By Taylor Vortherms on Sports, Wrestling
WALDOBORO – For the first time in the history of Ellsworth High School, the wrestling team has won the Eastern Maine Class B title.
Despite winning two state titles in the early 80s, Ellsworth was never able to edge fellow PVC rival Foxcroft Academy for a regional championship.
But on Saturday at Medomak Valley High School, junior captain Connor Petros notched a win over Foxcroft’s two-time state champion, Brooks Law, in the 152-pound final to put the Ellsworth Eagles on the brink of a championship.
In the 160-pound final, Trent Goodman sealed the deal for the Eagles with a first-period pin of Mount Desert Island’s Wilder Young.
With 14 weight classes, Ellsworth entered only 10 wrestlers. Each one contributed to the victory, as all 10 placed in the top four of their respective weight classes. All qualified for the state championships in Fryeburg on Saturday, Feb. 14.
Besides Petros and Goodman, Ellsworth had two additional regional champions. Freshman Peyton Cole beat Maine Central Institute’s state runner-up, senior Dylan Dahlbergh, in the 132-pound final by a score of 13 to 8. Cole remains undefeated for the season.
At 145 pounds, junior Dagan Berenyi – defending Maine All-State wrestler – pinned all three of his opponents, including Riley McCollett of Medomak Valley in the finals.
Ellsworth’s second-place finishers included Robert Banner at 126 pounds and Jeff Weeks at 182 pounds. In their championship matches, Banner was pinned in the second period by Eli Olson of Foxcroft, and Weeks lost 7-4 to Foxcroft’s Brandon Brock.
Ellsworth’s third-place finishers – Noah Robidoux, Jack Weeks and Tyler Hardwick –all lost in the semifinals to the eventual champions.
In the consolation finals, Robidoux pinned Chris Waltrous of MCI in the second period at 120 pounds. At 138 pounds, senior captain Jack Weeks recorded his third pin of the day with a first-period pin of MDI’s Elijah Malloy. Tyler Hardwick beat Adrian Joy of Camden 7-1.
Jared Brown, who joined the team late in the season, did not wrestle his first match until the tournament as a result of weather cancelations. At 195 lbs. he scored his first career victory over Reagan Billingsley of Oceanside by a score of 9 to 0 and finished the day in fourth place.