks at any time and what ever is necessary. The jobs are for the benefit of the team and they allow me to coach."

The tandems duties include washing the mats prior to every practice. During meets and tournaments, they keep the scores for the team book. The results of each competition must be compiled and the paper work must be sent to the Maine Principal' Association.

A team excounters numerous roadblocks during the course of a season and Oxford Hills received a blow last Saturday. The sport is often considered to showcase individuals, but it usually requires a total team effort in a major tournament.

The Vikngs were undermanned last Saturday because Josh Laird (skin irritation) and Dustin Theriault (sickness) were unable to wrestle. Laird, a sophomore, was told by a doctor that he had some thing, so he better cover the area.

"It's to bad things turned out the way it did,"Cobbett said. "Josh wasn't told what the exact problem was and the referees wouldn't allow him to compete. He would have scored some team points and qualified for the state meet."

Oxford Hills still qualified nine wrestlers and fell four points shy of finishing second, again. The champions included Seth McAlister (125) and Ryan Bryce (160). Nate Libby was pinned by John Bursley of Mount Ararat in the 275 finals.

The Vikings James Whittemore and Aaron Gammon were each third at 119 and 145, respectively.

It's been a long nearly a decade, but the Skowhegan program are finding out that all the hard work and sacrifices eventually pays dividends. The Indians scored 122 ½ points to finish second, highest ever, in the Class A East regional.

Skowhegan had developed a salty reputation for unruly behavior and eight wrestlers were on the team. Kurt Wentworth was hired as the coach nine years ago and the main objective was to improve the lack of discipline.

"It's a hard sport,"Wentworth said. "It takes a lot of inner strength for a kid to step on the mat. There's always' a chance that you will lose badly and that can be embarrassing in front of your girlfriend or mother."

The current team, comprised of mostly freshmen and sophomores, enjoyed a successful regular season. The momentum carried over to the post season and six individuals advanced to the regional finals. The winners were Brandon Hamilton (unbeaten at 152) and David Folsom at 189.

Hamilton, a junior, won a state championship last year at 130.

"If the kids respoect you as a coach, they will stay with the team,"Wentworth said. "It's important for the kids to see improvement. The strong finish will hopefully allow us to recruit more kids for the program."

An incident occurred near the end of the regional at Dirigo, which has left some observers questioning the final decision. The rules are clearly written to hopefully guard against out bursts, however, the preceding performances certainly tested the merits of sportsmanship.

An illegal move caused a wrestler to be injured, which invoked a reaction by the crowd. The opponent on the mat made a gesture to the crowd about who was number one. The referee saw this and whistled the wrestler for flagrant misconduct; disqualifying him from the tournament. This action prompted a teammate to run over and gesture to the crowd.

"It was the worst case of sportsmanship I've seen in my years of coaching,"Monmouth coach Charlie Fyler said. "The referee made the correct call initially. The rules were being followed, but I don't believe what happened after was handled correctly."

The rulebook states that any appeal, must be made immediately; while the wrestler remains in the center of the mat. In this instance, the final two matches were completed, prior to an appeal being lodged. A closed-door meeting was held, with the coach and officials, in order to discuss the preceding events. When the referee reappeared, he reversed the call. The wrestled was reinstated and is eligible to compete in a state meet this Saturday.

Joe Lawler became the first wrestler from Waterville High School to place in the Class A Eastern Maine tournament when he finished third in the 160-pound weight class on Saturday. Lawler also qualified to represent his school at the state championships, which will be held Feb. 8-9 at the Bangor Auditorium. His teammate, Davis McKenny, finished the day as the alternate to the state tournament the 171-pound class.

All in all it was a good day for Waterville, considering that Lawler and McKenny were the only two athletes representing the Purple Panthers. Waterville does not have an official wrestling program and the two competed as independents.

Lawler and McKenny have practiced and traveled to matches all season with Class B Winslow High School. Given the rivalry of Waterville and Winslow, might there be some friction in the practice room? Not so, according to Lawler.

"The Winslow guys are great," he said. "and the coaches have always treated us like we were part of the team."

The pair didn't have a lot of wrestling experience before this season, although McKenny was part of a middle school program run by the Waterville Rec department as an eighth grader and Lawler had wrestled a bit as a youngster in Tennessee.

Both seniors, they decided that it would be fun to compete this season. They found an ally in Waterville High Principal Scott Phair.

"Mr. Phair was very encouraging and even came to some of our matches at Winslow," said McKenny.

Independents competing and practicing with other schools aren't a rarity in wrestling. Cheverus High School had a two-time state finalist in Rico Minervino, who worked out with Westbrook High School. This season, Brunswick High School and Greely High School had athletes competing in regional tournaments as independents.

Still, McKenny feels that Waterville could field its own team.

"A lot of guys at school are interested in competing," he said.

MCI

On Saturday, Maine Central Institute's David Cavanagh pulled off two of the biggest upsets of the Eastern B championships on the way to the finals in the 119-pound class. Cavanagh entered the day with a 5-11 record and was seeded eighth. In his first match, he knocked off the No. 1 seed from Ellsworth by a 13-11 decision in overtime. Cavanagh followed this performance with a semifinal pin of the fourth seed from Camden Hills High School. His day ended with a loss in the finals, leaving him with the silver medal.

State Championship Tournament this weekend

Final preparations are under way for the state championship tournament this weekend at the Bangor Auditorium. On Friday, weigh-ins will he held from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. with opening ceremonies scheduled to begin at 5. The championship quarterfinals will be held for all classes on Friday night.

On Saturday, starting at 7:30 a.m., all wrestlers must weigh in again. An additional one pound is given for the second day. Championship finals are set to begin at 5 p.m.

In Class A, Western powerhouses Noble High School and Westbrook High School look like the favorites along with Mt. Blue High School. The Noble Knights put seven wrestlers into the regional finals and hope to take home their fourth consecutive state championship under coach Kip Devoll. Mt. Blue put eight into the Eastern Finals and will rely on defending state champs Scott Webber and Matt Waite to add valuable pin points to the team total.

Wells High School surprised many by winning the Western B title over favorite Mountain Valley High School. Neither team may have the depth to stand up to defending Class B champ Camden Hills. Belfast Area High School crowned six individual Eastern Regional champs and could be the dark horse in Class B.

Western Regional champion Lisbon High School is the strong favorite to win the Class C crown. Dexter Regional High School and a surprising Foxcroft Academy team are the strength of Eastern Maine.

Since Dec. 18, winning matches, qualifying for states, and winning team titles have lost a lot of importance for members of the Medomak Valley wrestling team.

That was the day sophomore wrestler Stephen Michaud went down in a heap and landed on his head while grappling with an opponent in a regular season home match against Lincoln Academy in Waldoboro.

"I wasn’t 100 percent sure something was wrong until they started hollering," said first-year varsity coach Phil Genthner. "He had a bear hug on the other kid and they were jockeying around. The other kid kind of slipped his arm up around his head and went back for the trip and when they went down, Steve just hit on his forehead.

"It was a freak injury. I don’t know how else to explain it."

Michaud’s opponent in the 215-pound weight class match immediately sensed something was wrong and didn’t move, despite the fact he and Michaud were tangled together in a heap on the mat.

"It was a lucky thing that the kid reacted the way he did. Most kids would have immediately thrown the other guy off and gotten up," said Medomak Valley athletic director Doug Libby, who retired as the school’s wrestling coach last year after 30 seasons.

"He must have lied there for 15 minutes, but his instincts were right," Libby added.

Michaud damaged his spinal cord and was partially paralyzed. He was transported to Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport and later airlifted to Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where he is currently being treated.

Initially, Michaud was unable to move his arms or legs, but has improved considerably.

"He’s in very good spirits. From day one, he’s told me he’s going to walk out of there. I saw him Sunday and he was pretty decent," Genthner said. "He looked a lot better than last time I saw him because he had the flu with a fever.

"He’s still got some fluid in his legs, but he can move his arms and he’s using the bathroom on his own now. He still has some swelling in his back, I think."

The son of Tammie and Steve Sr. has been going through regular physical therapy, and he told his coach he plans to attend Saturday’s state championship matches at the Bangor Auditorium.

"He’s waiting to get the doctor’s OK, but he’s already got a nurse all set up to bring him in and help him out," said Genthner, who wrestled at Gardiner High School and has been coaching the sport for 15 years.

Michaud’s mother has already told her son he won’t be resuming his wrestling career.

"I don’t blame her. I’m trying to talk him into being a manager next year because the poor kid’s had it rough with us," Genthner said. "Last year, he broke his ribs wrestling and this year he hurt his knee. And just after he came back, this happened. He’s a tough kid."

The Medomak Valley community has been galvanized by Michaud’s injury and has been raising money for the family through bottle drives, public suppers, raffles, and proceeds from concession sales at sporting events as well as simple donations. So far, more than $1,000 has been raised at last count, according to Libby.

"The state wrestling association has put up a request for donations on its Web site and we’re trying to help them out as much as possible," said Libby.

Donations to the Stephen Michaud Fund can be sent to Medomak Valley High School, 320 Manktown Road, Waldoboro, ME, 04572-5816, care of or attention to Doug Libby.

Scholarships for asthmatics

Schering/KEY, the pharmaceutical marketing unit of the New Jersey-based Schering-Plough Corporation, has announced a significant increase in scholarship grants to its annual Will to Win Asthma Athlete Scholarships Program.

The money available to student-athletes has nearly tripled from $35,000 last year to $100,000 in 2002, the 18th year of the program. The money will be awarded to 11 high school seniors who have excelled in athletics in spite of having asthma. The grand prize winner will receive a $20,000 award with four others receiving $12,500 each and six recipients getting $5,000 apiece. Information and applications can be obtained by calling 1-800-558-7305 or logging on to the company’s Web site at www.thewilltowin.org. Deadline for entries is April 30 and winners will be notified in June.

NORTH BERWICK - Massabesic's Matt Lude put the finishing touches on Saturday's Class A West Regional Wrestling Championship meet by pinning rival Pat Begin from Westbrook in the 275-pound weight class.

It was the third pin of the day for the Mustang captain and along with getting the gold medal he also gets the chance for his first look at the Bangor Auditorium and a leg up on fellow captain Tom Metz, the 135-pound champion.

Any wrestler placing fourth or better at Noble Saturday earned the right to compete another week. Survivors move on to the all-class state championship event to be held Friday night and Saturday in Bangor.

Metz and Lude have their own personal pinning race going on and Lude, who sees the end of his wrestling career in sight, has the slight edge as they both shoot for their first individual state titles.

"We're just trying to keep up with each other," the 26-3 Lude said. "I'm ahead now with the pins, somewhere in the twenties." Lude, a state runner-up the past two years, is also on a mission to win the ultimate title before he heads off to technical school.

"I think my wrestling career could be done. We both know what we want to do next," said Lude, one of the lighter heavyweights at 250 pounds. "I do go up against a lot of bigger people sometimes, but I try to use my quickness and strength. I just try not to let them get on top of me."

He expects a week of tough work to get ready. Metz is still unbeaten against Maine competition at 26-0 this winter. They'll each face the fourth-place East finishers in the first round at the state meet.

The Mustangs had a pair of individual champions and Kennebunk, in its first year back in Class A, grabbed another one of the 14 regional wrestling crowns, but Saturday's competition went much deeper than the finals that were held under the spotlight at Noble High.

The host Knights won their fourth consecutive Class A West wrestling crown with 168 points, despite having spent two weeks out of competition after a rash of staph infections hit the team.

Noble, which will now shoot for its fourth Class A state title had two individual winners and four second-place finishers. According to winning coach Kip DeVoll, Saturday was the first time he even had his whole lineup in action at the same meet. Many of the Knights (on the mend from injury or illness) were not their usual dominant selves, but they still had enough muscle to stop top challengers Westbrook (145 points) and Marshwood (125.5).

The Knights added five second-place finishes to boost the point total. Bonny Eagle and Biddeford rounded out the top five. The Scots had a title win by Ben Davis (125 pounds) and the Tigers had a trio of second-place finishers to pile up 92 points.

Kyle Hale won the 112-pound weight class for the Knights with a 4-1 decision over Biddeford's Jim Gaudette and both wrestlers looked drained in the third period.

Hale and the Knights had endured a long layoff and Gaudette is working his way through a sinus infection according to his father and coach Bob Gaudette. Hale prevailed with an escape and takedown in the final 33 seconds.

Joining the younger Gaudette as Tiger finalists were 140-pound Anthony Cincotta and 152-pounder Jimmy Smith. Cincotta also lost a tight championship bout as he was edged 8-6 by Marshwood's Ben Conte. Smith was pinned by Noble's Decota Cotten in 4:45. Smith lasted the longest of anyone against Cotten who had other fall times of :08 and :43.

Although he was a little disappointed at going 0 for 3 in the finals, Coach Gaudette has a young team loaded with potential. The Tigers placed fifth with 92 points.

"There were times when I wished we were a little more aggressive," he said, "but we're young and the goal today was to get people to qualify."

Besides the three finalists, Biddeford leads the local contingent up to Bangor with five qualifiers and two alternates (Brett Given, 145 and Jon Benson, 215). Rapidly improving sophomore Nate Vassill placed third at 103 pounds with an 8-6 win over Massabesic qualifier Corey Gallant. Sophomore Jon Cochrane (125) also took a third, registering three wins by pin.

Marshwood landed four individual champions. Conte took the 140-pound division; Colby Lamson won at 145; Cody Lightfoot won at 189 and Pat Howard got a pin at 4:38 in the 130-pound class.

Lamson beat BE's Ben Chapman in a class where Kennebunk senior Anthony Racaniello took third, Lightfoot topped Westbrook's Mike Spofford who had earned his 100th career win during the afternoon and Howard ended up pinning Sanford's Brian Bourque who called the undefeated Hawk "wicked strong."

Bourque, a junior, has qualified for his third straight trip to the state meet and is one of four Redskins headed for Bangor. Bourque's march to the finals included a pin and a 9-1 decision, but he's not as excited to be going another week as usual.

"Things are different this year," Bourque said, "a lot has happened with my family with my brother (Billy) passing away. I just wish he could be there."

Sanford coaches Mark Hansen and Charlie Caramihalis were hoping to get a handful of qualifiers and they will be taking four competitors to Bangor,

Nick Legere, a state champ two winters ago at 152, went head to head against Kennebunk's Ben Kinerson in the regional finals and came up short against the Rams' talented sophomore.

Kinerson had been the meet's No. 1 seed but had lost an 11-4 bout to Legere at the start of the season.

"It feels pretty good," Kinerson said after working his way to a 6-2 win. "He beat me pretty good the last time."

Legere was second in the state meet last year and Kinerson wound up fourth. They've both jumped up a class, but could very well meet again in Bangor.

Other Kennebunk qualifiers include: Mike Dumas (130), Racaniello, and Chris Seavey, who was fourth at 275. Sanford will also send Peter Wentworth (112) and Chad Edwards (171). Joining Metz, Lude and Gallant from the Mustangs will be Ken Belanger (119) and alternate Brian Pond.

In action at Bath Saturday, Mt. Blue's Cougars piled up 188 points to win the Class A East title. Skowhegan was second with 122.5, followed by Oxford Hills at 119.

YORK - Saturday was Wells wrestling coach Mark Lewia's 41st birthday, and the members of his wrestling team presented him with the best present possible for the occasion, the Western Maine Class B championship, the Warriors first since 1996.

Ten individuals, led by champions Edgar Wallace (135), Corey Brown (140), and Adam Chase (275), will move on to next week's state championship meet, a two-day affair at the Bangor Auditorium which will feature all three classes, A, B, and C, at one place and at one time.

The margain of victory for Wells was a mere one and a half points over defending champ Mountain Valley, 174.5-173. Victory was assured when Chase, the Warriors' senior heavyweight, pinned Oak Hill's Adam Buckingham at the 3:42 mark of their match. Chase had been victorious in their only previous meeting this season, by a 5-0 decision, and was aware that the only way to insure a Wells championship was to record a pin. No pressure, no problem for the senior who has been dominant all season long in his weight class.

Joing the three Warrior champions on the trip to the state's will be second place finishers Malcolm Phillips (125), Dylan Grethe (130), Gale Pauly (145), and Pat Casten (215). Also making the trip will be third place finishers Steven Grethe (112), Matt Witham (152) and Ben Pierce (160).

Waiting in Bangor will be Camden Hills, which easily captured the Eastern crown at Belfast, outpointing the host Lions by a 223-199 score. Winslow was third with 134.5 points. Camden Hills qualified 12 wrestlers for the state meet including five individual champions.

