BANGOR – Two different strategies had the same result in Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class C and D cheerleading competitions at the Bangor Auditorium.

The Central of Corinth cheerleading team went with a difficult, almost historic, routine to win its first Class C regional title since 2000. Meanwhile, the Machias cheerleaders played it safe, favoring a clean routine over difficulty, to successfully defend their 2004 regional crown in an extremely close Class D competition.

The Bulldogs scored 107.5 points, one-tenth of a point better than runner-up Bangor Christian, three-tenths better than third-place Central Aroostook of Mars Hill, and five-tenths better than fourth-place Deer Isle-Stonington, which had only seven cheerleaders.

“It is very hard to tell,” Bangor Christian coach Erin Lowell said of the close finish. “We never know what to expect. Here we were thinking we’d get fourth, and we get second.”

Central had a little more of an edge on runner-up Houlton, which scored 127, and third-place Washington Academy of East Machias (125.3). The top six Class C teams earned the right to compete in the Feb. 12 state competition, which means fourth-place Mattanawcook of Lincoln (117.2), fifth-place Orono (111), and sixth-place Calais (104.6) will also represent Eastern Maine.

Class D, which includes both Eastern and Western Maine teams, can send its top eight to states. The rest of the teams advancing are Fort Fairfield (100.4), Van Buren (98), Richmond (97.9), and Ashland (92.9).

Each team performed its routine once with no callbacks.

In the Class C competition, Central coach Stephanie Chesley’s Red Devils did something she said has never before been attempted in an Eastern Maine Class C competition.

At one point in the routine, three flyers did double twists down from stunts. Not even some of the top Class A teams have doubles and only Hermon attempted them in the Class B competition Saturday. Chesley said that in her eight years of coaching, she’s never seen a Class C squad attempt doubles.

Central had two doubles for a competition two weeks ago and worked last week to add the third.

“I told them if they could pull it off like they do in practice all the time, they could do it, but I don’t like to be nervous and thinking about deductions when they go out there,” Chesley said. “I was confident they would be able to do it.”

That move along with a “wolf wall” (a pyramid stunt in which all three flyers lean back and come up again) were crowd- and judge-pleasers.

“[The wolf wall] is pretty difficult,” said senior Emma Gray. “We actually picked it up quickly.”

The Red Devils said they were expecting close competition from both Houlton and WA.

“We knew the other teams would be good but had to go out and do our routine,” Central senior Shannon Clukey said.

The rest of the Central team includes Carissa Adams, Sara Asay, Jessica Bubar, Molly Chretien, Elizabeth Dauphinee, Madeline Dunakin, Hilary Haney, Courtney Hersey, Andrea LaFlamme, Whitney Lord, Lindsay Mitchell, Danielle Richards, Kalista Shaw, Brooke Washburn, Samantha York, and Jon Griffiths.

The defending state champion Shiretowners brought yet another fun, theatrical routine to Bangor. This time Houlton danced to swing music and a kind of Las Vegas theme to take second. And those three to four stunting groups make the routine unique – most teams have two or three groups.

Houlton coach Julie Dunn-Brown said the Shires have struggled with injuries and some inexperience this season. She had eight cheerleaders graduate last year.

“We’ve had to work triple, triple hard,” she said. “I’m just elated to finish second with such a young team.”

In the Class D competition, the Bulldogs have used the same strategy for the past two years, and it won them the regional and state titles in 2004.

Machias doesn’t have a lot of tumbling compared to other squads – not many Class D teams had tumbling Saturday other than forward rolls – but the Bulldogs do have a very fast-paced dance that added a lot of appeal to their love-themed routine. At one point the team held up pom-poms in the shape of a heart.

Co-captains Christine Bratcher and Cali Cangelosi said former cheerleader Meredith Davis helped them with the dance section.

“We really worked on facials to make up for some of the stunts we don’t have,” Cangelosi said.

That’s not to say Machias has an easy routine. The Bulldogs added a lot of difficulty in the two weeks since scoring a 99.9 at the Downeast Athletic Conference meet, adding a new pyramid stunt that wasn’t ready in time for the first competition.

“It’s not about being out there doing something they can’t do,” Machias coach Shariden Faulkingham said. “If it’s not going to go in practice, it’s not going. We don’t really have a lot of difficulty, but the routine is clean.”

The rest of the Machias squad includes Leslie Albee, Brittany Foss, Ashlee Gardner, Amber Grant, Whitney Hayward, Rachael Kelly, Alex Lachapelle, Jasmine Mallar, Stephanie McDonald, Shaina Nason, Jessica Peabody, and Whitney Proctor. There are no seniors on the team this year.

Bangor Christian’s Lowell said the Patriots took a cue from the Bulldogs and emphasized a routine she knew her team could perform without mistakes. Bangor Christian also stuck with forward rolls for tumbling and only twisted down out of one stunt.

“[The judges] want you to be clean,” Lowell said. “So we kind of took it down a notch and stuck with more basic things. We’ll probably pick it up a little in the next two weeks.”