Plymouth State Coach to receive prestigious award in Maine

From Kent Cherrington, SID kcherrington@plymouth.edu

For Immediate Release

PSU Coach to receive prestigious awards in Maine, Aguiar recognized for a lifetime of dedication to sport

PLYMOUTH, N.H. – Plymouth State University coach will be honored in the state of Maine for lifetime achievements, dedication and commitment to wrestling.

Jim Aguiar has been chosen to receive the 2015 Maine Amateur Wrestling Association (MAWA) Lifetime Achievement Award. A native of Biddeford, Maine and a longtime supporter of the MAWA, Aguiar was Plymouth State’s head wrestling coach from 1974-85 and a Panther assistant the past dozen years. He will be honored prior to the MAWA Hall of Fame Induction ceremony on August 27, 2015, at the Hyde School in Bath, Maine.

In his 12th year as assistant coach Jim Aguiar is a familiar figure to Panther fans. Originally from Biddeford Maine, Jim was a two-time State Wrestling Champion and an All-State Football player. He attended Boston University on a football scholarship and was active in the group of student re-establishing wrestling as a varsity program at BU.

Coach Aguiar came to PSU as the defensive coordinator of the football program and served as the head wrestling coach from 1974 to 1985. Jim served one season as the head football coach in 1980 posting the first winning season in years. He resigned coaching football to focus upon his graduate studies.

In wrestling Jim coached many All New England Wrestlers and the first NCAA All American Wrestler at Plymouth State. He still holds the record for most career dual meet victories (over 100 wins). After completing his doctorate in education at Boston University he left the Plymouth area to accept a position at Moorhead State University (MN) where he also was the head wrestling coach. He coached at MSU for two years turning around the Division II program that had fallen on hard times. In 1988 Dr. Aguiar accepted a position at Ithaca College (NY) where he focused on teaching. After retiring from teaching at IC in 2003 he returned to NH and quickly became reconnected with the Wrestling Panthers. 

Telegram's wrestling All-State team

The best in Maine this season.

Cody Craig, Skowhegan, sophomore, 106: One of seven repeat All-Telegram picks, Craig rolled to a second straight Class A and New England Qualifier titles in a 52-2 season. For the second straight year, he was unbeaten until New Englands.

Jeremy Sendrowski, Scarborough, freshman, 113: The Class A champ and all-state runner-up went 38-7 and gets the slight nod over Skowhegan’s Samson Sirois. The two split a pair of close decisions with Sirois winning in the all-state final.

Austin Shorey, Noble, junior, 120: Shorey, named outstanding wrestler at the Spartan Invitational, won the Class A and all-state titles. His 54-5 record included a 3-2 mark at New Englands, where he beat the top seeds from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Bradley Beaulieu, Marshwood, sophomore, 126: Beaulieu went all the way to the New England final before suffering only loss in a 51-1 season that included the Class A and all-state title. Beaulieu is 103-12 in his career.

Peyton Cole, Ellsworth, freshman, 132: The Class B champ was the all-state runner-up (injury default) and went 38-7 overall including a win at New Englands.

Zeko Caudill, Cony, senior, 138: Caudill went 39-0 en route to the Class A and all-state titles, including two wins against Class C champ Zachary Caron of Dexter. He did not compete at the New England Championship.

Dagan Berenyi, Ellsworth, junior, 145: The Class B champ repeated as an all-state champion despite breaking his tibia with a minute remaining in the final against Class A champ Zak Richard of Massabesic. He finished the year 30-2.

Dominick Day, Biddeford, senior, 152: A repeat All-Telegram choice, Day won his second Class A crown and was unbeaten before being upset in the all-state final. He finished 41-3 after going 4-2 at New England, ending with a 146-18 career mark.

Jackson Howarth, Marshwood, senior, 160: A four-time Class A champ and repeat All-Telegram choice, Howarth was unbeaten in Maine and placed fifth at New Englands. He was 46-2 overall and 196-10 in his career.

Cody Hughes, Marshwood, senior, 170: A four-time Class A champ and three-time All-Telegram choice, Hughes was 52-1 this season, placing third at New Englands and establishing a Maine record with 212 career wins. He will wrestle at Virginia Tech.

Brett Gerry, Marshwood, senior, 182: Gerry won his third Class A title and earned his third All-Telegram selection by going 45-3 overall to improve to 179-24 in his career.

Trevor Henschel, Fryeburg, senior, 195: The Class B runner-up came back to win the all-state tourney, pinning Class B champ Kalo Littlejohn in the final. Henschel finished the year 50-6 with a 2-2 record at New Englands.