In Class C West action it was defending state champion Lisbon capturing its first regional crown with a 211-143 victory over Dirigo. Kittery's Traip Academy was third with 103 points. Lisbon qualified all 14 of its wrestlers for the event while Dirigo will send 13.

Ten Traip competitors will also make the trip, led by a quartet of second place finishers: Josh Bedard (119), Jake Bedard (125), Bryan Farren (135), and Mike Navarro (140). The Rangers also had a quintet of third place finishers: Mike Embry (130), Tony Reyes (152), Devin Sullivan (160), Ben Ockerbloom (171), and Joe Loehmer (189). Chris German, Traip's 145-pounder, finished fourth, to also qualify.

The top three finishers in the East Regionals, held at Bucksport High School, were Dexter with 204.5 points, Foxcroft Academy with 190, and the host Golden Bucks with 164.5.

The varsity wrestling team traveled to Dirigo Sat. 2/2 to compete in the Class C western Regional.

The team members did a great job representing themselves and are looking forward to the upcoming Northern New England Meet to be held this weekend at Hyde School.

One of the best matches of the day was wrestled by Mike Mulligan @ 171, winning a first round match-up against the number one seed, Bryan Willey of Lisbon. The match ended 15-13 putting Mike into the finals were he placed second, losing 6-2 to a wrestler who had pinned Mike twice before. Mike Mulligan will be representing Hyde at the State meet Feb 8th and 9th in Bangor.

Trent Pool representing Hyde @ 275 came away with a third and Andrew Sylvester @ 152 wrestled to a fourth place finish.

BELFAST (Feb 4, 2002): On Saturday, the Camden Hills Windjammer wrestling team traveled to Belfast to compete in the Class B Eastern Regional Championships and returned as champions for the eighth straight year.

Though their previous record of seven wins in a row would state otherwise, for many reasons this year's team has been considered the underdog and at the same time, the team everyone wants to beat. Belfast and Winslow, this year's second and third place teams, had previously surpassed Camden Hills in head-to-head competition, but on Saturday, both teams came up short against the 'Jammers. And though Belfast did secure more individual regional champions with six of them, Camden Hills secured five individual champions and qualified 12 wrestlers for the state meet to overcome Belfast 223 to 199.

Camden's win was a solid team effort. Though wrestlers like Levi and Jake Rollins and Chris Remsen were more or less expected to win their weight-class because of strong performances throughout the year, and their wins were no less impressive, Camden's success was because every wrestler placed higher than projected compared to the official seeding meeting placements.

In a meeting after the meet, coach John Kelly stated, "We are wrestling our best right when we want to -- at the end of the year."

Throughout the day there were a number of outstanding wrestling matches that kept the Windjammers in first place. In a wrestling tournament, individual wrestlers advance with each win, and as they advance in the tournament brackets the team earns 'advancement points.'

Bryan 'Double O.T.' Creamer, a sophomore 189-pound wrestler had a surprising win in the last seconds of double overtime at the KVAC championship meet last weekend. And this Saturday, 'Mr. O.T.' did it again. As stated by one of Camden's alumni adult volunteer coaches, Aaron Henderson, "To have the confidence to take it to the last moment knowing you can win is a tremendous asset."

Bryan was surprised, as well, that in the second period of overtime his opponent chose the top position. In the second 'sudden-death' 30-second long overtime period, if the wrestling on bottom escapes, he wins, if he doesn't the wrestler on top wins. Usually it is considered easier to escape than it is to maintain control of the wrestler. Bryan escaped four seconds into the period to win his first regional title.

Jake Rand, wrestling at 215, also had a tremendous day. Coming into the tournament he was expected to place near last by the official seeding before the meet, but winning a match in overtime in the semi-final round with a takedown enabled Jake to place a strong second.

Justin Bodamer, at 119 pounds, is a first-year wrestler. Justin, who started the season new to the sport, slowly made gains all year long. To be a first-year wrestler and qualify for the state meet is a huge accomplishment. Justin wrestled tough with some big throws combined with moves that required both skills and some new-found strength helped him make the difference.

Sam Glover, a senior at 160, won his first tournament championship. With this win, it sets him up well for the state meet. Sam, who has wrestled since junior high, had both been behind some dominant wrestlers his first two years and last was befuddled by sickness and injury, turned it on at the right time.

Kyle Sylvester, at 112, earns the right for his first time to wrestle for Camden Hills at the state meet. Kyle wrestled strong to a second place finish but was not able to get the best of Mike Ames, of Belfast, in the championship round though Kyle scored two takedowns in the remaining minutes.

Isaac Read at 130, a senior who had the champion on his back to end the first period, ultimately could not surpass Brian Blackler. In the second period of the championship round, Blackler capitalized on a Read mistake, and first-year varsity Isaac Read finished second.

If any Camden wrestler had some hard luck, it was Cal Pease. Cal, another first year varsity senior at 171, placed a strong third. In the continuing saga of questionable calls against Camden from the Camden Hills' fan perspective, Cal had two bad calls not go his way in the semi-final round where he lost 10-9 to the eventual second place Winslow wrestler.

To clarify, the official scored two points for Winslow for 'taking control' of Pease with a takedown when the wrestlers were in an arguably neutral position. In speaking with the Winslow coach after the match he stated "We [Winslow] got one to got our way that time, but overall the officiating has been inconsistent at best today." The match ended with Pease keeping his Winslow opponent on his back for seemingly a 25 second pin count that was not called in Pease' favor.

Ultimately, Pease would lose 10-9 that match, but he easily won his way through the consolation round to finish third. Cal has a chance at redemption at next Friday's and Saturday's state meet competition in Bangor. Pease had pinned Saturday's 171 pound champion, Wagner, of Belfast, earlier in the year.

Peter Forst, Camden's 145 pounder for the day, found himself wrestling when he had least expected it. With the varsity member not being at maximum weight for this class, Kelly chose new comer Peter Forst to step in. Though Peter was the only Camden Hills wrestler not to qualify for the state meet, Coach John Kelly recognized him for "stepping up, not showing any fear, getting himself ready to wrestling tough, and earning points for the team."

Nathaniel Boehmer (pronounced bur-mer) at 152 not only had the record for most botched pronunciation of his name by the announcer, won three and lost one match to place third. Boehmer is one of three wrestlers who wrestled varsity "a year earlier than otherwise projected," stated Coach Kelly. Nathaniel pinned his way through the consolation bracket, and he was just another Camden Hills wrestler who wrestled tough all day and all season long.

"Senior Joe Zak at 140 seems to be taking turns with winning with Stace of Winslow," said coach John Kelly "next weekend is Zak's turn!" Zak lost to Dan Stace in the finals when he got caught hard in a pinning combination. Previously, Stace beat Zak earlier in the year, only to have Zak overcome Stace in last week's KVAC championship.

For the third time this year, both Rollins', Jake (103) and Levi (125), took home championship bracket sheets -- both winning their weight-class by pin. Jake is in his first varsity season where he wrestled behind his brother Levi last year. Levi was last year's state champion at 103 pounds. Will next weekend be the forth dual-Rollins championships?

With a win in the quarter final round, Levi secured his 100th win in his high school career – as a junior. Dominance.

Chris Remsen, a sophomore team captain and returning state champion. Undefeated all year long, Coach John Kelly said it best: "Will Chris find anyone who can go six minutes with him at the state meet. Maybe if he takes on two at a time!"

Remsen is a tough, quick strong wrestler with tremendous balance and superb work ethic, a super person off and on the mat. What else could anyone ask for? How about state championship number two – in hopes for four titles by his senior year. Remsen is the type of wrestler who can do it.

Camden Hills takes 12 team members to the state tournament. The combined state meet will be a two-day tournament at the Bangor Auditorium starting on Friday at 5:30 p.m., and Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Classes A, B, and C will wrestle at the facility.

Camden Hills, Belfast, Mountain Valley, Wells, and Winslow are expected to be at the top of the pack.

YORK, Maine - Sean Bradburn and Mike Cicero of the host York High School wrestling team won Western Maine Class B championships on Saturday, placing first in their respective weight classes.

All told, seven Wildcats will be making the trip to Bangor for next weekend's Class B state meet.

Bradburn (215 pounds) and Cicero (189) each recorded pins in the first rounds of their championship matches. York's Kyle Sullivan just missed on a regional title and placed second at 171 pounds.

Three Wildcats , Collin Brennan (103), Patrick Guisty (125) and Kyle Clark (130) , each earned third place. Eddie Prior had two pins on the day and took fourth at 119 pounds.

Cicero's pin in his championship match took just 20 seconds. Bradburn's came in 1:23.

The Wildcats tied Lincoln Academy for fourth place in the team competition with 95 points. Wells (174.5) edged Mountain Valley (173) for the regional crown. Fryeburg came in third among the nine teams with 105.5 points.

The state meet begins on Friday and will carry over to Saturday.

DIXFIELD, Maine , In Saturday's Western Maine Class C regional at Dixfield, the Traip Academy wrestling team finished third with 103 points. Lisbon won the meet with 211 points, followed by host Dirigo at 143. The remainder of the field was Monmouth (85), Wiscasset (46), Hyde (23) and Boothbay (20).

All 10 Traip wrestlers that coach Larry Dennis brought to Dixfield placed in the meet and will compete at the Class C state meet next weekend in Bangor.

Five Rangers were runners-up in their respective weight classes: Josh Bedard (119 pounds), Jake Bedard (125), Bryan Farren (135), Mike Navarro (140) and Tony Reyes (152).

Mike Embry (130), Devin Sullivan (160) and Joe Loehmer (189) all placed third in their weight classes. Ben Ockerbloom (171) and Chris German (145) earned fourth-place finishes.

"I was impressed," said Dennis. "We have a very young team, and for them to get third is a great accomplishment. I think we'll be in the top four next weekend."

BATH- There are always surprises in a wrestling tournament, however, a team which handles the situation positively will usually succeed and that's exactly what Mount Blue High School to score 188 points in successfully defending its Class A Eastern regional championship. The Cougars, who set the tone early, were spear headed by freshman Shane Webber who maintained his focus to win the 103-pounds championship.

Scott Webber (112), Seth Webber (119), Ryan Hutchinson (140) and Matt Waite (215) also won individual crowns. Mount Blue placed 10 wrestlers for the state meet in Bangor beginning Friday.

The top four wrestlers in each weight division have automatically qualified.

Skowhegan (122 ½ points) finished in second to leap past Oxford Hills who finished third with 119. Seth McAlister (125) and Ryan Bryce (160) had each recorded pins in the finals to give Oxford Hills a short lived three-point lead. Cony 87 ½ was fourth , followed by Gardiner 86 1/2.

Mount Blue iced the title as eight individuals scored approximately 115 points by winning semi-final matches.

"There are always ups and downs in tournaments,"Mount Blue coach Nate Phillips said. "We had suffered some (adversity) when a couple kids were upset in the semi-finals. But Matt Ryan (171) and Shawn Spangler (189) each put it behind them and came back to finish third."

The Cougars Webber brothers were perfect table setters in the finals. Shane executed a reversal with 27 seconds remaining for a 7-5 decision against Eric Beaulieu of Cony. Scott Webber engineered a gulliteen pin on Skowheagan freshman Dylan Wentworth. Seth Webber escaped and then held on for a 5-4 win against Brooks Thompson of Skowhegan.

"That was a big win by Shane,"Phillips said. "He's a young wrestler, but he maintained his composure. We'll need him to repeat that performance in order to beat Noble and Westbrook next weekend."

Waite cruised in pinning three opponents in a combined one minute and 55 seconds. Scott Webber (29-0) and Waite (30-0) are both two-time defending state champions.

Hutchinson used an early five-point move and won a 10-3 decision over Brad Waugh of Cony Hutchinson had beat Waugh in the semi-finals of the KVACs last Saturday.

"I knew that I had to counter him,"Hutchinson said. "I've been working on my takedowns with coach Phillips. I just knew that I couldn't afford to be on the bottom against Waugh on the mat."

Oxford Hills qualified nine wrestlers, led by McAlister who stuck Jing Mai of Cony. McAlister won a state championship at 103 last year. Bryce sunk in a power half nelson to pin Pete Gervais of Mount Ararat. The Vikings James Whittemore and Aaron Gammon were each third at 119 and 145, respectively.

Ben Goulette of Morse decisioned Damian Osgood of Mount Blue 9-3 and 145. Goulette (24-0) is a two-time defending state champion.

Skowhegan champions were Brandon Hamilton 152 and David Folsom at 189.

"I knew we'd do better today,"Skowhegan coach Kurt Wentworth said. "The match-ups were different than at the KVACs and that's a big difference."

Brandon Hamilton (152) of Skowhegan pinned Billy Swihart of Mount Blue.The Indian junior is defending state champion. Gardiner had champions Liam Koza 130 and Tai McKay 135, who stuck Chris Aroujo of Mount Blue.

John Bursley of Mount Ararat pinned Nate Libby of Oxford Hills in the final match at 275.

In a clash of brother schools, in a match featuring many individual highlights on both sides of the mat, today's prep wrestling dual between Hyde-Maine and Hyde-Connecticut ended in a tie. Although Bath improved upon its December showing, the result still left even more to be decided at next Saturday's Northern New England Championships hosted by the northern campus.

The program's two 171-pound captains, Woodstock's Aaron Cahn and Bath's Wes Matheny, opened the day's contests, with Matheny seeking to avenge a December setback. Neither wrestler disappointed the cramped wrestling room audience. The first period ended in a 4-4 tie. In the second period, each traded two reversals apiece with the difference of one point coming on Matheny's takedown following Cahn's escape. In the third, Matheny wore Cahn down, scoring an escape, a takedown, and a nearfall for the final decisive 15-9 advantage. Matheny raised his Class A league record to 8-3 and dropped Cahn's to 9-2, setting up the potential for a third match in the Northern NE finals as the # 1 and # 2 seeds.

Next at 189, Bath's Virgil Buzzell scored 3 takedowns to Bill Boeschenstein's 3 escapes before putting his shoulders to the mat at 4:14.

Virgil improves to 3-1 in the league, 12-4 overall in his first season. Moving up to 215 to help the Bath squad, Mike Goltra earned the first takedown on Joe Gianetti before his Woodstock opponent caught him in an awkward position and moved in for the first-period kill. Lucas Jarvis debuted as Bath's heavyweight but fell victim to Jesse Wang's head and arm takedown to his back. With the forfeit at 103, Bath had fallen behind 18-9 in the team score. But freshman Corey Littman again held the day at 112, bringing us six points closer with a fall over Meaghan Bartlett. Following a second forfeit at 119, Coby Puglisi put Bath back in contention, dominating Dave Fleming (bumped up from 119) before sticking him in the 3rd period. Naturally a 125-pounder, Damion Mathis fought off many pinning combinations from Woodstock's 130-pound Dave Lawver before succumbing with only eight seconds left in the match.

After Woodstock's Brian Dominguez secured Ben Baxter in his stack cradle at 135, Bath was looking up at a 21-36 deficit, but we were far from finished for the day. Captain Alex Rosen began the comeback with a 3:23 fixing of Jason Jung, improving his league record to 6-4 at 140 pounds. Continuing his climb from JV to begin the season, Matt Lemonds again came through at 145, waxing Cody Wexler in the first period. Matt improves his league record to 2-1. Next Danny Wolstein stepped up a weight to 152; his pin of Dave Warnke put Hyde-Maine in the lead 39-36 going into the final bout at 160 pounds. Bath's Dan Bornstein and Woodstock's Tim Rogalski went down to the final ten seconds, with Rogalski's escape making the difference in a 3-2 result which tied the final team score at 39.

There were no losers on this day which celebrated the resurgence of wrestling as a reflection of the Hyde spirit, as evident on the Woodstock campus as in its ancestral home in Bath.

YORK - It should be very comforting for Wells Coach Mark Lewia to know he leads a group that wrestles much better than it sings. Lewia, who turned 41 on Saturday, was given a very off-key "Happy Birthday" serenade by his wrestlers, but only after they presented him with a Western Class B regional championship Saturday.

The Warriors captured their first regional title since 1996 by narrowly dethroning the defending champion, Mountain Valley, 174 1/2 to 173. Fryeburg Academy (105 1/2) took third in the nine-team field, and Lincoln Academy and York (95 each) tied for fourth.

