Foxcroft captures third consecutive PVC crown Pelletier brothers remain undefeated for Ponies

CARIBOU – Foxcroft Academy’s depth and talent proved to be an unbeatable combination Saturday as the Ponies cruised to their third straight Penobscot Valley Conference wrestling championship.

Foxcroft picked up top-four finishes from 13 of its 14 participants and won seven weight classes.

“You need to do well at PVCs to get good seedings for the regionals, and now we’ve got a lot of guys who will be seeded No. 1 because of how they did here,” said Foxcroft coach Luis Ayala, whose team is seeking its second straight Class C state championship. “So it’s a step toward our goal of what we’re trying to accomplish this year.”

The Ponies amassed 238.5 points, well ahead of Dexter, which crowned three individual champions and finished with 156 points. Bucksport (133), Caribou (93), and Penobscot Valley of Howland (65) rounded out the top five finishers in the 15-school field.

Foxcroft sent eight wrestlers to the finals, getting victories from Cyle Heaney at 119 pounds, Mike McNaughton (125), Jerod Rideout (135), Ryan Whittemore (145), Caleb Pelletier (152), Randy Briggs (171), and Josh Pelletier (215) and a second from second-seeded Alan Whittemore at 140.

“It’s tournament time and time to step it up,” said Caleb Pelletier, a two-time Class C state champ who survived a last-second near fall to top reigning Class B state champion Tom Burns of Ellsworth 15-8 in his final. “I think we did that today. That’s what we’re here for and what we’ve been preparing for all season.”

Pelletier (31-0) was one of five wrestlers who emerged from the meet still unbeaten this season, including teammate and younger brother Josh Pelletier (26-0), who outpointed Brent Brawn of Nokomis of Newport 5-0 in a final featuring two undefeated wrestlers.

Also emerging unscathed were Pat Reardon of Hermon (18-0), who pinned Old Town’s Dan Hatch to win the 275-pound final, and Dexter brothers Chris and Jeremiah Barkac. Chris Barkac, a senior attempting to become just the seventh four-time state champion in Maine high school wrestling history, improved his record to 34-0 by pinning Joel Allen of Bucksport in the 130-pound final. Jeremiah Barkac, a sophomore, also moved to 34-0 with a 56-second pin of Ellsworth’s John Gordon in the 103-pound title match.

Billy Greene provided Dexter its other championship, winning the 140-pound class with a 6-1 decision against Foxcroft’s Alan Whittemore.

“I thought I wrestled pretty well today, but I have a lot I can improve on over the next couple of weeks,” said Greene, a PVC champion at 135 last year.

Dexter also got a second from Ryan Newcomb at 119.

“The team as a group is getting better day by day, but we’ve got a ways to go,” said Dexter coach David Gudroe. “We’ll do what we can.”

Bucksport’s finish was led by champions Derek Conner at 160 and Adam Tweedie at 189. Conner edged Foxcroft’s Andrew Pomeroy 4-3 in his semifinal, then outpointed top-seeded Matt Joy of Mount Desert Island 13-6 in the final.

Tweedie trailed 2-0 for much of his final against top-seeded and previously undefeated Chris Vainio of Penobscot Valley, but used a reversal in the last 20 seconds as the catalyst for a 5-2 victory that avenged a loss to the Howlers’ standout earlier in the week.

“I had almost given up, but people were yelling ‘Don’t give up,’ and I saw opportunity to get him once he tried to put me in a near-side cradle,” said Tweedie, a state champion last year at 160 pounds. “One of my good buddies, Derek Conner, tries to put that move on me a lot, and I just thought back to practice and I didn’t want to lose.”

The Golden Bucks also collected seconds from Allen, Shane Sullivan (119), and Joel Milan (145).

Brewer High was missing two of its top wrestlers in injured Justin Bowen (275) and Matt Littlefield (189) but did produce an individual champion in Alex Smith. He improved to 39-4 this season with a 7-0 decision over Ellsworth’s Logan Will in the 112-pound final.

Host Caribou used four third-place finishes – Carlin Dubay (103), Darren Pelletier (125), Brad Burlock (152), and Micah Wall (171) – to spark its fourth-place finish, while Penobscot Valley got seconds from Vainio and Nick McKechnie (135) and a third from Doug Dyer (275).