Barkac seeks 4th state title

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DEXTER – Joel Allen has no difficulty believing the milestone within Chris Barkac’s reach.

Allen wrestles at 130 pounds for Bucksport High School, and during his senior season he has had to go head-to-head with Barkac, a Dexter High senior who almost never loses.

Most recently, Allen placed second to Barkac at both the Eastern Maine Class C championship meet and the Penobscot Valley Conference championships.

“He’s got great techniques and he’s strong,” said Allen. “He’s got everything.”

Even so, Allen hopes for one more crack at Barkac this Saturday, perhaps in the Class C state championship match.

If he gets that chance, Allen knows the likely outcome. “I basically try to set up moves and try my best against him,” Allen said. “But he’s really good – it’s pretty impossible to beat him.”

David Gudroe agrees, and he should know. Not only has the 12th-year Dexter coach witnessed Barkac’s high school career, he was a three-time individual champion in his own right for the Tigers in 1973, 1975 and 1976 – and finished second in 1974.

“I’d put him right at the top of the list,” Gudroe said. “Desire is the big thing with him. He gives it everything he’s got every match.”

It’s a mix of athleticism and attitude that has Barkac on the brink of one-upping his coach. If he does as expected and wins the 130-pound Class C state title at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday, he will become just the seventh Maine high school wrestler to win four consecutive state championships.

“That would be pretty cool,” Barkac said. “I’m pretty excited about having the chance. I’m looking forward to it, but anything can happen.”

From Pennsylvania to Parkman

At age 18, Barkac already has a decade of experience on the mat. He began wrestling as a 50-pound second-grader in his native Pennsylvania, where his father had wrestled and his mother ran cross country while attending California State University.

The family moved to the central Maine town of Parkman five years ago.

“My mom and dad liked it up here a lot, being in the woods and stuff,” said Barkac.

That first summer in Maine he finished second in his weight class at a top-level amateur tournament hosted by Noble High School of North Berwick. He went on to compete at the junior high level the next winter, and won the New England 100-pound championship.

Life in the high school ranks has been a virtually unbeatable experience for Barkac – he holds a 123-1 record against in-state competition. He’s already won three Class C state titles in three different weight classes: at 103 pounds as a freshman, 119 pounds as a sophomore, and 125 pounds last February.

The loss? That came Dec. 21, 2002, in a 17-15 decision to Lisbon’s Tim Sewall at the annual Dexter Invitational tournament.

“He was very sick that day,” said Gudroe. “He just wasn’t himself.”

This year, he is 37-0, including six victories by pin in sweeping the 130-pound championships at the Penobscot Valley Conference and Eastern C meets.

“Chris is very professional, a very intense wrestler,” said Foxcroft Academy coach Luis Ayala. “Technique-wise, he’s perfect, flawless. He just goes with his technique. No matter whom he’s wrestling, he wrestles his style, and makes the other wrestler adjust to his style. He just works hard, and he never quits.”

Bucksport’s Allen has been as successful against Barkac as anyone this winter, lasting 3 minutes, 54 seconds in the PVC final and 3:37 at the Eastern Maine meet.

“I try different shots, but he’s so quick it’s almost impossible to do anything on him,” Allen said. “He’s so good. He’s got everything going for him.”

Determined to succeed

Barkac’s wrestling success – and that of younger brother Jeremiah, a sophomore who won the Class C 103-pound title last year and has yet to lose to an in-state opponent – is built on a combination of technique, strength, endurance and knowledge.

“I’m quick on my feet, and I just know when situations come up and how to set them up,” he said. “If you know about technique and have the quickness, you can go against guys who are a lot bigger and beat them.”

To prove that point, Barkac occasionally moves up in weight class during regular-season meets, and often wrestles teammates up to 160 pounds during practices – a group that includes Dexter junior Billy Greene, the PVC and Eastern C champion at 140.

“We try to move him around so he gets to wrestle heavier kids at times, and in practices he wrestles up to 160,” said Gudroe. “It probably helps his teammates more, but it helps him, too.”

“He’s the one who got us started,” said Chris of his father.

Wrestling has become a 12-month-a-year pursuit of excellence for Barkac, who ran cross country for a year at Dexter but soon opted to use his autumns to prepare for wrestling season.

“I work out every day for wrestling,” said Barkac, whose regimen includes a five-mile daily run with his brother. “There’s always something I’m doing for wrestling.”

During the off-season, that training often is done in a wrestling room located upstairs in the family barn, where the Barkacs work on techniques with their dad, Mike, now a Dexter assistant wrestling coach.

And working out is something Barkac savors. Just consider this advice he gives aspiring wrestlers.

“The first thing is you have to run to get in shape, and then go anywhere you can go to wrestle, any tournaments during the summer,” he said. “Just wrestling and practicing every day are the big things.”

Barkac hopes to continue wrestling in college, while studying to become a physical education teacher and coach.

But first comes the opportunity for Barkac to enter some select company.

The most recent four-time state champ was Chris Remsen of Camden Hills of Rockport, who completed the accomplishment last winter and now is redshirting as a freshman at North Carolina State.

One year later, and it’s Barkac’s chance to cap off his own personal wrestling dynasty.

“Chris is a good kid, he deserves it,” said Ayala. “It will be an honor for me to have the chance to see him do it.”

Maine High School Wrestling Four-Time State Champions

Reggie Monroe, Sanford (1962-65)

Conrad Turgeon, Sanford (1963-66)

Mike Caramihalis, Sanford (1977-80)

Matt Lindsay, Penobscot Valley (1995-98)

Tim Boetsch, Camden-Rockport (1996-99)

Chris Remsen, Camden Hills (2001-04)