The victory for Wells could hardly have come in more dramatic fashion. It took 275-pound Adam Chase`s pin in the final match, against Adam Buckingham of Oak Hill, to give the Warriors the points they needed.

"We were keeping track the whole time," said Lewia. "We knew it was going to be close. That was a big win."

Wells and Mountain Valley were close throughout. The Warriors took a 5 1/2-point lead into the championship round, but that was immediately erased when Mountain Valley took victories in the 103- and 112-pound matches.

The Falcons extended their lead when Ben Madigan, at 130, pinned Dylan Grethe of Wells in the first of two head-to-head championship bracket matchups between the schools.

Edgar Wallace of the Warriors quickly countered with a 6-0 victory against Chris Smith of Mountain Valley in the 135-pound match.

Mountain Valley earned its last points when Kirk Nelson outpointed Shawn Studholme of Erskine Academy 14-5 at 152, and still held a 4 1/2-point lead heading into the final match of the day.

The Warriors needed no less than a pin by Chase, who said he was aware of the situation.

"I had only beaten him 5-0 during the year, and I knew it was going to be a tough match," said Chase.

Chase built a 4-0 lead midway through the second period, but knowing points wouldn`t be enough, he began to position Buckingham for the pin.

"He tried to switch on me," Chase said. "So I grabbed the arm - it`s a version of the hammerlock - and rolled him."

"We came in with a goal to place as many kids in the top four (qualifying for the state meet) as possible," said Lewia. "(To) win it is icing."

Also heading to Bangor for the state meet next week will be 103-pound freshman Nicole Lemay of Oak Hill.

Lemay, who finished second to Ian Venskus of Mountain Valley, is believed to be the first Western Maine girl to qualify for the state Class B meet.

"It`s going to be a good experience," said Lemay, who started wrestling this year.

Also, David Gregory of Lincoln Academy (119) scored four points in the final 30 seconds to take a 6-3 victory against Chris Fraser of Erskine.

"Eventually what I got him with was the standing switch," said Gregory. "It`s something very basic, but it was something for me to get my points."

Mike Cicero of York needed 20 seconds to pin Richard Chute of Fryeburg Academy in the 189-pound match.

Corey Brown of Wells outpointed Zane Baker of Greely 18-5 at 140. Brown rolled up a 12-0 lead, then had to fend off Baker, who nearly pinned him as the second period ended.

BERWICK - Noble, the two-time defending state champion, put a full lineup on the mat for the first time this season and captured its third consecutive Western Class A wrestling championship Saturday. Meanwhile, Lisbon ended Dirigo`s five-year hold on the Western Class C championship in convincing fashion at Dixfield.

At each site, the top four wrestlers in each weight class qualified for the state tournament next Friday and Saturday at the Bangor Auditorium.

Western Class A scores: Noble 168, Westbrook 145, Marshwood 125 1/2, Bonny Eagle 102, Biddeford 92, Massabesic 69, Deering 64 1/2, Sanford 62, Kennebunk 59, Portland 33 and Windham 9.

Western Class C scores: Lisbon 211, Dirigo 143, Traip Academy 103, Monmouth Academy 85, Wiscasset 46, Hyde 23 and Boothbay Region 20.

All but one of 14 wrestlers scored for Noble.

"They know what they have to do," said Noble Coach Kip DeVoll. "They know it`s not enough to send four guys to the finals. Everyone has to win a match."

Kyle Hale at 112 pounds and Decota Cotten at 152 were the only Knights to capture individual titles.

But Noble, hampered by injury or illness for much of the regular season, qualified nine wrestlers for the state tournament to remain in contention for another state title.

Other individual champions: Nick Lavigne, Westbrook (103); Lew Emery, Westbrook (119); Ben Davis, Bonny Eagle (125); Pat Howard, Marshwood (130); Jon Metz, Massabesic (135); Ben Conte, Marshwood (140); Colby Lamson, Marshwood (145); Ben Kinnerson, Kennebunk (160); Jon Kane, Deering (171); Cody Lightfoot, Marshwood (189); Chris Tracy, Westbrook (215); and Matt Lude, Massabesic (275).

CLASS C: Lisbon, the defending state champion, dominated the lower weights to win its first regional title.

Troy Clark at 112 pounds, Derek Guisto at 119, Will Vice at 125, Nate Hix at 130 and B.J. Hamm at 125 pounds won regional titles for the Greyhounds. Adam Lord also captured a regional title at 215 pounds.

All 14 Lisbon wrestlers qualified for next weekend`s state championship meet.

Dirigo will send 13 wrestlers to the state meet, including regional champions Curtis Brann at 152, Nick Gurney at 160, Derrick Gilbert at 171 and Mike Williams at 275

BATH - The Webber brothers led Mt. Blue to its second consecutive Eastern Class A wrestling championship Saturday. Also, Camden Hills turmed back a stiff challenge from Belfast, which hosted the meet, to claim its sixth consecutive Eastern Class B title.

And at Bucksport, Dexter captured its fourth Eastern Class C championship in five years.

The top four wrestlers in each weight class qualified for the state tournament next Friday and Saturday.

Eastern Class A scores: Mt. Blue 188, Skowhegan 122 1/2, Oxford Hills 119, Cony 87 1/2, Gardiner 86 1/2, Morse 61 1/2, Mt. Ararat 59, Brewer 55 1/2, Nokomis 38, Waterville 16 and Brunswick 3.

Eastern Class B scores: Camden Hills 223, Belfast 199, Winslow 134 1/2, Caribou 76 1/2, Ellsworth 73 1/2, Medomak Valley 70, Old Town 64, Maine Central Institute 40 1/2, Hermon 30, Mt. Desert Island 17 and Mt. View 6.

Eastern Class C scores: Dexter 204 1/2, Foxcroft Academy 190, Bucksport 164 1/2, Penobscot Valley 80, George Stevens Academy 64, Woodland 62, Madawaska 60, John Bapst, 36, Mattanawcook 27 and Calais 17 1/2.

EASTERN A

All three Webbers won their weight class to help Mt. Blue finish with its big cushion.

Shane Webber at 103, Scott Webber at 112 and Seth Webber at 119 claimed individual titles for the Cougars, who qualified nine wrestlers for the state meet. Ryan Hutchinson at 140 and Mike Waite at 215 also won titles for Mt. Blue.

Other individual champions: Seth McAllister, Oxford Hills (125); Liam Kozma, Gardiner (130); Taj McKay, Gardiner (135); Ben Goulette, Morse (145); Brandon Hamilton, Skowhegan (152); Ryan Bryce, Oxford Hills (160); Jeff Madden, Brewer (171); David Folsom, Skowhegan (189); and John Bursley, Mt. Ararat (275).

EASTERN B

Brothers Jake Rollins at 103 and Levi Rollins at 125 pinned opponents in the championship finals to help Camden-Rockport, the defending state champion, finish ahead of Belfast.

Chris Remsen at 135, Sam Glover at 160 and Bryan Creamer at 189 also won individual titles for the Windjammers, who qualified 12 wrestlers for the state meet.

Six Belfast wrestlers won titles: Mike Ames (112), Norman Gilmore (119), Dustin Armstrong (145), Nick Ouimet (152), Eric Wagner (171) and Devin Potvin (215).

The other individual champions: Bryan Blackler, Medomak Valley (130); Dan Stace, Winslow (140); and Jon Judkins, Caribou (275).

EASTERN C

Six Dexter wrestlers captured individual titles to help the Tigers reclaim the regional title they lost a year ago.

Winning titles for Dexter: Chris Barkac (103), Keith Thompson (112), Kevin Armstrong (145), Aaron Thomas (152), Ben Pomelow (160) and Mike Burton (215).

Other individual winners: Billy Romanelli, Woodland (119); Ryan Whittemore, Foxcroft Academy (125); Dave Maguire, Bucksport (130); Josh Pelletier, Bucksport (135); Adam Bourgoin, Bucksport (140); Keith Champion, Penobscot Valley (175); and Trey Merrill, Foxcroft Academy (275).

BATH - As expected, Mt. Blue High School dominated the competition at the Eastern Maine high school wrestling championships. The Cougars sent eight wrestlers to the finals and ran away with their second consecutive title under coach Nate Phillips. Mt. Blue scored 188 points for the win in the 11 team field.

Skowhegan Area High School finished in second place with 122.5 points narrowly edging Oxford Hills (119) for the runners-up plaque. Cony High School (87.5) and Gardiner Area High School (86.5) rounded out the top five.

The Webber brothers got Mt. Blue rolling with three straight wins to begin the finals round. Shane (103) scored a two-point reversal with 30 seconds left in the third period to break a 5-5 deadlock against Cony's Eric Beaulieu. Webber held on to Beaulieu to get the 7-5 win. Scott (112) won his third Eastern Maine title by pinning Skowhegan's Dylan Wentworth in the finals. It was Scott's third pin of the day. Seth (119) completed the sweep by beating Skowhegan's Brooks Thompson, 5-4.

Ryan Hutchinson (140) evened his season series with Cony's Brad Waugh at two wins apiece with a 10-3 championship victory. Hutchinson showed explosive power by taking Waugh directly to his back with two single leg lifts. The win was Hutchinson's second consecutive Eastern Maine title.

Matt Waite cruised through the 215-pound class with three staight pins to round out the Cougars championship wins. None of Waites opponents survived the first round.

Chris Aroujo (135), Damian Osgood (145), Billy Swihart (152), finished second for the Cougars, while Matt Ryan (171) and Shawn Spangler (189) placed third.

Skowhegan got championships from Brandon Hamilton (152) and David Folsom (189) but needed help from Mt. Ararat to secure their second place finish. Mt. Ararat's John Bursley victory by pin over Oxford Hills' Nate Libby at heavyweight in the last match of the day cinched Skowhegan's position.

"We knew coming in that we couldn't touch Mt. Blue," said Skowhegan coach Kurt Wentworth, "they just have too many good athletes."

Wentworth pointed to Dean Redlevske's semifinal pin of Mt. Blue's Matt Ryan as being a key win for the Indians.

"Everything else turned out pretty much as planned," he said. Skowhegan sent a total of six grapplers to the finals, getting second place finishes from Redlevske, Wentworth, Thompson, and Chad Flannery (215).

The upset of the day came in the 189-pound class where Cony's fourth-seeded Joey McInnis pulled out a 10-8 semifinal win over Mt. Blue's top-seed Shawn Spangler. McInnis finished in second place along with teammates Beaulieu, Waugh, and Jing Mai. Mai lost to Oxford Hills' Seth McAlister by pin in the 125-pound final.

Gardiner's Liam Kozma (130) and Taj McKay (135) each took home gold medals. Kozma met a familiar foe in the finals in Nokomis's Pat Morse. Kozma lost a 6-4 overtime decision in last season's state championship consolation finals to finish in fourth place. Today, Kozma scored twice with cradles in the first period and hung on for a 6-2 decision.

"He was strong and controlled the neutral position" said Kozma.

McKay won his title with a third period pin over Mt. Blue's Chris Aroujo.

Other champions were Morse's Ben Goulette (145), Oxford Hills' Ryan Bryce (160), and Brewer's Jeff Maddin (171).

EASTERN B

Dan Stace pined Joe Zak of Camden Hills High School at 50 seconds to win the 140-pound title to help Winslow High School finish third in the regional championship in Belfast.

Camden Hills won the team title with 223 points. Belfast Area High School was second with 199 points. Rounding out the top five were Winslow (134.5), Caribou High School (76.5), Ellsworth High School (73.5). Maine Central Institute finished eight with 40.5 points.

For Winslow, Derek Folsom, Andy Young and Dan Burke also reached the championship round. Folsom was pined by Chris Remsen at 1:08 in the 135-pound class; Young was lost to Eric Wagner of Belfast, 10-4, in the 171-class; and Burke lost to Jon Judkins of Caribou, 8-7, in the 275-pound class. Justin Nesbitt (112), Peter Lee (119), Ken Roy (160) and Chris Desrosier (215) all won in the consolation finals for Winslow.

Jake Lasselle of MCI won the 135-pound consolation final.

WESTERN B

Ben Johnson pinned Malcolm Phillips of Wells High School as Oak Hill High School finished sixth in at York High School.

Wells won the team championship with 174.5 points, followed by Mountain Valley (173), Fryeburg (105.5), Lincoln (95) and York (95) in the top five.

Nicole Lemay (103) and Adam Buckingham (275) also reached the championship finals for Oak Hill. Lemay was pined by Mountain Valley's Ian Venskus and Buckingham was pined by Wells' Adam Chase.

For Erskine, Chris Fraser lost in the championship finals to David Gregory of Lincoln Academy in the 119-pound class. Roman Gosselin won the 140 pound consolation final, pinning Chris Randall of Fryeburg Academy at 2:48. Andrew Grenier lost in the consolation finals to Ben Pierce of Wells in the 160-pound class.

WESTERN C

Aaron Kaluzynski pinned Lisbon High School's Charlie Stambach at 3:05 to win the 103-pound championship as Monmouth Academy finished fourth at Dirigo High School.

Lisbon won the team championship with 211 points, with Dirigo finishing second (143), Traip third (103), followed by Monmouth, Wiscasset (46), Hyde (23) and Boothbay (20).

Will Vice (125), Nate Hix (130), B.J. Hamm (135) and Adam Lord (215) all won titles for Lisbon.

Also for Monmouth, Heidi Bonerud reached the 112 final, losing to Clark, and Ryan Audet reached the 130 finals. Audet was pined by Hix. In the consolation round, Wes Danforth defeated Dwight Millet of Dirigo in the 119-pound class; Mike Boulette defeated Tony Smith of Dirigo in 135; and Nate Butler won the 215 class by forfeit. Jessica Fox lost in the consolation finals to Dana McKeen of Dirigo.

For Wiscasset, Paul Rines defeated Mike Navarro of Traip, 9-3, to win the 140-pound title and Matt Reed pined David Flagg at 5:31 to win the 145-pound championship.

The Lisbon High School turned in a total team effort as the Greyhounds scored 211 points to win their first-ever Class C Western wrestling regional championship Saturday.

Lisbon was a heavy favorite and went on the offensive early. The Greyhounds were led by individual champions Troy Clark 112, Derek Guisto 119, Will Vice 125, Nate Hix 130, B.J. Hamm 135 and Adam Lord 215. The defending state champions qualified all 14 wrestlers for the state meet. The top four individuals will compete in the two-day event beginning Friday evening at the Bangor Auditorium.

Dirigo (143) finished second, paced by champions Curtis Brann (152), Nick Gurney (160), Derrck Gilbert (171) and Richard Williams (275). The Cougars won the previous six regional crowns since its inception in 1996.

"I’m extremely pleased," Lisbon coach Mark Stevens said. "It was a total team effort in winning regionals for the first time. The kids worked hard, including Mitch Harmon (140) and Josh Dubois (145), who placed third after beating kids who they had lost to all season."

Clark started a string of five-straight pins by Lisbon in the finals. Clark and Hix stuck Monmouth teammates Hedi Bonderud and Ryan Audet. Guisto, Vice and Hamm. Ryan Willey was third at 171.

The Greyhounds Joey Schreiber who lost by injury default at 189, and Jamie Englebert (275) were finalists. Ron Bonsaint of Lisbon was pinned by Brann, but Lord avenged the loss by sticking the Cougars Scott Skibitsky.

Gurney won a 9-2 decision over the Hounds’ Rob Hespe. Gurney won the 2001 state crown at 145.

The Cougars’ Derick Gilbert decisioned Mike Mulligan of Hyde 6-1 in the 171 finals. Coach Doug Gilbert and his son Derrick competed with heavy hearts because Gilbert’s father passed away Wednesday.

Wiscasset champions were Paul Rines (140) and Matt Reed (145). Rines pinned David Flagg of Dirigo.

The Cougars’ Anthony Garcia 103, Eli Johnson (112) and Dana McKeen125 were each third.

"It was an interesting day," Gilbert said. "Lisbon placed 11 in the finals and were simply too tough. My top six kids wrestled really well and the some younger kids placed well."

Aaron Kaluzynski (103) was the lone champion from Monmouth. Kaluzynski, who won a state title in 2000, pinned Charlie Stambach of Lisbon.

The Mustangs (85) qualified seven wrestlers, including thirds from Wes Danforth (119), Mike Boulette (135) and Nate Butler at 215. Chris Brown, a Boothbay student, won the 189 match by injury default.

NORTH BERWICK, Maine - Not even a two-week layoff and a rash of staph infections could keep the Noble High School wrestling team from claiming its fourth straight Western Maine Class A regional title.

