By Ernie Clark, BDN Staff
Posted Feb. 10, 2009, at 11:14 p.m.
A wrestling match is one of the most individual experiences in high school sport — a one-on-one confrontation against an opponent, under the spotlight, in front of the fans.
But winning a wrestling championship is far more an exercise in teamwork, with teammate helping teammate in the wrestling room throughout the winter to prepare for that moment in the individual spotlight.
“Champions come in pairs,” said Lisbon coach Mark Stevens, who guided the Greyhounds to their second straight Class C state title and third in the last four years at Augusta on Saturday. “If you look at the champions we had, Joe Doughty and Dan Schofield wrestle every day in practice, they train together.”
Doughty, at 215 pounds, and the 285-pound Schofield were among seven individual state champions from Lisbon. Similarly, champions Forest Cornell (112 pounds) and Mike McNamara and Josh Pomerleau, the runner-up at 119 pounds to Scott Carpenter of Calais, also fed off the practice challenges they provided each other throughout the season.
“Mike, Forrest and Josh, they train together every day,” said Stevens. “I think that’s kind of the perpetual motion some of these teams have that are successful here, and we’re included.
“These guys have wrestled together, and they train the new guys coming up, and eventually by the end of the season the new guys are winning matches.”
It’s a similar scenario for the Belfast Lions, who had seven state finalists and five individual champions leading the way to the team’s consecutive Class B state championship.
“We drill together a lot,” said Belfast junior Kote Aldus, the reigning 160-pound New England champion who won his second straight state title in that weight class Saturday. “I kind of think of us as brothers. We do everything together, we always train with each other, and when we don’t want to do any more, one of us gives us that extra shove, and definitely that extra shove helps a lot.”
Belfast’s individual titles came in consecutive weight classes, from Zach Shellabarger (152), Aldus and Kornealius Wood (171) to four-time state champion Travis Spencer (189) and Mark Smith (215).
And while that group represents a weight differential of more than 50 pounds, all of those champions have been able to learn and prosper thanks to each other’s help.
“We’ve all been in the program together since middle school,” said Shellabarger, one of five seniors who will graduate from Belfast’s starting lineup, “so we’ve all helped to develop each other to help get us where we are now.”
More honors for wrestlers, teams
Three competitors and six teams received special recognition after Saturday’s state wrestling championships held at the Augusta Civic Center.
Joey Eon of Massabesic of Waterboro, Travis Spencer of Belfast and Cameron Bubar of Lisbon each was honored as the outstanding wrestler in his class.
Eon won his fourth consecutive state individual title in helping Massabesic finish in the Class A meet. He outlasted Mark Richardson of Noble of North Berwick in the 145-pound championship final, rallying for a 6-4 overtime decision that avenged a loss a week earlier in the Western Maine Class A meet. Eon previously had won three individual state titles at 140 pounds.
Spencer joined Eon in the four-championship club by winning the 189-pound title to help Belfast win its second straight Class B state crown. Spencer had little difficulty winning his third 189-pound championship after winning the 160-pound class as a freshman. He recorded three first-period pins — capped off by a victory over Oak Hill of Sabattus’s Nick Wells at 1:32 of the championship match to continue his undefeated season.
Bubar won his first individual state championship while leading Lisbon to its second straight Class C team title and third in four years. Bubar, who placed third at 140 pounds as a freshman, second at 145 as a sophomore and second at 152 last winter, decisioned Jacob Ferland of Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln 10-3 in this year’s 171-pound final.
Also presented during Saturday’s post-meet awards ceremony were team sportsmanship awards. Eastern Maine teams honored were Skowhegan (Class A), Hermon (Class B) and Fort Kent (Class C), while Western Maine teams recognized were Marshwood of South Berwick (Class A), York (Class B) and Dirigo of Dixfield (Class C).
2nd wrestling postseason looms
What once was a break in the high school wrestling postseason schedule while waiting for the New England championships in early March has filled up fairly rapidly.
The second annual Maine High School Girls Wrestling Invitational meet will be held Feb. 18 at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington.
Fifty-three girls from 31 schools competed in nine weight classes a year ago, with Mount Ararat of Topsham, York, Oxford Hills of South Paris and Caribou emerging as the top four teams.
A larger field is anticipated this year, led by Kayleigh Longley of Noble of North Berwick, who won the 105-pound title at the girls meet last year and reached the championship round of the Class A state meet last weekend.
That meet is followed on Feb. 21 by the inaugural Maine All-State Folkstyle Invitational to be held at Cony High School in Augusta.
The top three finishers in each weight class from Classes A, B and C at the state meet will be invited to determine all-class champions.
That meet leads to the 45th annual New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships to be held March 6-7 at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn.