When the Piscataquis of Guilford boys basketball team left for Bangor at about 8:30 a.m. last Wednesday for its 11:05 Eastern C quarterfinal against Dexter, nothing but the game was on the Pirates’ mind.

That changed about seven miles down Route 15, when the team bus came across a rollover accident near the Dover-Foxcroft-Guilford line. A pickup truck traveling in the opposite direction had skidded off the slippery road and rolled into the ditch, also tipping over a trailer hauling two snowmobiles.

A couple and a 7-year-old boy from the Milford area were still in the truck, which was tipped on its passenger side, as the PCHS team was one of the first parties to arrive on the scene.

PCHS coach Jamie Russell, knowledgeable in first aid, went out to see if he could help. Two other people already on the scene had pulled the boy from the truck and handed him to Russell, who noticed blood on the child’s head and took him across the road to another stopped vehicle to check him out.

“I couldn’t find any bleeding,” said Russell. “So I asked him a few questions to see if he was alert. He really kept his composure. The first thing I asked him was what day it was, and he looked at me like ‘What are you talking about, it’s school vacation week.'”

While Russell was outside, the team called 911. The two adults were pulled from the cab, and ultimately no one required medical attention, according to news reports.

The team then continued its trip to Bangor, arriving at the Bangor Auditorium midway through the day’s first game between Madawaska and George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill. The Pirates eventually lost to Dexter, which went on to win the Eastern C championship.

“We didn’t play well, but we were just glad everybody was OK,” said Russell. “Something like that keeps it all in perspective.”

Top wrestlers eye New Englands

Maine’s top high school wrestlers will trek to North Andover, Mass., this weekend in quest of New England titles. The 41st New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at North Andover High School, with all of Maine’s individual champions in Classes A, B and C eligible to participate.

The Maine contingent will be led by four-time state champion Chris Barkac of Dexter, the state’s top seed in the 130-pound class. Barkac has made three previous appearances in the New Englands, with a top finish of sixth in 2002.

Maine seeded its champions 1-2-3 in each weight class for the purpose of being seeded in the overall New England field. The state seedings reflect the balance in individual talent among the classes, with Class A and Class C each earning five No. 1 seeds and Class B earning four top seeds.

Top seeds from Class C schools are Chris Barkac, younger brother Jeremiah Barkac of Dexter (103 pounds) and three wrestlers from two-time state champion Foxcroft Academy: brothers Caleb Pelletier (152) and Josh Pelletier (215), and Randy Briggs (171).

Top seeds from Class A schools are Zack Doucette (119) of Noble of North Berwick, John Hussey (125) of Marshwood of Eliot, Shane Webber (135) of Mt. Blue of Farmington, Dylan Wentworth (140) of Skowhegan and Alan Loignon (160) of Biddeford.

Class B top seeds are Kyle Bonin (112) and Ben Dunham (145) of Belfast and brothers Chris Smith (189) and David Smith (275) of Mountain Valley of Rumford. Maine crowned two New England champions last year, Chris Remsen of Camden Hills of Rockport at 145 pounds and Decota Cotten of Noble at 152.

Class B wrestling appeal slated

The fate of the 2005 Class B wrestling championship is expected to be decided Thursday, when an appeal by Mountain Valley of Rumford is scheduled to be heard by the Interscholastic Management Committee of the Maine Principals’ Association.

Camden Hills of Rockport edged Mountain Valley by two points to win the team title Feb. 12 at the Augusta Civic Center. But about 1:30 the next morning – three hours after the end of the meet – Mountain Valley coach Gary Dolloff discovered a scoring discrepancy that awarded a Camden Hills wrestler two extra points after he drew a first-round bye and then won his next match.

MPA officials have acknowledged the error, traced to a glitch in the computer program that scored the meet, but national rules used by the MPA mandate that any such appeal be made within 30 minutes of the end of the meet.

Mountain Valley appealed to the MPA’s wrestling committee, but that was denied, so the appeal was made to the full MPA. If Mountain Valley’s appeal is upheld, the Falcons and Camden Hills could be crowned co-champions.

Ernie Clark can be reached at 990-8045, 1-8000-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net