The Knights weren’t their usual dominant selves with only two wins on Saturday, but Noble more than made up for it with five second-place finishes that boosted it to a team-total of 168 points. Southern Maine Athletic Association co-champ Westbrook finished second with 145 points.

"We really didn’t wrestle that well today," Noble coach Kip Devoll said. "Those two weeks off affected our performance a lot, but the team still knew what we needed to do and sucked it up."

The Knights will be seeking their fourth straight state championship next Saturday in Bangor.

Prior to Saturday’s tournament, the Knights hadn’t competed in two weeks due to an outbreak of staph infections on the team. It also kept the team from practicing until Monday.

Kyle Hale, who won the 112-pound weight class for the Knights with a 4-1 decision, said the layoff definitely had an impact on his match.

"That week off just killed me because I was dead," Hale said. "In the third period I thought this is it, whose going to go to the states against (Mt. Blue’s John) Weber?"

Decota Cotten was the other Noble winner, with a pin at 4:45 in the 152-pound weight class.

The school that actually garnered the most wins was Noble’s neighbor to the south, Marshwood, with four. Ben Conte took the 140-pound division with an 8-6 decision; Colby Lamson won 145, with a 15-10 decision; Cody Lightfoot won at 189, with an 18-3 decision; and Pat Howard got a pin at 4:38 in the 130-pound class.

"I knew it was going to be tough. What I was going for was pinning my way through the tournament," Howard said.

Marshwood, however, had a great disparity in its finishes. Matching its four first-place finishes were four fourth-place finishes with none in-between. That was good enough for 125½ points and a third-place showing.

"This was a good team effort," Marshwood coach Matt Rix said. "We’ll work on (the fourth-place finishes) for next week."

The top four finishers in the regionals qualify for the state tournament, slated to be held next weekend in Bangor. Also qualifying for the Knights with second-place finishes were Paul Desmarais (103), Greg Croteau (125), Travis Bentley (135), James Cotten (171) and Dick DeCato (215). Adam Hale finished third at 119 with an 11-7 decision and Kyle Fitzgerald took fourth at 160.

Going to the state meet fourth-place finishers from Marshwood are Jake Smith at 112, Greg Griffin at 125, Noah Conte at 160 and Jon Brooks at 171.

Rix is hoping some of those fourth-place finishes will be changed to thirds, or possibly seconds next week. He believes the talent pool in Western Maine is the best from the entire state, so a No. 4 seed from there has a good chance of pulling off an upset at the state tournament.

"Those fourth-place finishes could be sitting better than third up there," Rix said.

As for Devoll, he’s going to concentrate most of his efforts on getting the kids back in shape. The Knights’ season has been extended for another week, and he wants to make sure he utilizes it the best way possible.

"We’re going to be working hard for the next four days," Devoll said. "We’ve got a legitimate shot at winning states. Getting them to place will be the key."

Class	Region	Team	Region	Team
A	West:	Noble	East:	Mount Blue
B	West:	Mountain Valley	East:	Camden Hills
C	West:	Lisbon	East:	Dexter

There will be a lot of circumstances on the line when wrestlers compete in their respective regional wrestling meets at various sites throughout the state Saturday. The names have changed some, however, Mount Blue and Mountain Valley High Schools certainly have the depth necessary to successfully defend championships in Class A East and Western B, respectively.

A changing of the guard is expected in the Western Class C because Lisbon has clearly settled in to the favorites role. Still, the Greyhounds are aware of the potential ramifications after coming up short in the regionals last February.

The regionals present a dose of additional pressure because the teams had to scramble for practice, after classes were cancelled Friday. The top four individuals in each weight will be bracketed against opponents from another regional in the respective state meets next week in Bangor.

Lisbon will be in a foul mood after having been upset in its league tournament last weekend. The Greyhounds, defending state champion, strengthened their schedule and were in the spot light this season. It's fully expected the team will qualify 14 wrestlers in today's competition.

"I'm confident,"Lisbon coach Mark Stevens said. "But, in order for us to win we'll have to draw the least amount of byes. We had all of our 13 wrestlers earn medals at (Mid-States), but we fell just shy in team points."

Lisbon will have plenty of quality led by state champions Nate Hix (21-6 at 130), B J Hamm (31-1 at 135) and Joey Schreiber (30-2 at 189). Jamie Englebert (275), who broke a leg in football last fall, will benefit from being able to practice this week.

The Greyhounds depth will be a key with Troy Clark (26-4 at 112), Derek Guisto (30-3 at 119), Will Vice (26-6 at 125), Ryan Willey (23-7 at 171) and Adam Lord (25-5 at 215).

"They'll be some key match-ups,"Stevens said. "Jamie Englebert will be ready and a dark horse for us for us will be Ron Bonsaint who could be the number one seed at 152."

Dirigo is the lone team with enough depth to challenge for the championship. The youthful Cougars have a strong tradition to uphold, which includes six-straight regional crowns. Senior Nick Gurney (35-2) will be solid at 160 and David Flagg has the advantage at 145. Scott Skibitsky (215) will have plenty of confidence after beating Lord last Saturday, but Nate Butler of Monmouth is also a threat.

Dirigo can expect strong efforts from Jamie Bedard (140), Curtis Brann (152), Derrick Gilbert (171) and Richard Williams (275). The keys may be the performances of Anthony Garcia (103), Eli Johnson (112), Dwight Millett (119), Dana Mckeen (125), Sonny McPherson (130) and Jason Capponi (189).

"Lisbon is obviously the favorite,"Dirigo coach Doug Gilbert said. "But we are the defending champs and we're home. We have a full team and expect to qualify all 14, but we've had to stress how import it is for the kids to place in the top four in order to go to states."

Monmouth has defending champion Aaron Kaluzyniki (27-3 at 103), Heidi Bonderud (112), Wes Danforth (119), Ryan Audet (130) and Mike Boulette (135).

Mountain Valley has the depth necessary to three-peat and anticipate qualifying at least 11 individuals. The Falcons are solid with Ian Venskus (103), Travis Child (112), Ben Madigan (130), Kirk Nelson (152) and Craig Fergola (171).

Several key match-ups are looming between Jason McPherson and Buck Brown (30-1) of Fryeburg at 160, Jason Provencher (189) and Richard Chute (23-6) of Fryeburg. The Falcons Matt Thurston will battle Sean Bradbum of York at 215.

"This is the second of three steps for us,"Falcon coach Gary Dolloff said. "We'll need to wrestle hard as a team to win the title again. Another key is to qualify as many as high as possible. We'll need that in order to set us up for the state meet."

Oak Hill could be a surprise with Tony Collins contending at 135. Adam Buckingham (23-1 at 275) will try to avenge his lone loss against Adam Chase of Wells. Tom Mango of Fryeburg could disrupt the proceedings.

Oak Hill features Nicole Lemay (103), Ben Johnson (125) Isaac Lewis (152) and Schlyer Gagnon (189). Fryeburg could finish strong with juniors Chris Royal and Andy Davis at 152 and 171, respectively.

'We've had a rough road schedule,"coach Jeff Brown said. "There have been two two-day tournaments and they've taken a toll on the kids. Several are sick, but we've had the entire week to get ready for the regionals and qualifying at least six is a feasible number."

Mount Blue has high expectations and will have clear sailing in Bath. The Webber brothers Shane (103), Scott (112) and Seth (119) will each earn titles. Matt Waite (215) can't be stopped and Shawn Spangler is solid at 189. Matt Ryan has a shot at 171 and Damian Osgood (145) will have to get past Ben Goulette (21-0) of Morse.

Seth McAlister (125), a defending state champion, will help lead Oxford Hills to another second-place finish. The Vikings also have contenders James Whitimore (119), Chris Denlinger (130), Josh Laird (135) and Ryan Bryce (160). Others to watch include Brad Waugh (140) of Cony, Brandon Hamilton (152) of Skowhegan and John Bursley (275) of Mount Ararat.

The wrestling season is steaming towards its conclusion and local grapplers are preparing themselves for this weekend's regional meets. The Western Class A regionals will be held at the new Noble High School in North Berwick on Saturday starting at 9:30 a.m. The Knights have won three straight A team titles and hardly need home mat advantage, but they'll have it this weekend. The Western Class B regional meet will be held at York High School, also on Saturday.

The top four finishers in each class move on to the state meet the following weekend at the Bangor Auditorium.

Both class A and B will hold their seeding meeting tonight. While there is a set criteria for determining the seeds, all of the coaches will be on hand to argue for their wrestlers and plead their cases for those coveted top seeds. As for the wrestlers, they will be preparing this week in practice to do their arguing on the mats come Saturday.

"The pace is going to start to pick up," Wells' senior captain Edgar Wallace said. "This week is going to really count and next week (the state meet) will count even more, so we're going to start picking up the pace a little bit more as far as the team goes. But besides that, this weekend should be pretty fun, I'm looking forward to it."

Wallace was sidelined earlier in the year with a drastic case of cauliflower ear. He had to watch from the sidelines of the Atlantic Invitational in Wells with gauze wrapped around his head and ear, looking like a wounded Civil War soldier. But Wallace is completely healthy now and will almost assuredly be the No. 1 seed in the 135-pound division in Class B.

"I'm not going to expect to walk over everybody, but at the same time I'm looking a little bit ahead to states," Wallace said. "There will be some good wrestlers there this weekend and I might have some close matches and I'll wrestle hard, but next weekend is what really matters for me."

The Warriors, who finished third in the regional meet last year, are coming off a second place finish in last weekend's Western Maine Conference tournament and the team seems to be peeking at the right time.

"I think as far as the team goes, we're going to be pretty fired up," Wallace said. "The other tough team besides us is Mt. Valley, and if it comes down to it, I know we can beat them. If we wrestle like we've been wrestling, I know we can beat 'em, there's no doubt in my mind."

Wells' Adam Chase, who finished fourth in the state last year, will surely be the No. 1 seed at 275. Seniors Gale Pauley (140) and Dylan Grethe (130), both of whom missed the WMC meet, will both be considered for the top seed in their respective weight classes.

Biddeford will enter the Class A regional as the top local team, but they will face stiff competition for team honors, particularly from Noble, Westbrook and Marshwood. One of the Tigers' junior captains, Jim Gaudette, talked about how his team will prepare for the end of the season.

"This week I think that a lot of guys who think that they'll definitely get to states, they're going to go real hard and not worry about being tired for regionals," Gaudette explained. "I think we've worked hard enough all year that we won't get tired if we work hard all week. And then we might take it a bit easier on states week."

Junior Anthony Cincotta of Biddeford, second in the state last year, will be the top seed at 140. Biddeford's Jim Smith (152) and Jon Cochrane (125) will most likely get second seeds. Gaudette's seed in the 112-pound class will be one of those up for debate. Kyle Hale of Noble has beaten Gaudette twice and will most likely get the No. 1 ranking, but Gaudette and Sanford's Peter Wentworth have split their four matches this year, each pinning the other twice. They will probably see each other again on Saturday, with the winner most likely facing Hale, and Gaudette feels good about his chances.

"Personally, I really think I can get first," Gaudette, son of coach Bob Gaudette, said. "I feel like I've been working hard and I've gotten the chance to wrestle them enough to know that it could go either way. And I think if I put all I got into it, those matches should be mine."

Another Sanford wrestler whose seed will be highly debated is senior captain Nick Legere. Legere, the 152 champion in 1999-00 and the runner up at 152 last year, has moved up to 160 and is in a triangular seeding debate with Kennebunk's Ben Kinerson and Marshwood's Noah Conte. Legere has beaten Kinerson, but has lost twice to Conte, while Kinerson has beaten Conte twice. Along with Wentworth and Legere, the Redskins will be well-represented on Saturday by junior Chad Edwards, who was third in the state last year at 160, but has moved up to 171 this season.

As for Kennebunk, the Rams are making the jump from Class B to Class A, a jump that, according to Kennebunk coach Aaron Germana, is a big one.

"Personally, I feel that A west is the toughest class in the state, followed by B west," said Germana, who has coached in eastern Maine as well.

Mike Dumas of Kennebunk (130) will probably get a No. 3 seed, as will Rams' senior Chris Seavey at 275, behind Matt Lude of Massabesic and Pat Begin of Westbrook. Lude defeated Begin last weekend and will be the favorite to claim the regional heavyweight crown. Teammate Tom Metz (135), the only person to defeat Wallace this season, will also be the favorite in his weight class. Metz has lost only one match all year, and that was to an out-of-state wrestler at the Redskin Invitational.

RUMFORD - The path to success can be a long and winding one. And no one knows that bettter than Kirk Nelson, who has certainly paid his dues.

But now the Mountain Valley High School wrestler is focused on winning a Class B state championship.

Nelson has won 30 of 32 matches at 152-pounds so far this season. The results include a dominating performance in winning the Mid-State League championship last Saturday. Although the recent accomplishment is admirable, Nelson and the Falcons are keeping things in proper perspective.

"I set some goals for this season," Nelson said. "I felt I’d do well because most of the competitors who finished ahead of me last year were gone. Being able to win states is a goal, but I’m also hitting other goals along the way."

Nelson and two-time defending champion Mountain Valley are favored to win regional crowns this Saturday at York. The Falcon junior has additional incentive after having advanced to the finals last season.

Although nothing is guaranteed, Nelson firmly believes the trials and tribulations encountered up to this point are assets.

Unfortunately, a set back earlier this season might have actually been a turning point. Nelson advanced to the finals of the McDonalds tournament, but entered the match unprepared for action. He was pinned by Nick Ouimet of Belfast in one minute and three seconds. It proved to be a valuable lesson because Nelson was inspired to develop a new approach to the competition.

Exactly two weeks later, Nelson devised a new battle plan and earned revenge by pinning Ouimet in 1:06 to win the Atlantic Invitational championship. Nelson was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. The potential rubber match between the two is anticipated in the finals at the state meet in February.

"The loss was largely mental," Nelson said of the McDonalds tournament. "Ouimet had beaten me last season also, so I didn’t know what to expect. After that, I went back to practice and worked even harder. Coach (Gary) Dolloff has always been there to push me. In the Atlantic, I was pumped and determined. I knew (Ouimet) would be confident and shoot in, sure enough he did, so I countered the move."

The learning process initially began when Nelson was encouraged to try wrestling by teammate Jason McPherson in the seventh grade. Nelson didn’t have much success in junior high, but he caught the fever and decided to continue with the sport. He heightened his skills by attending summer camps in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

"Things were different when I came to high school,"Nelson said. "There were more moves that I learned from coach (Jerry) Perkins. I gained more confidence in my own abilities."

There are always peaks and valleys throughout a career, and Nelson pointed that out at match as a freshman.

In junior high, he lost to David Flagg of Dirigo. The rematch proved to be a different story when Nelson beat the Cougar wrestler.

"I knew after the first month of practice that Kirk was for (real)," Perkins said, who has since retired. "He knew the difference between pain and injury. That’s important (characteristic) to be able to distinguish and Kirk would listen to what was being taught."

Nelson continued to improve last year and compiled a 29-10 record. Unfortunately, the season ended prematurely because Nelson was shut out in the state meet.

"Kirk is the kid you want on the mat because if the team needs a pin he’ll get one," Dolloff said. "He’s smart and stays within himself. He has the best cross face (moves) I’ve ever seen, but he doesn’t rely on it because he’s willing to try single and double-leg takedowns."

Still, the results of another match provided him with a dose of reality. Nelson bumped up to 160 and was stuck by defending Class C state champion Nick Gurney of Dirigo.

"That really surprised me," Nelson said. "I had come close against Gurney in the Mid-State League finals last year. In the match this time, it was a lot different and he over powered me. That match was difficult, but my goals this season is still to win leagues, regional and states."

The post season actually began last Saturday with league and conference tournaments, with the individual and team results, having provided a double-edged message to the competition. The mission was to finish on a positive note, however, in any athletic environment there's always potential to come up short of a quest.

On the other end of the spectrum are those wrestlers who battled through previous adverse situations. Hopefully, the opportunity exists to utilize that feeling as a momentum boast for the remainder of the season.

Ryan Audet of Monmouth Academy has experienced first hand that perseverance eventually pays dividends. The ordeal has taken a long time to prosper, but Audet realized a dream by winning A Mid-State League championship at 130-pounds.

The win was monumental because Audet has stayed with the sport, despite being academically ineligible the previous two seasons. The junior has refocused his efforts and his performances last weekend may have been a springboard for future successes.