Michael Curtis, Wells, senior, 220: Curtis won the Class B and all-state titles, and placed third at New England, losing to the eventual champ, to finish 47-1. The three-time Class B champ set a school record with 180 career wins.

Jakob Nichols, Nokomis, senior, 285: Nichols won the Class A and Noble Invitational championships in a 46-0 season. He did not attend the New England qualifier.

Coach of the Year

J.F. Burns, Ellsworth: Guided Ellsworth to its first regional title and then had five individual champions at the Class B championship as the Eagles won their first state title in 33 years.

– Steve Craig

The Dennis Bishop Outstanding Wrestler Award

AT MAINE NEW ENGLAND QUALIFIER TOURNAMENT

Hello, my name is Jeff Witham and I am currently the president of the Maine Interscholastic Wrestling Officials Association and the lead official for this 2nd annual Maine State New England Qualifying tournament. It is my honor to announce the winner of this year Outstanding Wrestler trophy.

However, before I do that, we have a little change to announce. As you all know, the OW for the Class A, B and C tournaments are named for special people from the history of Maine high school wrestling – names like LaFountain, Smith and Pelletier. The MIWOA is responsible for funding and awarding these handsome OW trophies. As you may not know, the OW for this tournament had no name, UNTIL TODAY. When this topic came up to the leaders of the MIWOA, one name clearly jumped to the top of the list. This person has represented Maine wrestling as a participant, a coach, an official, a mentor and a friend for over 50 years. When people ask me “what got you into officiating?”, I think back to my beginnings and recall this man on the mat. His style, his assertiveness, his calmness, his integrity, his knowledge, and his love for the sport.

It is with great pleasure that I announce that this trophy will now be known as the -

The Dennis Bishop Outstanding Wrestler Award

Congratulations Dennis

USM NCAA Scholar All Americans

USM sophomore NCAA Scholar All Americans CJ Luth and Daniel Del Gallo earned their 50th career college victories leading the USM Huskies to their 5th consecutive winning season.

The Huskies earned a convincing 40-9 win over Plymouth State University however dropped a close 27-18 match to the United States Coast Guard Academy.

USM's record stands at 13-9 with 3 dual meets left on their schedule which concludes next weekend in Connecticut





John W Cole
Like · · Share · 2822

Ellsworth’s Jack Weeks notches 100th win

by Taylor Vortherms 

Ellsworth’s Jack Weeks wrestles Mount Desert Island’s Elijah Malloy in the 138-pound championship at Saturday’s home tournament. Weeks pinned Malloy for his 100th-career win. PHOTO BY TAYLOR VORTHERMS

ELLSWORTH — Ellsworth wrestler Jack Weeks notched his 100th win of his career in the 138-pound championship at Saturday’s Ellsworth High School tournament.

“One hundred wins is the standard for measuring wrestling excellence in the state of Maine,” Ellsworth coach J.F. Burns said. “By far, we give out the nicest award for this achievement.”

Three Ellsworth wrestlers place first in Skowhegan Tournament

After Weeks pinned Mount Desert Island’s Elijah Malloy to take first place, Ellsworth assistant coach Travis Hardison rushed to the center of the mat to present the senior wrestler with a trophy.

Other Ellsworth wrestlers who took first at the tournament included Peyton Cole at 132 pounds and Connor Petros at 160 pounds.

In the finals, Cole beat Nicholas Hallowell of Calais 11-0, and Petros beat Matthew Stewart of Bucksport 9-5.

Ellsworth’s Josh Wright, Harry Larrabee and Tyler Hardwick took third in their respective weight classes.

In the consolation finals, Wright beat Connor Johnson of Foxcroft 1-0 at 132 pounds, Larrabee pinned Brody Boynton of Bucksport at 138 pounds and Hardwick beat Wilder Young of MDI 6-5 at 160 pounds.

The other weight classes were conducted in a round robin tournament style, where all wrestlers wrestled at least three times.

At 126 pounds, Ellsworth’s Robert Banner completed the day with a winning record of 2-1.

At 152 pounds, Ellsworth junior Dagan Berenyi went 4-0 for the day, including a win over Foxcroft Academy senior Brooks Law — a two-time Class C state champion and last year’s Class B state runner-up at 138 pounds. Berenyi — last year’s Class B state champion at 132 pounds — lost in the pair’s earlier matchup this season, but was able to pin Law this time.

“The victory for Dagan is redemption for a one-point Christmas Tournament loss to Brooks,” Burns said.

