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 the 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. The feat, as Ellsworth coach J.F. Burns said it, put the Eagles “on the brink” of a championship.
When Trent Goodman took to the mat for the 160-final, Burns told the sophomore to “seal the deal.”
“We were pretty confident,” Burns said. “We felt we had a clear shot at winning it.”
And seal the deal he did. Goodman pinned Mount Desert Island’s Wilder Young in the first period to take first in his weight class and put the Eagles on top.
Ellsworth finished first of 10 schools with 166 points; Foxcroft took second with 155; Belfast, third with 150; Camden Hills, fourth with 130; Medomak Valley, fifth with 68; Caribou, sixth with 44; MDI, seventh with 40; Maine Central Institute, eighth with 33; Oceanside, ninth with 24; and John Bapst, 10th with four.
“Wrestling can be an individual sport,” Burns said. “But when we came through, everyone from the champions all the way down were so excited.”
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.
Along with Petros and Goodman, Ellsworth had two additional regional champions. Freshman Peyton Cole beat MCI’s state runner-up, senior Dylan Dahlbergh, in the 132-pound final by a score of 13-8. 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. At 170 pounds, 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 pounds, he notched his first career victory over Reagan Billingsley of Oceanside by a score of 9-0. Brown finished the day in fourth place.
“I’m still flying high,” Burns said of the victory.
But Burns said the proudest he felt of his team that day came from a compliment by the meet director, Sean Keenan.
“He said to me, ‘You have an excellent group of wrestlers,’” Burns recalled. “’But more importantly, you have a fine group of young men.’”