"The wins will hopefully be a confidence boaster,"coach Charlie Fyler said. "I've been telling Ryan all year that he could do it. He's been come on lately and Saturday really showed to himself and others what he's capable of doing."

Audet trailed 7-4 entering the third period of a semi-final match against William Vice of Lisbon. The Mustang wrestler executed a reversal and a three-point near fall to win 9-7.

Vice went on to win his 100th career match in the consolation finals.

In the finals, Audet jumped ahead early and then used his wiry stature to hold back Ben Madigan of Mountain Valley. Audet' strategy of continuously countering his opponent proved to be the difference.

Audet' accomplishment was recognized during halftime of a Monmouth basketball game in Foster Gym.

"That was a special moment,"Fyler said. "It really capped off the day."

An unlikely hero emerged in the very next match as Chris Smith provided a spark that proved to pay off two fold for Mountain Valley. The freshman recorded an upset win in overtime, which helped the team win the MSL championship.

Smith executed a takedown 14 seconds in to the extra session to upset Nate Hix of Lisbon 9-7.

"We needed all the wins,"coach Gary Dolloff said. "I didn't realize it at the time, but Smith' win was so important. It was a big swing in points against Lisbon, plus when the team saw that, it really spurned them on."

Mountain Valley won three of four matches in the finals with Lisbon, however, the out come wasn't decided until the final decisions against Dirigo opponents. Matt Thurston decisioned Scott Skibitsky 6-2 at 215. Mike Hanson held off Mike Williams 2-0. It required three scoring recounts before the Falcons were declared team champions.

The strong performances by Dirigo were certainly a step in the right direction. The youthful Cougars earned 13 medals and still had a mathematically chance entering the finals.

David Flagg 145 and Nick Gurney 160 each earned championships, however, the team unity was a key. Freshman Dana Mckeen was a finalist and several thirds aided the cause. They included Anthony Garcia 103, Dwight 'Bub' Millett 119, Jamie Bedard, Curtis Brann (152) and Derrick Gilbert (171).

"They wrestled together as a team,"Cougar coach Doug Gilbert said. We were in contention and the kids were cheering for each other. In fact, they were cheering and had to move back from the sides of the mat. That hadn't happened this year."

Ryan Bryce of Oxford Hills has been working hard throughout the season and the fruits of labor bore fruit at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships. The senior was in the spot light after winning in over time to claim his first-ever crown at 160.

Bryce had taken control early and executed a near fall against Sam Glover of Camden Hils. The Viking wrestler led 7-5 in the third period, but a reversal by Glover forced OT.

Bryce knew he had let an opportunity slip away, but the second chance would be different. Bryce didn't waste energy and scored a takedown to win 9-7.

"I'm so proud of him,"Viking coach Chris Cobbett said. "Ryan had always been a bridesmaid in his career, but not any more. He finally reached the top and it came in a perfect setting."

A grand performance was also turned in by Mount Blue teammates Seth Webber and Ryan Hutchinson in winning KVAC crown at 119 and 140, respectively. Although the Cougars were dethroned, a solid second-place, hopefully leads to a greater finish.

Scott Webber 112 and Matt Waite (215) each remain unbeaten after successfully defending their crowns. Freshman Shane Webber (103) and Shawn Spangler (189) were both upset in the finals. The Cougars have the depth to defend their regional title this Saturday.

Ben Goulette of Morse captured the title at 145 and was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler. The Shipbuilder senior has a 127-3 career record and became the first-ever individual to with four KVAC championships. The feat had been in doubt because injured chest muscles had sidelined the two-time defending Class A state champion.

ROCKPORT - Dominating on the mat has become tradition for the Camden Hills wrestling squad. That tradition, however, may face one of its toughest challenges after this season.

Veteran Windjammer coach John Kelly, who has led Camden Hills to unprecedented success during his 15-year tenure, will step down after this season.

Kelly was honored in a ceremony to mark his final home meet prior to the start of a tri-meet with Medomak Valley of Waldoboro and Mountain Valley of Rumford Jan. 19 (see accompanying results).

In 15 seasons, Kelly has been a fixture on the sideline for the Windjammers, helping guide the squad to numerous team accolades.

For the record, Kelly's resume speaks for itself. He boasts a phenomenal 261-30 regular-season dual-meet record with 43 tournament wins. He has guided the Windjammers to six state Class B championships (1990, 1991, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2001); three state runners-up (1996, 1997, 1999); 10 Eastern B titles, including seven consecutive regional crowns (1987, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001); and six Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference titles (1991, 1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000).

Kelly has helped wrestlers win 31 individual state champions, including having six two-time champs, one three-time champ and one four-time champ.

Kelly has been named Maine Wrestling Coach of the Year five times (1992, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000) and was National High School Coach of the Year in 1999.

"I don't regret a thing," an emotional Kelly said before the Jan. 19 meet. "If I had to do it all over again, I would do it."

Kelly said Tuesday the decision to step down was difficult to make, yet the decision has been brewing for the past year or so.

"I have been contemplating this decision for a while now, but it was still a tough one," Kelly said.

Kelly cited a desire to spend more time watching his daughter, Miranda, play sports (she competes in softball, basketball, soccer) was another key factor for his decision. Miranda is a Camden Hills freshman.

"I have been involved in coaching for 23 years overall, 15 as head coach," he said. "It's getting tough to follow my daughter's athletic career now that she is in high school because the schedule doesn't work."

Kelly said the time is right to make the change since he has such an able staff of assistant coaches waiting to take over.

"I said a long time ago that I wanted to make sure the program was in good hands and I think now is the time to make that move," he said. "I still hope to be involved, but for now this is the right thing for me."

The outpouring of support by the wrestling community to injured Medomak Valley High School wrestler Stephen Michaud has been impressive.

Michaud suffered fractured vertebrae in the neck during a routine takedown attempt during a match on Dec. 19, 2001. The referee officiating the match acted quickly to stop the match and immobilized Michaud until emergency personnel could properly transport him to the hospital. Michaud was taken to a hospital in Bangor for surgery to repair the damaged vertebrae where he is currently recuperating.

At Saturday's Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference tournament at Oxford Hills High School, the proceeds from a 50-50 raffle were donated to the Michaud family. In a demonstration of generosity, the lady who won the drawing donated her half (more than $130) as well to the family. Parents of athletes in the Westbrook program held a spaghetti supper as a fund raiser. The MidCoast Wrestling Club has also raised money for the cause. Other events are in the planning stages.

The Stephen Michaud Fund has been established to help the Michaud family defray the expenses associated with this unfortunate event. Anyone wishing to contribute to the fund can send donations to Stephen Michaud Fund, c/o Doug Libby (AD), Medomak Valley High School, 320 Manktown Road, Waldoboro, ME 04572.

The latest reports are that Michaud has regained use of his arms and has feeling in his legs, and the outlook is favorable. However, he is faced with a long period of rehabilitation. His family is staying in the Bangor area to be close to Stephen.

Monmouth Academy's Ryan Audet had a big day at the Mid-State League tournament on Saturday. The Mustang grappler not only won the 130-pound class but also the outstanding wrestler award.

Audet opened the tournament with a 15-0 technical fall over Sonny McPherson of Dirigo. In the semifinals, Audet scored a 9-7 upset victory over Lisbon High School's state champion, William Vice. Audet completed the sweep for the day with a 10-6 win over Ben Mattigan of Mountain Valley in the finals. Monmouth finished fourth in the team standings.

Joining Audet in the finals were teammates Aaron Kaluzynski (103) and Wes Danforth (119). Both took seconds.

Wiscasset High School's Paul Rines finished second in the 140-pound class. Rines lost a hard-fought 7-6 decision to Lisbon's BJ Hamm in the finals.

Old Town High School's Jake Ela (215) became the first conference champion under rookie head coach Shawn Bunker when he won his weight class at the Penobscot Valley Conference tournament. Bunker is a 1996 Cony High School graduate and is currently completing his master's degree at the University of Maine.

The regional high school tournaments are set to begin at 9:30 a.m., on Saturday at six locations across the state. The Eastern A tournament will be held at Bath Middle School with area teams Cony, Gardiner, Skowhegan, Nokomis, and Mt. Blue attending. Eastern B will be hosted by Belfast Area High School. Local competitors will be Winslow, MCI and Mt. View. Oak Hill and Erskine will be at York High School for the Western B tournament. Monmouth Academy and Wiscasset will travel to Dirigo High School in Dixfield for the Western C competition. The Western A meet will be at Noble High School in Berwick and the Eastern C competition will be held at Bucksport High School.

KITTERY - Traip Academy played host on Saturday to the Western Maine Conference wrestling championships. Perennial powerhouse Marshwood, featuring nine WMC champions, easily captured the crown with 232 points. Runner-up Wells finished with two champions and 142.5 points.

Traip Academy finished in third with 113, followed by York in fourth with 101. Kennebunk rounded out the top five with 96.5 points

Capturing Conference championships for Wells were senior captain Edgar Wallace at 135-pounds and classmate Adam Chase at 275. They were joined by Kennebunk sophomore Ben Kinerson, the 171 champion.

Each school had two wrestlers finish in second place. Mike Dumas,130, and Dan Racaniello, 135, represented the Rams, while Ben Pierce at 160 and Pat Casten at 215 represented the Warriors.

In the consolation round Stephen Grethe of Wells pinned Kennebunk's Trevor Kell to capture third place at 112. Malcolm Phillips of the Warriors then recorded a technical fall victory over Matt Hunter of the Rams at 125. At 140 Ryan Sullivan of Kennebunk recorded a decision over Corey Brown of Wells which in turn was followed by Anthony Racaniello's decision over Matt Witham at 152.

Wells also had a pair of fourth place finishers in Alan Hamlyn at 119 and Jacob Treadwell at 145.

Both teams will spend the week gearing up for Saturday's Regional Championships. The Class A West meet will be held at Noble High School in Berwick while Class B teams will battle at York High.

BIDDEFORD - Biddeford High School's Tiger Gym was filled with some of the best wrestlers in the state on Saturday as Westbrook, Deering and Massabesic were in town for a four-way meet with the Tigers. Biddeford narrowly defeated Deering, 51-26, and Massabesic, 54-24, but fell to powerhouse Westbrook, 52-23. Those results moved the Tigers team record to 15-5

"Today was my best day as a coach at the high school," Biddeford head man Bob Gaudette said. "The kids wrestled hard and wrestled hurt and that meant a lot. They showed a lot of heart today."

Biddeford's junior captains Jim Gaudette and Anthony Cincotta won all three of their matches on the day. Gaudette, 112 pounds, pinned Chris Landrum of Westbrook in 1 minute 23 seconds, pinned his opponent from Deering in 1:25 and won by forfeit against Massabesic. Gaudette will be either a second or third seed at the regional meet on Saturday, vying with Sanford's Peter Wentworth for one of those spots.

Cincotta, who will be the top seed at 140 at the regionals, had three pins in three matches on Saturday. Perhaps most impressive was his win against talented Jeremy Spofford of Westbrook. Cincotta moved up to the 145 class for the challenge of facing Spofford and it proved to be a worthwhile move.

Biddeford's Jon Cochrane, 125, was also 3-0 on the day, including a pin of Massabesic's Ken Belanger. Belanger, who normally wrestles at 119, stepped up to 125 in order to face Cochrane. Jim Smith of Biddeford, 152, defeated Mitch Punsky of Deering to avenge an earlier loss. Smith was 2-1 on the day as he also beat Chris Chabot of Massabesic in a high scoring affair that ended with a Smith pin at 5:19. Smith's loss came in the 160 class against Westbrook's Dan Cofone, one of the top grapplers in the state. Smith will be the second seed at 152 in the regionals behind Noble's Decota Cotten.

While the Tigers were enjoying a stellar day, things didn't go as well for Massabesic.

"We just weren't on top of our game today," Mustangs coach Bob Eon said. "We really could have done better. But we were missing our 112 and 130-pounders, and that hurt."

Massabesic dropped all three matches as their regular season ended at 9-9.

"I'm very happy with a .500 season," Eon said. "But now it's tournament time, time to go to work. We've been working all season, but now it gets serious."

Massabesic's Matt Lude was the only Mustang to go 3-0. Lude, 275, pinned Matt Benson of Biddeford in 3:29, pinned his opponent form Deering in :55 and won a tight 12-6 decision over Pat Begin of Westbrook. The Mustang's Tom Metz was 2-0 on the day, both wins coming by pin. Metz and Lude will both be seeded fist in their weight class at the regionals.

Westbrook's Lew Emery, 119, won his 100th high school match on Saturday and was presented with a plaque to commemorate the event.

STANDISH - The Bonny Eagle Scots paid a visit to Sanford's Memorial Gym on Saturday and emerged with a 48-27 victory.

The first match of the day came at 125-pounds where the Scots' Mike McDonough registered a pin over the Redskins' Shane Ledbetter to give the visitors an early edge. The home team quickly matched that as 130-pounder Brian Bourque snapped a career long losing streak against Ben Davis by pinning the Scot at 5:22.

At this point Bonny Eagle established firm control, recording four straight pins before Sanford collected back to back decision victories by Nick Legere at 160 pounds and Chad Edwards at 175.

Three more Bonny Eagle pin victories were followed by two Sanford wins at the lower classes, setting the stage for the final bout of the day, which according, to Sanford coach Mark Hansen was also the meet's best. Jake Bouchard of the Redskins and Nick Doyle of the Scots battled on even terms throughout with Bouchard eventually emerging with a 6-3 decision

MOUNT DESERT - After finishing as the runner-up in last year’s Penobscot Valley Conference championship wrestling meet, Bucksport managed to turn the tables on the defending champs from Dexter Saturday at Mount Desert Island High School.

As it has for the last seven years, the PVC title race came down to the Golden Bucks and Tigers, and for the third time in those seven years, the Bucks came away with the trophy.

Bucksport and Dexter each placed nine wrestlers in either the championship or consolation finals. Despite a 3-6 record in those final matches, the Bucks were able to edge the Tigers 166.5 points to 161.5.

"We racked up a lot of points in the early rounds and it was enough to keep us ahead," said Bucksport coach Joe Pelletier. "Head to head, I was a bit disappointed how we did, but we had a lot of kids who made nice runs deep all the way through."

Bucksport’s Greg Burrill, Dave Maguire and Josh Pelletier won individual PVC crowns in the 119-, 130- and 135-pound classes, respectively.

"It worked out to be the final spread that I was expecting, but it didn’t become that way the way I expected," Pelletier explained.

Ironically, Dexter went 7-for-9 in final appearances with four individual champions: Keith Thompson at 112, Vinny Greene at 140, Kevin Armstrong at 145 and Aaron Thomas at 152.

One of the highlights of the day for the home crowd was Chris Perry’s performance in the 189-pound division as he upset Bucksport’s Adam Carter in the championship match by technical fall 2:56 into the match, becoming the Trojans’ first PVC champion.

"I was happy for the MDI kid even though he beat my guy, but if you look at the bigger picture, that win helps them build a better program," Pelletier said.

Other individual champs were Penobscot Valley of Howland’s Aaron Priest at 103 and Keith Champion at 171, Ellsworth’s Matt Burns at 125, Brewer’s Ryan Hahl at 160, Old Town’s Jake Ela at 215, and Foxcroft Academy’s Trey Merrill at 275.

Hyde Spirit Elevates Prep Wrestlers to 6th Place & Team Sportsmanship Trophy in Somers Duals: 01/26/02

An overnight on the wrestling mat, followed by a 6 a.m. work-out with Suffield Academy's varsity, began prep wrestling's journey South in search of a team identity. That we found and much more in a day filled with intense wrestling, spirited comebacks, and personal as well as team highlights. The dual meet tournament hosted by Somers, Connecticut, paired 12 teams from 6 states in four sub-groups. As a duals tournament, squads advanced as a team based on the overall dual meet score, meaning that every individual's match result was important in the final result. Hyde-Maine (6th place) and Wilbraham & Monson (9th) were the only private schools entered. More significantly, in a unanimous selection by tournament officials and the trainer, Hyde earned the first annual team sportsmanship trophy.

In the first match against the eventual 2nd-place team, Ballston Spa from Albany, NY, Captain Alex Rosen opened the day in a hard-fought 4-1 defeat.

