Ellsworth’s Dagan Berenyi wrestles Robert Heatherman of Mount Ararat for the championship in the 170-pound weight class at the 30th annual McDonald’s Tournament on Saturday at Mountain Valley. Berenyi won by pin.
PHOTO BY KAYLA HARDISON
MOUNTAIN VALLEY — While the depleted Ellsworth wrestling team could only place wrestlers in eight of 14 weight classes at the 30th annual McDonald’s Tournament on Saturday, six Eagles competed in the tournament finals, and three came away with championships.
Ellsworth’s Peyton Cole, Dagan Berenyi and Trent Goodman all collected first place medals in their weight classes.
As a team, Ellsworth placed second of 17 teams with 128.5 points. Noble, which lost to Ellsworth last year by half a point, took first with 168.5 points.
At 138 pounds, Cole — a freshman — came out of the sixth seed to win the championship with a pin over Noble’s Devin Bourque in 59 seconds. Cole finished the day with pins in all three of his matches.
At 160 pounds, Berenyi captured the title by beating Robert Heatherman of Mount Ararat, one of the top wrestlers in the state. This performance earned Berenyi the Outstanding Wrestler of the Meet Award.
At 170 pounds, Goodman proved his No. 1-seed with a controlled 7-2 victory over Billy Brock of Foxcroft Academy.
Ellsworth captain Jack Weeks fell short in the 145-pound championship to Josh Grenier of Noble by a 3-1 score.
Ellsworth’s Josh Wright, who is seeded No. 4, also made it to the finals in his 132-pound weight class, but was pinned in the first period by Ed DeRoche of Mountain Valley.
Jeff Weeks lost to Malik Geiger of Oxford Hills in the 182-pound championship by a score of 12-2. Jeff Weeks was the first of Geiger’s opponents to not lose to him by pin this year.
After a last-second loss in the semifinals, Connor Petros came back and pinned Bryce Whitmore of Dirigo at 1:16 in the consolation finals.
An even more depleted Bucksport team placed last with two points, with only two wrestlers competing for the day. Matthew Stewart got the Golden Bucks their only win with a 5-0 decision over Spencer Vaughan of Dirigo in the 170-pound class. Stewart lost his next match to Brock, who placed second, and his third to Jacob Waterman of Belfast, who placed fourth.
Ellsworth is scheduled to host Bucksport, Mount Desert Island, Penobscot Valley, Calais and Washington Academy in a tournament Wednesday.
Ellsworth wrestlers (from left to right) Trent Goodman, Peyton Cole and Dagan Berenyi pose with their brackets after the three won their weight classes at the 30th annual McDonald’s Tournament on Saturday at Mountain Valley.
PHOTO BY KAYLA HARDISON