DIXFIELD-It's
always important to get going on a positive note in any athletic competition
and the season is often considered to be a marathon because its long and full
of issues.
Wrestling is certainly no exception and the Dirigo team has passed the test
following the first full month of the schedule. The Cougars along with every
other squad still have numerous questions that will need to be addressed,
entering the new year.
Dirigo is currently
13 -1 in dual meets (including pre-season) where the team won the Viking Duals
- beating Class A power and reining Class B state champion Camden Hills. The
Cougars finished a respectable sixth in the McDonald's tournament and the
following Saturday finished second at the Atlantic tourney in Wells.
There
was plenty of unanswered questions surrounding the youthful team, the lone
senior is a first-year wrestler. The lineup consists of three juniors, six
sophomores and three freshmen.
Along the
way, surprises have helped steer the Cougars in the right direction. Beginning
with Chase Thebarge (Fr.@106), 16-3 who reached the finals at McDonald's and
Atlantics and Jon Wainwright (Fr. @113) - 15-6 who wrestled well in a 7-4 loss
to Class B state champion Dan Buteau of Oak
Hill. Sophomores Hunter White and Bryce Whittemore each were state
finalists as freshmen, but a bump-up three weight classes raised eyebrows.
White (15-5 @138) and Whittemore (19-4 @152) have both fared well against more
muscular opponents.
"We
need improvements,"Dirigo head coach Doug Gilbert said. ''We're still
looking for team leadership especially when we have wrestlers on the mat. Our
upper six (160-285) have to step it up if we're going to repeat.''
Dirigo won
its fourth Class C state championship, in 2014.
A
major issue that has been derailing the sport, has been the large number of forfeits.
In the mid-1990s, the National Federation increased the number of weight
classes from 12 to 14; which the state of Maine
"How
do we recruit kids in a sport where weight loss
and giving
up every Saturday from dawn to dusk is the norm,''Gilbert has said this for
years. "We as coaches have to get creative with our schedules."
* Friday
night meets to give kids a weekend off once in while.
* Basketball
/ Wrestling double headers to promote the sport.
* Limit the
amount of tournaments each team is allowed to enter during the regular season.
''Some
teams will attend a tournament every week. Later weigh-ins on Saturday. When I
wrestled (Rumford state championship teams, 1972-74) there were Saturday
afternoon matches, weigh-ins at noon, giving the kids a chance sleep in some.''
A built-in
soluation already exists, which could reduce weigh classes back to 12. The MPA
sponsors a New England qualifier, so after
having 12 weight classes @ the respective state meets, increase to 14 in the
qualifying tournament.
On the numerous
forfeits, one veteran official stated, ''It's a sad state of affairs with so
many forfeits, but it's happening through out the entire state. Gardiner showed
up with three wrestlers for a dual meet against Cony.'' This has resulted in a
serious drop in the quality of wrestling and the Maine Principal Association
needs to address the situation.