At 170 pounds, Ellsworth’s Trent Goodman also went 4-0. Teammate Jeff Weeks went 3-1, with his only loss coming against Goodman.

At 195 and 220 pounds, Bucksport’s K.P. Hilaire pinned all three of his opponents to finish the day undefeated.

Ellsworth wrestling coaches rush to the center of the mat to hug Jack Weeks and present him with a trophy after the Ellsworth senior’s 100th-career win at Saturday’s home tournament. PHOTO BY TAYLOR VORTHERMS

Ellsworth wrestler Jack Weeks poses with his coach, Tyler Harison, after notching his 100th-career win at Saturday’s Ellsworth High School tournament. PHOTO BY TAYLOR VORTHERMS

Bucksport’s Matt Stewart looks to the scoreboard in the 160-pound championship match against Ellsworth’s Connor Petros at Saturday’s tournament at Ellsworth. Steward lost 9-5 and finished the day 2-1. PHOTO BY TAYLOR VORTHERMS

Ellsworth’s Robert Banner pins Cameron Cookson of Foxcroft Academy in a 126-pound match at Saturday’s home tournament. Banner finished the day 2-1. PHOTO BY TAYLOR VORTHERMS

Ellsworth’s Tyler Hardwick wrestles Jacob Hesseltine of Dexter in a 160-match at Saturday’s home tournament. Hardwick won 9-3 and finished the day 4-1, with his only loss coming from teammate and 160-pound champion Connor Petros. PHOTO BY TAYLOR VORTHERMS

Marshwood’s Brett Gerry wins Fitzpatrick Trophy

The award goes to Maine's top high school senior in football.

BY TOM CHARD STAFF WRITER
tchard@pressherald.com | @TomChardPPH | 207-791-6419

Forty-four has been a good number for Brett Gerry in his four seasons playing for Marshwood. It’s the number he wore while he churned out close to 5,000 yards rushing and scored 60 touchdowns.

The number came up big for Gerry again Sunday when he was named the 44th winner of the James J. Fitzpatrick Trophy, receiving the prestigious bronze trophy that goes to the top senior high school football player in the state.


Brett Gerry of Marshwood High School is the winner of the 44th Fitzpatrick Trophy at the annual banquet held at Holiday Inn By The Bay in Portland on Sunday. Jill Brady/Staff Photographer



The other finalists were Chris Carney of Wells and Joe Fitzpatrick of Cheverus. To extend the good vibes a step further for Gerry, his selection was announced by Steve Knight, the only other Fitzpatrick Trophy winner from Marshwood. Knight spoke at the banquet on the 25th anniversary of his award.

Much like Knight did in 1989, Gerry helped spark Marshwood to a state title. The Hawks went 12-0 and captured the Class B championship.

“I didn’t think I would win it being from a Class B school,” said Gerry. “All of us had similar statistics.”

Carney played in Class C, while Fitzpatrick played in Class A.

In his introduction of Gerry, Marshwood Coach Alex Rotsko said he and Gerry are alike in many ways. “We’re both competitive, hard-working and quiet. We tend to listen more than we speak, but one thing we’re not alike in – I’m a stickler for neatness and Brett, well …”

Asked about his plans for keeping the trophy dust-free, Gerry said: “I guess I’m going to have to build a trophy case.”

Rotsko said Gerry set a strong example for his teammates with his work ethic.

“Whenever Brett would run a play in practice, he would run an extra 15 to 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage,” said Rotsko. “Pretty soon the linemen were doing the same thing. He brought that to the team as a sophomore leader.”

Gerry’s sophomore season was Rotsko’s first with Marshwood after coaching at Longmeadow High in Massachusetts for 19 seasons.

Gerry rushed for 2,263 yards and scored 32 touchdowns as a senior. Because the Hawks won by big margins in all but one game, Gerry saw little playing time after halftime and didn’t carry more than 18 times in a game. Rotsko cited a game in which Gerry rushed for 244 yards on only eight carries. He averaged 12.3 yards per carry this season.

At linebacker, Gerry was one of the team’s top defenders. He was a two-year captain.

“That’s only happened twice in my 23 years as a high school head coach,” said Rotsko.

Each of the finalist gives a speech, and Gerry admitted later that it was a lot easier running straight ahead with the football than talking in front of a crowd.

Gerry’s football and wrestling teammates (he’s a two-time state champion at 182 pounds) came out to support him. Athletic Director Rich Buzzell said Marshwood had 50 people in attendance.

Family, friends, teammates and banquet officials patiently waited to have their pictures taken with Gerry.

