Foxcroft has 3rd straight regional title Rideout, McPhee among Ponies’ individual champs

HOWLAND – It wasn’t too long ago that Dexter was the team that rained on everyone’s parade.

Coaches would watch their wrestlers put forth quality efforts and see a few make their way into the championship finals and score a respectable number of points. Then Dexter would overwhelm the rest of the field with a red-and-white flood of quality and quantity.

That red tidal flood has changed hues the last three years, however, and for the third straight year, it was the maroon one of the Foxcroft Academy Ponies that surged through Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class C regional championship meet and washed over the awards podium at Penobscot Valley High School’s Sereyko Gymnasium.

Of the 14 FA wrestlers who qualified and wrestled in each of the 14 weight classes, 12 placed third or higher. Of those, five finished as individual champions and four were runners-up. The end result was 232 meet points for the Ponies.

Bucksport finished a distant second with 175.5 points and Dexter was third with 172.

“The depth of our team this year has been the key, especially with the injuries we’ve had,” said fifth-year head coach Luis Ayala. “We’ve got the numbers and that’s been a key to our success. We have a lot of chemistry on this team and a lot of experienced young guys who are waiting for their chances to step up and contribute.”

A lot of those young guys got their chances this year after five of FA’s seven individual regional champs last year graduated. Junior Nick Lancisi made the most of his chance as he knocked off top seed Joe Soper of Bucksport in the final to win the 160-pound class.

“This is only my second year wrestling. I wrestled JV last year and really wanted to win this year,” Lancisi said. “Our coaches work us so hard and teach us so much that it just kind of comes easier for us. It’s all about the mental game for me this year. I just worked hard and here I am.”

Shortly after Lancisi was putting an exclamation point on his first varsity season, teammate Josh Pelletier was putting a third one on his fourth season.

Pelletier blew through the 275 (heavyweight) class like he did offensive linemen as an inside linebacker for the Eastern Maine champion Ponies with pins in both of his matches.

“It’s great winning as a team in football and wrestling, but there’s something about winning by yourself, too,” said Pelletier, who credited Saturday’s success to a strong start. “In the first round, every one of our guys pinned someone and that really helped get us going.”

Foxcroft’s other individual champs were Colby Johnson at 125, sophomore Jerod Rideout at 140, and senior James McPhee at 215. The titles were the second straight for Rideout and McPhee.

Top seed Johnson had a 2-0 lead in points in the first period, but won via an injury default by Bucksport’s Ray Wood.

“My shoulder got caught and kind of popped,” said Wood, the No. 2 seed. “It hurts right now, but I don’t think it’s dislocated.”

Other individual champions were Dexter’s Brian O’Connor at 103, Jeremiah Barkac (second straight) at 112, Josh Harvey at 135, and Billy Greene (second straight) at 145; Penobscot Valley’s Brandon Vainio at 171; Madawaska’s Kyle Pelletier at 119 and Nate Lizotte at 152; and Bucksport’s Jon Pelletier at 130 and Adam Tweedie at 189.

Despite the 56.5-point spread, Tweedie is hopeful to reverse things against the Ponies next week.

“I’m still hoping to beat Dover this year,” he said. “We’d like to see our 160 and 171 guys win against FA and anything can happen at states.”

The Madawaska Owls had a memorable day despite a fifth-place finish because of “bookend” victories: freshman Pelletier and senior Lizotte, who had not one but two significant wins Saturday.

Lizotte pinned Joe Abou-Jaoude of Calvary Chapel Christian Academy of Orrington for his 100th career victory, something no other Madawaska wrestler has accomplished, according to Lizotte and coach Mitch Dube.

They also believe he’s the first Aroostook County wrestler to reach the mark.

Lizotte dedicated himself to a lot of improvement, especially in the technical area, last offseason. The result is 31 wins – 25 coming via pins – for the senior who came into the season with a 70-12 record.

“I went to three wrestling camps and last summer, I learned not to wrestle someone’s mind, but their body,” said the 147-pound Lizotte, who finished second in regionals last year and third in states. “I don’t look at the eyes. I look at the body and their hips/midsection because that’s where their movement comes from.”

Whether it’s a first for Aroostook County wrestlers, it’s quite a validation for Madawaska’s program.

“We lost the program in 1997 and Nate’s older brother Craig helped bring it back and won a regional title,” said Dube, a former regional champ himself for the Owls. He has the largest squad in his five seasons coaching at Madawaska with 14. “I had a bad day at states and lost a 2-1 decision on a late reversal, and Craig had a tough day, too, so we’re hoping the third time’s the charm with Nate.”