Only Captain Wes Matheny, in a dominating 16 - 4 crunching at 171 and sophomore Zach Rosenberg, with a come-from-behind pin, were able to put team points on the board in a 64 10 loss. The second match in Group C came against a combined team of Somers, CT, and Pomperaug, NY. Hyde came out determined not to suffer the same result, opening with four straight pins by Rosen, Danny Wolstein, Peter Powlovich, and Dan Bornstein. In the process of going undefeated (4-0) on the day in one of the toughest weight classes, Matheny cruised to a 10-1 victory for 4 more team points. Quick pins by Virgil Buzzell (20 seconds) and Rosenberg (17), falls by Mathis and Ben Baxter, as well as Coby Puglisi's 13 1 major decision brought the Phoenix to a satisfying 56-12 team win.

The second-place finish in Group C advanced Hyde to a semi-final match versus New Hampshire power, Milford, the 2nd-place team in Group D. Knowing we needed a team victory in order to advance, Rosen started the charge with 1:15 fall. Danny Wolstein followed with an 11-0 major decision. Forfeits at 125, 152, 160 and 171 set the stage for a battle of a battle of muscular titans at 189. 'Buzz Saw' Buzzell went back and forth with his opponent, each almost pinning each other, with the Milford grappler winning the score 14-8 but with Virgil earning respect. More importantly, avoiding a pin at 189, combined with Wolstein's four points at 145, these two sophomores were crucial in advancing the proud Phoenix by the narrowest of margins (34-33) to the 5th & 6th place team bout.

Wrestling with an everything-to-win, nothing-to-lose attitude, Hyde took on Pomperaug's A team. Rosen earned his 3rd victory of the day with a pin at 140. Wolstein lost 9-0 at 145 but refused to get pinned. Powlovich and Bornstein lost to experienced opponents before Matheny (pin at 0:43) and Buzzell (1 minute pin) got Pomperaug's attention and let them know we were not going down without a fight. Wit Morris gave his best effort but fell at 103, then feisty freshman Corey Littman brought the fighting Phoenix right back with a reversal to a pin at 112. Rosenberg in another tough weight class lost at 119, but soph Damion Mathis who just this week beat out Puglisi to start at 125 picked up a 37-second pin to bring us right back. At this point, down 40-30, the Phoenix could still win the match with two pins, but Puglisi at 130 and Baxter at 135 ran into experienced foes. The final 52-30 result does not reflect the closeness of this well-contested match.

Proud of their day in so many ways, the team now knows what lies ahead as we enter tournament season.

RUMFORD- There was little margin for error and Mountain Valley High School needed decisions by Matt Thurston and Mike Hanson in the final two matches to complete a rally by scoring 193 points in winning the 2002 Mid-State League wrestling championships over Lisbon 189 points Saturday.

Mountain Valley has won 10 M-S championships since joining the league in 1989. The battles included a two-point win against Lisbon in the mid-1990s.

'Mountain Valley champions included Ian Venskus (103-pounds), Travis Child (112), Chris Smith (135), Kirk Nelson 152, Craig Fergola 171), Matt Thurston and Mike Hanson. The Falcons had trailed Lisbon by 12-points after four matches, however, Smith actually provided the spark that eventually led to the team victory.

Lisbon were ahead throughout the event and 13 wrestlers placed in the top three of their respective weight classes. The Greyhound champions included Troy Clark 119, Derek Guisto 125, B.J. Hamm 140 and Joey Schreiber 189.

A major key was Mountain Valley winning three of four head-to-head matches against Lisbon in the finals. It began with Child winning a 3-2 decision over Ian Mckeegul. The Hound wrestler was unable to complete a reversal late in the match.

"We knew it would take a total team effort,"Falcon coach Gary Dolloff said. "The team and I discussed things in the Hot room before the finals. There had been some upsets earlier, but Chris Smith really got the team going."

Smith upset Nate Hix of Lisbon 7-5 in overtime. The Falcon freshman had taken an early lead, but Hix had tied it in the third period. In the extra session, Smith let Hix shoot in and spun around for the takedown.

Nelson pinned Ron Bonsaint of Lisbon in 1:31. Fergola followed with a 7-4 decision over Ryan Willey of Lisbon. The Falcon wrestler broke a 3-3 tie in the third period.

"It was an incentive facing a Lisbon wrestler,"Nelson said. "I wanted to make up for the loss against them in a dual meet during the season, when were without a wrestler."

Lisbon had gone ahead on a pin (lateral drop) by Schreiber against the Falcons Jason Provencher . The Greyhounds had received pins by Clark over Wes Danforth of Monmouth. Guisto stuck Dana Mckeen of Dirigo.

Dirigo scored 150 points to finish third behind champions David Flagg (145) and senior Nick Gurney. Flag stuck Matt Taylor of MV and Gurney (35-2) showed the lights to Jason McPherson of Mountain Valley in the 160 finals.

Thurston won two matches by executing reversals with seconds remaining, including against Scott Skibitsky of Dirigo in the finals. Hanson also scored a reversal in a 2-0 win over Mike Williams of Dirigo.

Aaron Kaluzynski f Monmouth Ian Venskus a thrilling 13-12 decision. The Mustangs avenged the set back as Ryan Audet upset the Falcons Ben Madigan 10-6 at 130.

"I knew he'd be a sleeper for us,"Monmouth coach Charlie Fyler said, referring to Audet who was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler.

At 140, Hamm held on for 7-6 win over Paul Rines of Wiscasset.

SOUTH PARIS - A common theme of the Camden Hills wrestling team is its ability to rise to the occasion and it transpired again in the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships Saturday.

The Windjammers, led by champions Jake Rollins (103 pounds), Levi Rollins (125), Chris Resman (135) and Bryan Creamer (171) scored 181 points to dethrone Mt. Blue, who finished with 167.5.

Mt. Blue had won the 2001 KVAC championship by one point over Camden Hills. The Cougars were strong all day, paced by champions Scott Webber (112), Seth Webber (119), Ryan Hutchinson (140) and Waite (215).

Belfast finished third with 117. Rounding out the top seven were Winslow 75, Oxford Hills 67, Skowhegan 57 and Morse 50.

"The big key for us was eight kids winning semifinal matches," Camden Hills coach John Kelly said. "We work the team hard and the training pays off because the kids step up. I’m proud to win the KVAC tournament because it’s the strongest conference in the state."

The top teams were matched up against each other three times in the finals. Camden Hills gained control early as Jake Rollins won a 14-3 major decision over Shane Webber. Creamer escaped with one second left in overtime for a 3-2 win over Shawn Spangler.

Ryan Hutchinson scored a 13-4 major decision against Joe Zak of Camden Hills at 140.

Scott Webber (26-0) beat Mike Ames of Belfast and Waite (27-0) recorded three pins. Seth Webber earned a hard-fought 2-0 decision over David Gregory of Lincoln Academy.

The Cougars’ Damian Osgood won an 11-9 decision over Aaron Gammon of Oxford Hills to finish third at 145

Resmen stuck Taj Mckay of Gardiner. Seth McAlister of Oxford Hills lost 6-0 to Levi Rollins. McAlister, a defending Class A state champion, had beat Rollins to win the KVAC crown last year at 103.

Ben Goulette 21-0 of Morse pinned Dustin Armstrong of Belfast at 145.

The Shipbuilder standout, who was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler, has won four-straight KVAC crowns.

"It’s an unbelievable feeling," Goulette said. "I just go out and do my best."

In a classic match, Brandon Hamilton of Skowhegan decisioned Nick Ouimet of Belfast 3-1 at 152. Hamilton had decisioned Ouimet 1-0 two weeks ago.

Ryan Bryce of Oxford Hills executed a takedown 14 seconds in to overtime to beat Sam Glover of Camden.

"I knew that I had to give it my all," Bryce said. The win gives me a lot of confidence."

At 275, John Bersley of Mt. Ararat was pinned by Adam Buckingham of Oak Hill.

SOUTH PARIS - An inspired Camden Hills High School team advanced eight wrestlers to the finals of Saturday's Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference tournament and rolled to victory in the 16-team field at Oxford Hills High School. The win was the seventh KVAC team title won by a John Kelly coached squad at Camden.

Kelly, who owns a 262-30 career dual-meet record while at the helm of the Camden program, will retire at the end of this season.

The Windjammers, who entered the day as a slight underdog to defending champion Mt. Blue High School, pulled off upset after upset on the way to scoring 181 points. Mt. Blue finished in second place with 167.5 points, while Belfast was third with 117.

Throughout the day, Camden Hills showed why they are the team to beat in Class B.

"We came in with the mindset that we would win," said Kelly, "and we had guys winning some close matches."

Jake Rollins (103), Levi Rollins (125), Chris Remsen (135) and Brian Creamer (189) all emerged from the finals as victors for the Windjammers.

"We had a really good day, Camden just had a better one,"said Mt. Blue coach Nate Phillips.

The Mt. Blue Cougars sent six athletes to the finals and came away with four individual champions. Scott Webber (112), Seth Webber (119), Ryan Hutchinson (140) and Matt Waite (215) all took home gold medals.

Shane Webber (103) and Shawn Spangler (189) settled for second-place finishes. Damian Osgood (145) and Matt Ryan (171) finished third, while Chris Embleton (125) placed fourth. Gardiner Area High School's Taj McKay reached the finals in the 135-pound class but was pinned by top-seed Chris Remsen (Camden Hills). McKay had scored two pins to get to the finals. Gardiner teammate Jon Downs (160) finished third for the Tigers.

Adam Buckingham continued his winning ways at heavyweight. The junior from Oak Hill High School scored three pins to win his first KVAC title and raised his season record to 23-1. Buckingham competed in the 215-pound weight class last season and battled with weight problems all season.

"Last season I cut too much weight to get to 215 and I was tired all the time," he said.

This season, Buckingham weighs in at 230 pounds and has shown tremendous power on the mat, the result of a year-round weight training program.

Tony Collins (140) finished fourth for Oak Hill.

Morse High School's Ben Goulette earned his fourth KVAC title and the outstanding wrestler award with a stellar performance in the 145-pound class. Goulette extended his career record to 127-3 with three pins. Despite a dominant performance, Goulette didn't feel 100 percent recovered from a mid-season injury that kept him sidelined for 12 matches.

"I wrestled better today than I have recently,"he said. "Right now I'm starting to get focused on the state and New England tournament."

Goulette has won two state championships and has placed twice at the New Englands.

Skowhegan's Brandon Hamilton pinned two opponents to reach the finals against Belfast's Nick Ouimet. In a defensive struggle, Hamilton emerged as champion with a 3-1 decision. The Indians finished in sixth place as a team with David Folsom (189) placing third and Dylan Wentworth (112) and Dean Redlevske (171) taking fourths.

Winslow High School finished in fourth place, despite having no finalists. Top-seeded Dan Stace (140) was upset in the semifinals by Camden Hill's Joe Zak, but came back to finish third in his weight class. Teammates Derek Folsom (135) and Chris Desrosiers (215) also finished third while Dan Burke (275) took fourth.

Cony High School had four individual place-winners. Jing Mai (125) placed third for the Rams while Eric Beaulieu (103), Brad Waugh (140) and Joey McInnis (189) took fourths.

Chris Fraser (119) and Shawn Studholme (152) each placed third for Erskine Academy. Other individual title winners were Medomak Valley's Bryan Blackler (130), Oxford Hills' Ryan Bryce (160) and Belfast's Eric Wagner (171).Lincoln Academy's Andy Mullin was voted KVAC Coach of the Year by his peers.

Nestled in the heart York County, you know, where perennial champions Noble and Marshwood thrive, is another good team. The Wells High School wrestling squad usually plays a big role in the outcome of Class B wrestling in the state of Maine, and this year is no different. The Warriors, made up students from Wells, Acton and Ogunquit, are wrapping up the regular with a 13-6-1 dual meet record. This record is quite impressive considering the hurdles they have crossed. Giving up 12-18 points due to roster shortages, loosing two veteran starters early on and of course fighting the curse of all wrestling teams, disease and injury.

The Warriors started a bit slow, got moving, got into a slump, then got moving again….much like a good wrestler does during a tough match. Recent strong showings against tough opponents such as Mt. Valley (2 point loss at the Kennebunk Duals) and 6th place at the Southern Maine Classic (top Class B finish) show that they are getting ready for the year end "show" at York (Class B Regional Meet) and Bangor.

While there have been many surprise contributions to this year's team, some need to be highlighted. Sophomore Corey Brown, a non-starter at the beginning of the season, stepped in as a sub in a few varsity matches and has now earned a starting position at 140 lbs. Senior Wayne Wittman, looking for his first starting varsity spot, got it when the 171 slot unexpectedly opened. Wittman's extremely aggressive style has won him a good handful of matches, even though he typically is 10 pounds lighter then his opponents. Then there is senior Adam Chase. A four-year starter at the heavy weight class, Chase has dominated nearly all of his opponents compiling a 24-1 record. In past seasons, Chase would be the first to admit he lost because of one mental mistake. This year Chase uses his experience, strength and size (6'3", 265+ lbs.) to gain control and put them away.

Wells should expect to send many members to the States this year. A couple might even go as Western Maine champs. But as any coach knows, winning teams come from those extra "unexpected" 2nd, 3rd, 4th finishes. Let's watch and see how the Wells High Warriors do.

The true test of a wrestling team is gauged on how competitive it is in a tournament because the numbers of opponents create some interesting match-ups. That scenario really heats up beginning this morning with thee assembling of hundreds of competitors at two different venues.

The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference will be a battle at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School. The Mid-State League championships are at Mountain Valley High School is likely to be undecided until late in the finals.

Mount Blue is the defending KVAC champion, however, a trio of teams are fully capable of ending the Cougars reign. Camden Hills, Belfast and even host Oxford Hills will make its presence known throughout the event.

Although Mount Blue has the quality to win again, but the Cougar's are aware of the potential repercussions. The main objective remains are not putting all its eggs in one basket.

"It could be a four-team race (today),"Mount Blue coach Nate Phillips said. "Last year the team peaked at the KVACs last year and it eventually cost us We've guarded against that happening again. The approach to tournaments has been different this season, but the main goal is to win the state meet."

Mount Blue will be banking on seniors Scott Webber (112-pounds) and Matt Waite (215) to also repeat as individual champions. Webber is 23-0 and Waite (24-0) has only gone the distance in two matches this season.

Teammate Damian Osgood (145) faces an uphill battle, beginning with Dustin Armstrong of Belfast in the semi-finals. The winner will face three-time champion Ben Goulette of Morse in the finals. The Cougars also feature Shane and Seth Webber at 103 and 119, respectively.

"We drill a lot in practice,"Phillips said. "The kids are using the moves on the mat and that's nice to see. If we stick to the basics, I think we can be a championship team."

Chris Embleton has returned at 125, but a trio of wrestlers will be strong. Top seeded Chris McAlister of Oxford Hills will beat Levi Rollins of Camden Hills in the finals.

Ryan Bryce of Oxford Hills could be a finalist at 160. Oak Hill's Adam Buckingham must get by John Bursley of Mount Ararat at 275. Tony Collins of Oak Hill could face Chris Remsen of Camden Hills. A big rematch is looming between at 152 between Brandon Hamilton of Skowhegan and Nick Ouimet of Belfast.

"I'm not like a lot of (colleagues),"Cony coach John Martin said. "The KVAC is a very tough tournament, but I wouldn't put a lot of stock in it. There's a good chance of getting hurt, so you need to look at the big picture. It's a (challenge), but we've also got a couple kids who will score points."

The Rams Brad Waugh (29-1) will meet Dan Stace of Winslow at 140.

The theme at Mid-States will be to receive a total team effort because there's little difference between Lisbon and Mountain Valley. Both teams have plenty of momentum and feature several potential individual champions. The opportunity to garner help from other forces exists, but the best thing is to rely on the respective teams to decide its own fate.

"We'll need (contributions) from every one,"Lisbon coach Mark Stevens said. "All our wrestlers will need to score points in order for us to be productive. We'll have champions, but it's widely known that teams need others to wrestle back through the consolations."

The Greyhounds feature Troy Clark (112), Derek Guisto (119), William Vice (125), Nate Hix (130), B.J. Hamm (135), Joey Schreiber (189) and Adam Lord (215). Lisbon was boasted by the return of Jamie Englebert (275) this week. The defending Class C state champion has been sidelined since suffering a knee injury playing football last fall.

A highly anticipated match-up will be between Hix and Ben Madigan of Mountain Valley. Hix decisioned the Falcon freshman 8-6 with a reversal at the buzzer, during the regular season.

Mountain Valley also have several contenders who will go head-to-head against the Greyhounds, including Travis Child (112) and Jason Provencher (189). The Falcons Kirk Nelson will rule at 152.