“This season was a whole community effort,” said Gerry. “It takes one to win a state title.”

Gerry said he will attend the Hyde School in Bath for a postgraduate year before he heads to college.

Carney and Fitzpatrick also put up impressive numbers. Both led their teams to the regional finals.

Carney was biding to be the first winner from Wells, while Fitzpatrick was hoping to become the third Fitzy winner from Cheverus in five years, joining 2010 and 2012 winners Peter Gwilym and Donald Goodrich.

Also honored at the banquet were 10 semifinalists: Kevin Barrett of Thornton Academy, Peter Boyer of Foxcroft Academy, Tayler Carrier of Cony, Kyle Flaherty of Oak Hill, Tyler Frost of Dirigo, Milani Hicks of Scarborough, Maurice Johnson of Westbrook, Ryan Ruhlin of Portland, Matthew Stewart of Bucksport, and Zach Davis of Windham.

Neil deGrasse Tyson Was Once An Undefeated Wrestler

Neil deGrasse Tyson has no shortage of accolades to his name. He's a celebrated astrophysicist, best-selling author, social media star and one of the most influential people in science. But here’s one more title that you may not have expected: The 56-year-old scientist was once a decorated wrestler.

Last week, during the Television Critics Association press tour, Tyson chatted about his wrestling past with Total Nonstop Action wrestler Ken Anderson. Anderson promptly shared the news with his fans on Instagram, posting a vintage photograph of a young Tyson with this caption: “During our chat last night Neil Degrasse Tyson showed me this pic and revealed that he was an amateur wrestler in high school and college.”

In an interview last year with wrestling website Flowrestling, Tyson explained that he’d been an undefeated wrestler in high school, where he served as captain of the wrestling team. He went on to wrestle at Harvard as an undergraduate.

The lessons he learned as a wrestler, he said, made an indelible impression on him.

“Anyone who has wrestled knows that it’s the hardest thing in the world to do,” he told Flowrestling. “Anyone who says something else is the hardest thing has never wrestled. That’s what I have found. … You don't wrestle because it's easy, you wrestle because it's hard. I don't do astrophysics because it's easy, I do it because it's hard. And I juxtapose the two in my mind, body, and soul all the time.”

Beyond wrestling, Tyson was apparently quite an athlete in his youth. He ran a 4-minute, 25-second mile as a youngster and even joined the rowing team at Harvard.

High school Athletes of the Week

In a span of five days, Beaulieu, a sophomore won Maine’s two  toughest invitational tournaments. At the Noble Invitational, Beaulieu won the 120-pound division and was named outstanding wrestler after beating a former Vermont state champion, Ben Bliss, and Austin Shorey of Noble. Then at the Sanford Invitational, Beaulieu beat New England runner-up Paulo Freitas of Danbury, Connecticut, in the final.

Hyde School wrestler to compete for Team USA

Jake Deutschlander (bottom) of the Hyde School in Bath is preparing to depart this week for Riga, Latvia, where the Minnesota native will represent Team USA as a Greco-Roman wrestler at the Latvian National Championships.

BATH, Maine — Jake Deutschlander of Hyde School has been selected to wrestle for Team USA at the Latvian National Championships.

The senior from Minnesota will compete in the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament Dec. 14-21 in Riga, Latvia.

According to a Hyde School press release, Deutschlander is the first student-athlete from the private school to be selected for a USA national team in any sport.

“I am just really grateful to have been selected, proud to represent my country, and just hoping to do my best against this level of competition,” Deutschlander said.

Deutschlander, who is the youngest American to qualify for the tournament, earned his place on the team by virtue of his extensive experience competing in Greco-Roman wrestling. Most recently, he finished as the national runner-up in his weight class (160 pounds) at the USA Wrestling ASICS Vaughan Junior National Championships last July in Fargo, North Dakota.

The Latvian tournament includes an international training camp prior to the event and will bring together Junior (ages 16-19) and Senior level wrestlers from all over Europe, the traditional hotbed of Greco-Roman wrestling.

Past participants have included the national teams of Germany, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia, Austria, Belarus, Finland, France and Uzbekistan.

Hyde coach Logan Kidwell had high praise for Deutschlander for his dedication and unselfishness as a member of the team.

“Jake is an incredibly coachable student of the sport who will not be outworked,” he said. “His success has been inspirational and his leadership on our team has been instrumental to the development of our younger wrestlers, and I am proud to wish him our best and I know that he and we will gain tremendously from this experience on the USA National Wrestling Team.”

2014 Hall of Fame Induction photos

Click on any picture to view a slide show