Photo by: Ken Waltz
Pine Tree Wrestling League
Medomak, Oceanside, CRMS, HAL, Mount View compete; 11 champs, 42 state-bound
ROCKLAND — The Midcoast has long been a hotbed for top-notch mat athletes and that was demonstrated again on Saturday, March 21 at Oceanside East High School as area teams and individuals dominated the competition during the Pine Tree Wrestling League Eastern Regional meet.
When the dust settled on a long, competitive day of middle school wrestling, Troy Howard of Belfast sat atop the mountain as the champion. Historically, the Lions are perennial regional and state championship contenders.
Troy Howard rallied late to outdistance Medomak of Waldoboro, which finished second at 188.5. The Riverhawks had finished the regular dual-meet season 22-0, including edging the Lions.
Host Oceanside of Thomaston/Rockland placed third at 142.
The team scores were: Troy Howard 207.5, Medomak 188.5, Oceanside 142, Bucksport 115, Mattanawcook of Lincoln 85.5, Mount View of Thorndike 77.5, Hope-Appleton-Lincolnville 71, Winslow 62, Hancock 41.5, Camden-Rockport 36, Hampden 22, Ellsworth 21, Erskine of South China 7 and Messalonskee of Oakland 3.
Individually, the Midcoast crowned 11 champions, including Oceanside's Alex Fogarty (99 pounds), Bennett Penney (105), Ben Ripley (117), Mike Yates (123) and Lucien Marriner (145); Troy Howard's Patrick Curtis (111), Asa Hayes (130) and Anthony Sanborn (240); HAL's Eric Andrews (81 pounds); and Medomak's Duncan Widdecombe (93) and Eli Miller (137).
Ultimately, Oceanside crowned five champs, Troy Howard three, Medomak two and HAL one.
The area added a bundle of other grapplers who placed second, third and fourth. In all, 42 Midcoast athletes qualifed for the state meet.
Additional information, video and a link to more photos from the regional meet will appear later with this story.
The top four in each weight division move on from the regional to the league championship meet on Saturday, March 28 at Cony High School in Augusta.
When all was said and done from Saturday's meet, Troy Howard qualified 13 young mat athletes to the state meet, Medomak 11, Oceanside seven, HAL and Mount View four and CRMS three.
The Midcoast state qualifiers from each area school were:
Camden-Rockport — Ian Henderson (3rd at 99), Seth Sweet (4th at 123) and Brady Hedstrom (4th at 145).
HAL — Eric Andrews (1st at 81 pounds), Noah Lang (2nd at 117), Dawson Allen (3rd at 93) and Drew Kelly (3rd at 111).
Medomak — Duncan Widdecombe (1st at 93), Eli Miller (1st at 137), Marshall Sawyer (2nd at 75), Shane Cookson (2nd at 105), Dylan O'Reilly (2nd at 145), Korbin Daniels (2nd at 155), Amos Hinkley (2nd at 170), Erik Benner (2nd at 195), Taylah Reed (4th at 99), Will Perry (4th at 111) and Ashton Daniels (3rd at 240).
Mount View — Noah McClendon (2nd at 87), Zach Ward (2nd at 93), Jasmine Barnard (4th at 130) and Nathaniel Fuller (3rd at 170).
Oceanside — Alex Fogarty (1st at 99), Bennett Penney (1st at 105), Ben Ripley (1st at 117), Mike Yates (1st at 123), Lucien Marriner (1st at 145), Carter Fogarty (3rd at 75) and Riley Micklich (3rd at 81).
Troy Howard — Patrick Curtis (1st at 111), Asa Hayes (1st at 130), Anthony Sanborn (1st at 240), Wyatt Staples (2nd at 81), Isaac Ham (2nd at 99), Jonah Lovejoy (3rd at 87), Timmy Smith (4th at 93), Cyrus Resh (4th at 105), Jack Hansen (3rd at 117), Tanner Veilleux (3rd at 145), Donny Resh (3rd at 155), Hayden Brewer (4th at 170) and Shane Rumney (3rd at 195).
The individual results from the championship finals included:
75 pounds — Jackson Sutherland, Matt, pinned Marshall Sawyer, Med, at 3:25.
81 pounds — Eric Andrews, HAL, beat Wyatt Staples, TH, 7-2.
87 pounds — Landon St. Peter, Ells, pinned Noah McClendon, MtV, at 4:03.
93 pounds — Duncan Widdecombe, Med, won by technical fall over Zach Ward, MtV, 16-1.
99 pounds — Alex Fogarty, Ocean, pinned Isaac Ham, TH, at 2:32.
105 pounds — Bennett Penney, Ocean, pinned Shane Cookson, Med, at 1:25.
111 pounds — Patrick Curtis, TH, pinned Mark Ward, MtV, at 1:13.
117 pounds — Ben Ripley, Ocean, pinned Noah Lang, HAL, at 2:58.
123 pounds — Mike Yates, Ocean, beat Xavier Hamilton, Buck, 6-4.
130 pounds — Asa Hayes, TH, pinned Andrew Gauthier, Ham, at 0:52.
137 pounds — Eli Miller, Med, won by major decision over Reed Kiah, Han, 14-5.
145 pounds — Lucien Marriner, Ocean, pinned Dylan O'Reilly, Med, at 6:30 in three overtimes. This was, perhaps, the most exciting match of the day.
155 pounds — Luke Wardwell, Buck, pinned Korbin Daniels, Med, at 1:02.
170 pounds — Alex Demers, Win, pinned Amos Hinkley, Med, at 2:52.
195 pounds — Jared Smith, Han, pinned Erik Benner, Med, at 1:02.
240 pounds — Anthony Sanborn, TH, pinned David Gross, Buck, at 2:36.
The individual results from the consolation finals were:
75 pounds — Carter Fogarty, Ocean, pinned Sam Schmitt, Win, at 0:39.
81 pounds — Riley Micklich, Ocean, pinned Deegan Tidwell, Matt, at 2:18.
87 pounds — Jonah Lovejoy, TH, pinned Abby Hanscom, Buck, at 3:13.
93 pounds — Dawson Allen, HAL, pinned Timmy Smith, TH, at 4:02.
99 pounds — Ian Henderson, CR, pinned Taylah Reed, Med, at 4:02.
105 pounds — Travis Mushero, Matt, pinned Cyrus Resh, TH, at 2:07.
111 pounds — Drew Kelly, HAL, won by major decision over Will Perry, Med, 10-0.
117 pounds — Jack Hansen, TH, pinned Anthony Proulx, Win, at 0:38.
123 pounds — Nick Larrabee, Matt, won by major decision over Seth Sweet, CR, 9-0.
130 pounds — Ricky Perkins, Buck, pinned Jasmine Barnard, MtV, at 1:29.
137 pounds — Cam Fredette, Win, pinned Oliver Spainhour, Buck, at 2:02.
145 pounds — Tanner Veilleux, TH, pinned Brady Hedstrom, CR, at 1:05.
155 pounds — Donny Resh, TH, pinned Nick Pelkey, Matt, at 2:18.
170 pounds — Nathaniel Fuller, MtV, pinned Hayden Brewer, TH, at 1:08.
195 pounds — Shane Rumney, TH, pinned Noah Scanlon, Buck, at 0:37.
240 pounds — Ashton Daniels, Med, pinned Dakota Page, Matt, at 1:45.
For local wrestlers, Oceanside's Brennan Harris is an alternate to the states at 170 and Camden-Rockport's William Jurek (81) and Joah Thompson (87) alternates in their weight divisions.