"We'll be underdogs, but that's not a big thing,"Falcon coach Gary Dolloff said. "A lot will depend on individual match-ups, but our wrestlers have goals and want to reverse the Lisbon score from a dual meet during the season."

Jason McPherson (160) and Craig Fergola (171) of Mountain Valley will face Dirigo teammates Nick Gurney and Derrick Gilbert. A logjam exists at 215 between Matt Thurston of Mountain Valley, Nate Butler (20-3) of Monmouth and Scott Skibitsky of Dirigo.

Aaron Kaluzynski (26-2 at 103) of Monmouth will be favored over

Falcon junior Ian Venskus. At 140, Jamie Bedard of Dirigo will battle Paul Rines of Wiscasset.

SOUTHERN MAINE MIDDLE SCHOOL ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Thursday the coaches and officials met at Massabesic HS to review the middle school schedule and other issues. Each school should have about ten (10) weekday dates and four tournaments.

Dick Heikkinen reviewed his assignments and dates and everyone was on board with the dates.

Also discussed were the female uniform requirements for this year. The group agreed that female wrestlers will wear a white tee-shirt and as the need arises a hair net. This is for good taste and follows the NFHS rules. We also agreed that wrestlers can tape laces by securing just the lace and avoid using a lot of athletic tape.

Coaches are encouraged to have their team weights and level of experience listed before each meet to make the match pairing and setup process run smoother.

Tournament cost per wrestler was set as a GUIDELINE at $6/wrester and a school has the option of charging what it feels is necessary for its program. MS can begin practice Feb 4th. Be looking on MAWA SCHEDULE for hte meet details.

WATERBORO - The Massabesic wrestling team upped its season record to 9-6 on Wednesday night with a decisive 52-15 win over Traip Academy.

The Mustangs continued to show improvement up and down the roster. Chris Chabot, 152-pounds, stood out among the middle weights as he got even with Traip's Tony Reyes. Chabot repaid Reyes for an earlier loss with a 10-3 decision on Wednesday.

Lightweights Cory Gallant, 103, impressed with a 17-0 technical fall win over Steve Bolz and Ken Belanger, 119, pinned Josh Bedard at 1:32.

As for the heavweights, Mustangs Eric White, 189, and Garron Courtway, 171, both won with first period pins and Traip forfeited at 215 and 275. With Andre Provencher, 160, winning a shootout, 19-14, Massabesic took all the points in the six heaviest classes.

Massabesic will take on Westbrook, Deering and Biddeford on Saturday in Biddeford.

RUMFORD-Success usually doesn't materialize over night because it requires a strong commitment and dedication in order to achieve one's maximum potential. Kirk Nelson has certainly paid his dues and now the Mountain Valley High School wrestler is in contention to win a state championship.

Although nothing is guaranteed, Nelson firmly believes the trials and tribulations encountered up to this point are assets. The physical talents are extremely important, however, the mental capabilities of any individual are directly related to being able to excel on the mat.

"I set some goals for this season,"Nelson said. "I felt I'd do well because most of the competitors who finished ahead of me last year were gone. Being able to win states is a goal, but I'm also hitting other goals along the way."

Unfortunately, a set back endured by Nelson in the finals of the McDonald was actually a turning point. The Falcon junior entered the match against Nick Ouimet of Belfast unprepared for action and was pinned in one minute and three seconds. It proved to be a valuable lesson because Nelson was inspired to develop a new approach to the competition.

Exactly two weeks later, Nelson had a new battle plan and earned revenge by pinning Ouimet in 1:06 to win the Atlantic Invitational championship. Nelson was voted Most Outstanding Wrestler of the tournament. The potential rubber match between the tandum is anticipated in the 152-pound finals at the Class B state meet in February.

"The loss was largely mental,"Nelson said, regarding the McDonalds tournament. "Ouimet had beaten me last season also, so I didn't know what to expect. After that, I went back to practice and worked even harder. Coach (Gary) Dolloff has always been there to push me. In the Atlantic, I was pumped and determined. I knew (Ouimet) would be confident and shoot in, sure enough he did, so I countered the move."

The learning process had initially been encouraged to try wrestling by teammate Jason McPherson in the seventh grade. Neelson didn't have much success in junior high, but he caught the fever and decided to continue with the sport. He heightened his skills even further by attending summer camps in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

"Things were different when I came to high school,"Nelson said. "There were more moves that I learned from coach (Jerry) Perkins. I gained more confidence in my own abilities."

There are always peaks and valleys encountered throughout a career and Nelson pointed out a match as a freshman. In junior high, he had lost to David Flagg of Dirigo. The rematch proved to be a different story because Nelson beat the Cougar wrestler.

"I knew after the first month of practice that Kirk was for (real),"Perkins said, who retired. "He knew the difference between pain and injury. That's important (characteristic) to be able to distinguish and Kirk would listen to what was being taught."

Nelson improved last year and advanced to the regional finals. Unfortunately, the momentum didn't carry over and Nelson was shut out in the state meet. Still, the 29-10 record as a sophomore was encouraging for the future.

"Kirk is the kid you want on the mat,"Dolloff said. "He's smart and stays within himself. He has the best cross face (moves) I've ever seen, but he doesn't rely on it because he's willing to try single and double-leg takedowns."

Nelson has won 25 of 27 matches at 152 so far this season, however, the results of another match has provided him with a dose of reality. Nelson bumped up to 160 and was stuck by Nick Gurney of Dirigo.

"That really surprised me,"Nelson said. "I had come close against Gurney in the Mid-State League finals last year. In the match this time, it was a lot different and he over powered me. That match was difficult, but my goals this season is still to win leagues, regional and states."

Nelson will get an opportunity to win the initial leg of the Triple Crown this Saturday. Mountain Valley hosts the league meet will be co-favorites with Lisbon. The Falcons ended a 12-year drought by beating defending Class B state champion Camden Hills 38-36 last Saturday.

A wrestling team that has momentum can be extremely dangerous and that's exactly what Mountain Valley High School is using as a measuring stick. The Falcons have plenty of reason to be riding high after upsetting Camden Hills 38-36 in a duel meet last Saturday.

The win was monumental for a number of reasons, beginning with the first dual-meet win against the Windjammers in over a decade. The post-season tournaments are looming, starting with the Mid-State League championships this Saturday.

"I sat the kids down last Friday and pointed out how important the next three weeks were for the team,"Falcon coach Gary Dolloff said. "Our test actually started at Camden Hills. We've finished second to them in the last two (Class B) state meets. The win gave us a big boost."

The series of events fell in to place for Mountain Valley in the highly anticipated show down. Sophomore Mike Hanson (275-pounds) scored a 12-1 major decision in the first-contested match of the day. In a strategic move, Travis Child bumped up to 119 and recorded a pin. Ironically, the Jammers' had pulled off a similar move by having weighed in early a year ago.

The Falcons won the final four matches, including the meet-clinching pin by Jason Provencher with 40 seconds left at 189.

There is little time to savor the win because the Mid-State League tournament will present a new set of scenarios. The participation of more teams will create different match-ups and the potential upsets could be devastating.

Mountain Valley are the defending champions, however, Lisbon has elevated itself in to the role of favorite. Dirigo will also be a factor in the final out come.

"It's going to take a total team effort in order for us to win,"Dolloff said. "We'll be going in as underdogs, but that's not a bad thing. The kids in our wrestling room are aware of the situation and you can see it in their eyes. They want to win it."

Mountain Valley has a solid nucleus led by Ian Venskus (103), Child, Ben Madigan (130), Kirk Nelson (152), Jason McPherson (160), Craig Fergola (171), Provencher and Matt Thurston (215).

A recent showing by the Lisbon wrestling team will definitely serve as a motivating factor entering this weekend. The Greyhounds scored 185 ½ points to finish second in the 2002 Essex Classic in Vermont. The two-day event featured 20 teams from New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, including three-time defending Class A state champion Noble.

"After the first night we were two points out of first place,"Lisbon coach Mark Stevens said. "(Team) goal was to beat Noble. Even after the quarterfinals, we were within striking distance of eventual champion Queensbury, NY."

Lisbon beat Noble by 30 points and three individuals advanced to the finals. Senior B.J. Hamm and junior Joey Schreiber each won championships at 135 and 189, respectively. Derek Guisto fell one-point short at 119. The Greyhound sophomore had recorded a major decision in the semi-finals against Adam Hale, a 2000 state champion from Noble.

Lisbon received several outstanding performances and also benefited from the 32-person bracket. The top six places in each weight division earned medals. The opportunity to score additional team points was an incentive and Ryan Willey placed fifth at 171.

"It's a culture shock for our wrestlers,"Stevens said. "We competed against schools with enrollments of 1600 students and the wrestling out-of-state is so much more aggressive. The Noble wrestlers warned us that when a hard cross-faces put in, the kids were told not to expect the referee to make a call."

Jon Kane (171) of Deering pinned three of four opponents en route to being voted the tournaments Most Outstanding Wrestler.

This circumstances that Shaun Bridges endures daily to wrestle should serve as an inspiration to every one. The senior has shown courage and determination throughout his career at Westbrook High School. He has competed in a few varsity matches, but has never been a varsity starter. Unfortunately, he has always been behind great wrestlers.

Bridges was five years old when he suffered third-degree burns over 65% of his body. This required numerous operations, requiring special suits and splints, to be worn for a long time. His left foot amputated in the seventh grade and prosthesis is worn below his left knee.

"Shaun has limited use of his left arm and the artificial leg slows him down a bit," coach Dennis Walch said. "I've tried to talk him into wrestling without the leg. He is very quick without it and he weighs less. Shaun' scar tissue is so tight on his left arm that the skin often splits and bleeds. He wears high socks under the prosthesis, but the friction from training creates open sores. He is one tough young man."

Bridges hasn't allowed the physical disabilities to hinder his life style. The four years as a member of the Blue Blaze' wrestling team has helped provide him the strengths to deal with confrontations in the future. "I've stuck with wrestling,"Bridges said. "Even though I've been a JV, it has been important to me. It's all about fun."

Steve Michaud: An Update

A fund has been established to defray costs for Steve Michaud who suffered a broken neck in a wrestling match last month. The Medomak Valley sophomore is currently under going rehabilitation at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

Please send contributions to the Stephen Michaud Fund, c/o Doug Libby, Medomak Valley H.S., 320 Minkwood Road, Waldoboro, ME 04087.

WATERBORO - The Massabesic wrestling team came away with two victories Monday as it defeated both Windham and Kennebunk in a three way meet. The Eagles only brought four wrestlers to Waterboro, and one of them was forced to default with an injury as soon as the match began, which meant only three Mustangs wrestled against Windham as they rolled to a 68-6 victory.

The bout versus Kennebunk was more competitive, but the Mustangs easily had their way, winning 54-17. The highlight of the day was the Rams' Chris Seavey facing off against Massabesic's Matt Lude. The two heavyweights had split their previous two encounters, so this match was important for seeding purposes. The battle went into the third period before it was decided. Lude was able to escape from the bottom and never looked back as he pinned Seavey at the 5:29 mark.

"It was a lazy day match on a Monday morning," Massabesic coach Bob Eon said with a laugh. "But two wins are two wins."

The Mustangs improve to 8-6 with the victories. They will next face Traip Academy on Wednesday.

This weekend marks the beginning of the run toward the state championships for area wrestling teams. The Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference and Mid-State League each hold their championships Saturday. These tournaments are followed on consecutive weekends by the regional and state championships for classes A, B, and C.

The KVAC tournament is considered one of the toughest competitions across the state and features powerhouse squads from both class A and B. Last season, Mt. Blue High School captured the team title by a mere one-point margin over defending champion Camden Hills Regional School. The two teams are considered the favorites again this season, but Belfast High School could be a darkhorse contender. While these three teams are likely to battle for the team crown, talented athletes from 13 other schools will vie for individual titles.

Although the seeding meeting to rank the competitors for each weight class will not be held until the night before the tournament, the following is an informal prediction of the top wrestlers in each field.

I. League Rankings: League record first, then over-all

1.NMH     10-0 13-0  4. Deerfield    6-1
2.Exeter   4-0  9-3  5. Moses Brown  4-2 5-5
3.Loomis   0-0  4-0  6. Choate       2-0 4-2

BIDDEFORD, Maine - Sean Bradburn went 3-1 on the day to capture second place in the 215 pound weight class Saturday, leading the York Wildcats to an eighth place finish in the Southwestern Maine Classic.

York finished the 14-team meet with 87½ points while first-place finisher Westbrook had 220. Other local teams were Traip in 11th (66) and Marshwood in third.

Other top finishers for the Wildcats were Mike Cicero, third at 189 pounds with a 4-1 record on the afternoon; Kyle Sullivan, third at 171 pounds with a 4-1 record; Brad Lajoie, fifth at 103 pounds with a 3-2 record on the day.

For Traip, the top competitor was Mike Navarro, who captured third in the 140 pound class with a 3-1 record. Josh Bedard took fifth-place in the 119-pound class while sixth-place finishers were Jake Bedard (125), Chris German (145) and Tony Reyes (152).

York will compete at the Western Maine Conference meet on Saturday at Traip.

BIDDEFORD - Biddeford's Steve White Gym was the place to be on Saturday for any self respecting wrestling fan. The host Biddeford Tigers opened the doors wide for 20 other participants to join them for a day of intense wrestling competition. Some of the best available talent in Classes A, B and C was on display all day long.

At day's end Westbrook stood atop the standings with 220 points, followed by Bonny Eagle with 195.5 and Marshwood with 187. The next six spots were all occupied York County participants - Biddeford at 170.5, Massabesic at 133.5, Wells at 127, Sanford at 92, York at 89, and Kennebunk at 83.

The host Tigers had six participants in the top four spots, led by individual champions Anthony Cincotta at 140 and Jimmy Smith at 152. Jimmy Gaudette added a second at 112 pounds, while Nate Vassill and John Cochrane each added a third at 103 and 125. Brett Given took home a fourth at 145 pounds.

Sanford's Redskins also had a pair of champions in Peter Wentworth at 112 pounds and Chad Edwards at 171. The 'Skins also had three fourth place finishers: Shawn Ricker at 103; Brian Bourque at 130, and Nick Legere at 160.

The Massabesic cause was led by captain Tom Metz who captured the 135-pound title. Corey Gallant at 103 and Matt Lude at 275 finished in second place, while 152-pound Chris Chabot finished fourth.

Adam Chase of Wells captured the 275-pound crown while Dylan Grethe and Edgar Wallace each took a second at 130 and 135, respectively. Pat Casten was fourth at 215-pounds.

Kennebunk contributed the competition's outstanding wrestler in 160-pound champion Ben Kinerson. The Rams also got two third place finishes from 130-pounder Mike Dumas and 145-pounder Anthony Racaniello

WINSLOW Al Surette quietly reached a coaching milestone on Jan. 5 when his Winslow High School wrestling team defeated Skowhegan. The win was the 100th by a Black Raider team since Surette took over as head coach in 1994.

There was no immediate fanfare over the achievement and Surette would have it no other way. Surette would prefer to direct attention towards the athletes he works with each day.

Surette has a reputation across the state, among officials and opposing coaches, as being a class act around the mat. Rarely demonstrative, Surette is proud of the fact that he has never lost a team point to an unsportsmanship penalty. That attitude carries over to his athletes.

"He stresses sportsmanship," said senior captain Dan Stace. "If we lose a match, he expects that we will handle it like gentlemen."

Stace has been one of the most successful wrestlers to come through the Winslow practice room and has been under Surette's tutelage since sixth grade. A two-time state class B runner-up, Stace won his 100th individual match early this season for Winslow, which goes into this weekend's action with a 8-5-1 dual-meet record.

Stace views Surette's concern for his athletes as a distinguishing characteristic.

"If we have a problem, he takes the time to help us work it out," he said. "The team is totally dedicated to him."

Surette's compassion for athletes with problems comes from personal experience.

"When I was a kid, I walked a fine line between trouble and staying on the right side of things," said Surette, who grew up in Dover-Foxcroft. "I definitely could have gone in either direction, but sports kept me in school.

While Surette competed in track and cross-country at Foxcroft Academy, it was on the wrestling mat where his competitiveness was fostered. He placed third in the Class B state tournament as a junior in 1985, and was poised to achieve his goal of winning a state title in his senior year. That dream was derailed in the regional tournament when he lost a dramatic overtime match to Belfast's Eric Harvey in the semifinals.

Physically and emotionally drained, Surette dropped his next consolation match to an opponent he had beaten a number of times during the season. The loss eliminated Surette from qualifying for the state tournament.

"When I lost I was devastated," said Surette, "but I took an important lesson away from the experience."

Now when an athlete loses a close match in a tournament, Surette makes sure the athlete is mentally prepared to wrestle back through the consolation rounds.

Surette views competing in the sport as a great preparation for the future. "Wrestling is a lot like life ,you're out there one on one," he said. "I want to give kids more than just wrestling. I want to give them life values."

To ensure he provides those values, Surette has sacrificed much of his personal time. He lives in Harmony with his wife, Michele, and their two children, Josh and Haley. Every day during the season, he travels 100 miles a day between home, work in Burnham and practice. His days begin at 3:15 in the morning and on weekday match nights, may not end until 11 p.m.

"Wednesday's (match nights) are rough," Surette said, with a smile.

Surette is quick to credit people in the Winslow community who work behind the scenes to make the wrestling team successful.

"Mike and Nancy Desrosiers help set up the gym for home matches and also run the concession stand, and Dot Fogg is a big help with the booster's club," he said.

Mike Desrosiers also coaches the middle school program and Kevin Fredette runs the Pee Wee program. Former Black Raider standout Todd Fredette is the assistant coach on the varsity team and Mark Morrissette also helps out in the practice room.

Surette has been an exemplary coach, according to Winslow athletic director Sean Keenan. "We are lucky to have Al," said Keenan.

Keenan credits Surette with going the extra mile to be around his athletes on a year-round basis and is highly appreciative of his coaching style.

"Al is very soft-spoken, but there is no question of who is in charge," said Keenan.

Someone might ask what makes all the work worthwhile. Surette answers the question with a simple statement. "I want to give back (to kids) what the sport gave to me when I was growing up," he said.

Judging by the performance of the Winslow program, the time has been well spent.

SOUTH PARIS-It's essential to remain prepared because the competition in wrestling changes instantly and that was certainly the theme Saturday in Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference action.

Donny Stevens recorded a meet-clinching win at 171-pounds as Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School rallied back for a 42-33 win against Skowhegan in a thrilling dual meet. The Vikings (15-3) had six pins, started by Andre Wilson (189), in a convincing 57-18 over Cony.

Belfast flexed its muscles with a total of 23 pins, en route to winning three meets during the events. The Lions (15-2) beat feisty Oxford Hills 48-28, Skowhegan 47-18 and Cony 62-9. Each meet began with the 189-match because of the new automatic drawing.

Oxford Hills had plenty of incentive against Skowhegan because it had lost to the Indians last month. Unfortunately, Oxford Hills dropped four of the first five matches to trail 27-6.

"There were some good wrestling matches today,"Viking coach Chris Cobbert said. "I don't mind losing meets, if the competition is strong like it was today. We were down a couple wrestlers when we faced them before, but today we had a full lineup. The way things were going, I told Stevens it was going to come down to him."

Stevens wasn't overly excited about the aforementioned pressure, however, his performance on the mat proved to be superior. The Vikings had taken a 36-33 lead when Ryan Bryce stuck Matt Dyer at 160.

Stevens ended the drama quickly by showing Dean Redleuske the lights in the first period. The Vikings received three wins each by Seth McAlister (125), Josh Laird (135), Bryce and Nate Libby (275).

"We had started strong, but this team is young,"Skowhegan coach Kurt Wentworth said. "There are a lot of freshmen and sophomores and that's the way it goes some times. We knew that it would come down to the final match."

There were some highly anticipated individual match-ups because the KVAC championships are being held next Saturday in the same gym. McAlister, (24-1) a 2001 Class A state champion, scored a 13-3 major decision against Jing Mai of Cony. The Vikings sophomore executed a single-leg takedown, directly to a near fall, with five seconds left in the first period. Brandon Hamilton of Skowhegan won a hard fought 1-0 decision against Nick Ouimet of Belfast at 152. Hamilton, (22-1) also a defending state champion, escaped with three seconds left in the match.

"I knew that I need to score points at the end,"Hamilton said. "It was tough because (Ouimet) is a phenomenal wrestler. We'll probably face each other again next week and he could have my number."

Cony (10-11-2 also lost 42-36 following a Redleuske in the final match. The Rams Brad Waugh is 29-1 at 140. The Lions triple winners were Kyle Bonin (103), Class B state champion Mike Ames (112) and Dustin Armstrong (145).

The Camden Hills Mountain Valley meet was very exciting with no more than 10 team points ever seperating the two. Came down to the last match with Camden Hills leading 36 - 32. Mt. Valley won the last match by fall to take the meet by four points. The match that was close on points till late in the third when Mt. Valley's Jason Provencher pinned Camden Hills' Brian Creamer at 5:20.

WATERBORO - On Wednesday night at Massabesic High School it was a rival wrestling match as the Mustangs hosted Sanford on the mats. The Redskins came away with a 44-32 victory, but Massabesic coach Bob Eon was still jovial.

"That match is one of the most fun ones that we have all season," Eon said. I get along great with the Sanford coaches, Mark (Hansen) and Charlie (Caramihalis). We, lost, but I'm still happy."

The Redskins jumped out to a quick 12-0 lead as Massabesic had to forfeit in the 119-pound weight class because Ken Belanger was out with an injury and then Shane Ledbetter pinned Keri Chevalier in 2 minutes 30 seconds. Sanford's Brian Bourque added three points to the lead in the next match as he won a hard fought decision, 4-2, over the Mustangs' Brian Pond.

Massabesic captain Tom Metz got his team on the scoreboard at 135 as he earned a technical fall victory over Micah Smith, 16-0, but the Mustangs never recovered from Sanford's early lead. Other winners for the Redskins were Nick Legere, Chad Edwards, Brian Briggs and Peter Wentworth. Massabesic's Corey Gallant, Richard Burns, Chris Chabot, Eric White and Matt Lude were all victorious.

Both teams will be at the Southern Maine Classic Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Biddeford.

Warriors 46, Wildcats 36

There is a new rule this year in high school wrestling that dual bouts will start at a randomly selected weight class. The 130 weight class was the starting point for the bout between Wells and York, and that worked out quite nicely for Warriors coach Mark Lewia and his squad.

Senior Dylan Grethe pinned his opponent at 130 in 2:48 to start things off. The Wildcats got those six points back as Wells had to forfeit at 135 because senior captain Edgar Wallace was out sick, but the Warriors went on a roll from there. Corey Brown at 140, Gale Pauley at 145, Matt Witham at 152 and Ben Pierce at 160 all followed with pins to give the home team a massive 30-6 lead.

York would counter with three straight victories by pin of its own, until Adam Chase stopped that streak with a pin at 275 in 2:13. Other winners for Wells were Steven Grethe at 112 and Malcolm Phillips at 125.

"The kids are really starting to come into it," Wells coach Mark Lewia. "We're tight where we need to be."

Blue Blazes 39, Tigers 28

The Biddeford wrestlers battled undefeated Westbrook to the wire on the Blue Blazes home turf Wednesday night. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they fell just short.

"The kids wrestled well, I'm not unhappy about that at all, it was a good match, we just came up on the short end," Biddeford coach Bob Gaudette said.

It seemed as though the close matches all went to Westbrook. At 160, Westbrook's Dan Cofone and Tony Goulet from Biddeford were tied, 2-2, with just :10 remaining when Cofone scored three points with a near fall. At 145, Jeremy Spofford narrowly defeated Biddeford's Brett Givin, 7-5. Don Flowers lost 3-1 at 135, Rich Morin lost 8-3, and on and on.

There were some real highlights for the Tigers however. Captain Jim Gaudette pinned Chris Landrum just :15 into the 112 match as he stuck an overhead cradle on a takedown right away. Anthony Cincotta was once again impressive at 140 as he earned a technical victory, 20-5, over Joe Lacourse. Jon Cochrane at 125 also won by tech. fall, 16-0. And at 152 Jimmy Smith earned his team six points the easy way, by forfeit. Not because Westbrook didn't have anyone in that weight class, but because they didn't have one in the weight class who wanted to face Smith.

Biddeford will get its chance at redemption this weekend when Westbrook arrives at the Southern Maine Classic.

LISBON FALLS-The reality involved with achieving success early in one's career usually requires an adjustment in future goals in order to reach the next level. That's exactly the position Joey Schreiber encountered when the time came to shift gears in preparation for the wrestling season.

The Lisbon High School junior had rededicated his efforts last year and Schreiber reaped the benefits by dominating the 189-pound weight class. He beat a defending state champion, to win the Class C individual state championship. The Greyhounds also celebrated by winning their first crown since 1964. The feats garnered Schreiber a number 16 ranking nationally this fall by Wrestling U.S.A. Magazine.

This past fall, Schreiber was a cog in the wheel for the Lisbon football team that reached the playoffs. The Greyhound standout came face-to-face with a personal crossroads in life.

"It was difficult to get motoivated,"Schreiber said. "The (wrestling) team and myself had each been quite successful the previous season. Then, I had just completed the football season and we had suffered a tough loss in the playoffs. It took a little time for me to get refocused and establish some new goals to strive toward and try to set."

Schreiber missed the first week of preseason wrestling practice and came close to not being able to wrestle at all. The situation was laid out quite clearly, if he missed another practice, he'd no longer be a part of the team. Schreiber realized how important the sport meant and made a big decision during a late night conversation.

"Joey has accomplished a lot early in life and it had led to some (early season) complacency,"Lisbon coach Mark Stevens said. "Joey needed to believe that he always needs to set higher goals. At 10:30 p.m. on a Friday, Joey knocked on my door and showed a great deal of humility when asking if he could be part of the Lisbon wrestling team.

Schreiber had sought advice from others on how to best proceed. The positive words given by Stevens, girlfriend Heather Roy and others were well absorbed. Still, Schreiber really showed signs of maturity by doing some soul searching. Schreiber admits that these decisions wouldn't have been given the time of day in the past.

"I told him that we would love to have him on the team as long as he expressed the same desire for the sport as he had in previous years,"Stevens said. "He was told that if he didn't want to be at practice it would drag the whole team down. I pointed out the story of great athletes who fade away before their time. Which happens all to often. He didn't want to be one of those stories."

Schreiber had success in the eighth grade and a win in the league championships capped off an unbeaten season. A year later, an important lesson was learned, following a disappointing fourth place finish in the state meet.

"I really learned not to take any thing for granted,"Schreiber said. I had gained some weight and I guess that you can call it freshman jitters, but I was really disappointed in myself.

Schriber has always worn his heart on his sleeve and it tends to get him in trouble on the wrestling mat. The expressions being shown are usually a measuring stick. The eventual results of a match or tournament can be determined by the look on his face.

"I've always been emotional throughout my youth,"Schreiber said. "I tended to have a thin skin (short fuse), so if some thing upset me, I'd let every body know it. I really think that I have a better handle on things now and it comes from within. Even when I do slip up, I realize it and more quickly and try sorting it out."

Schreiber is driven again and his performances certainly have been on a steady path. He entered this past weekend with a 17-1 record (14 pins). The lone blemish was a 3-1 over time loss in the McDonalds Invitation finals to a wrestler from New Hampshire. Ironically, Schreiber had beaten the same opponent in the tournament the previous year.

That was an adverse situation, however, Schreiber has had to deal with those all along.

This past summer had been extremely tough because an operation was necessary to repair torn cartilage in his knee. The idle time prevented him from competing on the freestyle circuit. Schreiber credits Morse coach Shawn Guest for helping him develop consistency on the wrestling mat.

Schreiber also looked up to individuals while growing up and realizes how important those types of relationships can be in a young persons life. He is an advocate for the less fortunate and helps returns the favor as a member of the Androscroggin Big Brothers and Big Sisters.

"I remember how it was growing up,"Schreiber said. "It was great having my brother Matt to look toward for support. I enjoy being involved with the program because I can hopefully have a positive effect. I had an out let and now I'm in a position to give it back."

The Monmouth Academy wrestling team may not have the depth to be labeled a contender, however, it will have plenty of opportunity to make some notoriety before the season finale. The beauty of the sport lies in the fact that each individual has an equal chance at being successful. The Mustangs wrestlers certainly fit the category.

Monmouth has been behind the eight ball at the start of every dual meet this season. A total of four forfeits add up to a 24-point deficit, but that hasn't prevented the Mustangs from compiling a near .500 record through 20 meets.

The Stangs' lost 48-30 to Dirigo last Saturday, however, a closer look tells a different story. Monmouth won the final six contested matches, so the score would have been 30-24. A math teacher could figure it by addition and subtraction.

"It's tough having to start out like that,"Monmouth coach Charlie Fyler said. "The 24 points are a lot to make up, but these kids keep plugging away. I don't think our dual meet record gives a true indication of the type of talent that we have on the team."

One of the most consistent strengths has been Aaron Kalzynski who has only lost one match at 103-pounds. The junior, who won a Class C state championship as a freshman, remains completely focused on winning it all again this season. In an effort to be prepared, Kalzynski bumped up to compete against a Class A opponent.

Senior Nate Butler is 17-3 at 215 and could be a factor in the post-season tournaments. Butler has placed fourth at the state meet in 1999 and 2001.

The Stangs' also have a potential sleeper in Heidi Bonderud at 112. The female, despite being a legitimate 103, has been out performing the heavier opposition. In a match last Saturday, Bonderud was trailing 7-0 to Eli Johnson of Dirigo. Bonderud executed a reversal and eventually settled in for a pin.

"We also have some other kids who are capable of pulling out some wins,"Fyler said. "A lot depends on the individual match-ups, but the opportunities are there. Wes Danforth has been a surprise at 119."

Despite an unusual style, Jake Tidsdale (160) has been winning and Mike Boulette is strong at 135.

It's common for a team to go in cycles when it enjoys success and then it has to struggle for recognition. The latter had plagued the Fryeburg Academy wrestling team, however, this season has produced a positive swing.

Fryeburg

Fryeburg is earning back some respect every time the wrestlers step on the mat. The competitiveness is evident because the Raiders are winning matches and have also two fifth place finishes in tournaments.

"I attribute a lot of the team success to the wrestlers,"Raiders coach Jeff Brown said. "They have put the time in by attending camps and competing during the summer. Plus, former wrestlers come back and show the younger kids certain moves or techniques. That type of progression is invaluable."

Although the numbers are still short of filling the entire 14 weight classes, there is plenty of reasons to be optimistic about the remainder of the season. The lone seniors on the team are Buck Brown (18-0) and Richard Chute (16-2) at 160 and 189, respectively.

Brown, a defending Class B state champion, won the 100th career match last week against Marshwood. The membership into the exclusive century club is extremely rewarding for a wrestler. It shows a commitment and dedication to the sport because the mark is achieved over a long period of time. Fryeburg has a rich tradition in wrestling dating back three decades ago. It began with the state championship teams (schoolboy and prep) led by Hall Of Fame coach Dave Woodsome. Former Raider Dan Fox, an All American, earned over 100 wins in the mid-1990s and was joined by Brendan Dagan two years ago.

The current team has also had some pleasant surprises, beginning with a solid junior class. Jesse Davidson (125) has placed in the tournaments and Tom Mango won the McDonalds Invitational at 275. Chris Randall (140), Tom Moore (145) and Craig Sergant (215) also capable of scoring points.

A knee injury that Ben Roberts suffered has sidelined him for the season. The spot in the lineup at 171 prompted Andy Davis to rejoin the team. Davis had placed in the state meet two years ago.

The future was looking promising because the high school team has been gradually gaining recruits from the junior high program. Unfortunately, budget short falls throughout the SAD #72 are posing a serious threat to it.

"I don't really know the direction of the program,"coach Brown said. "They are going through some budget woes and are thinking of cutting wrestling and football at the junior high level. Hat would be devastating to both of those programs. We've been in discussions with them and hopefully can find a (solution)."

Stephen Michaud

If a follow up on Stephen Michaud of Medomak Valley, the injured wrestler is still showing positive signs. The Panther sophomore suffered a broken neck during a match against Lincoln Academy last month. He was unable to move and underwent surgery to repair vertebrate at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

"I'm trying my hardest and will try staying positive,"Michaud said. "Both of my arms are moving, but there's no movement in my legs, yet. There's some feeling in them."

Based on the nature of the injury, the length of recovery is unknown at this time. The continued healing, positive reinforcement and extensive rehabilitation will be each determining factors in regaining functions in the future.