Foxcroft 275-pounder Pelletier wins N.E. title

Josh Pelletier of Charleston, a senior at Foxcroft Academy, capped off his high school wrestling career Saturday by winning the 275-pound division of the 42nd annual New England Interscholastic Wrestling Championships held at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn.

Pelletier was one of six Maine wrestlers to place in the event. Alan Loignon of Biddeford finished second in the 160-pound division, while Jeremiah Barkac of Dexter was third at 112 pounds. Tony Gilmore of Belfast (130), James McPhee of Foxcroft (215) and Josh Eon of Massabesic of Waterboro (171) each earned a fourth-place finish.

A wrestler must finish among the top six to place in the New Englands.

The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Pelletier, a three-time individual state champion for the Ponies, won all four of his matches at the New Englands, including a 5-1 decision over Tom Ferrell of New Milford, Conn., in the championship match.

Ferrell entered the meet having gone undefeated in 41 matches while winning the Connecticut Class LL and state open heavyweight championships, and used an escape in the second period to take a 1-0 lead in the final against Pelletier.

That stood until the final 30 seconds of the third period, when Pelletier scored a two-point reversal and three-point near fall on the 6-foot-5, 270-pound Ferrell.

“I held on for dear life after that,” said Pelletier.

Pelletier opened his tournament run by defeating two-time New Hampshire Div. II champion Chris Pastrana of Goffstown, N.H. 7-3, then outlasted Pat Walsh of Stoughton, Mass., 4-3 in overtime in the quarterfinals.

Pelletier held a 3-2 lead in the third period before being called for stalling, which tied the match and sent it into overtime.

Neither wrestler scored in the first one-minute overtime. In the second and final 30-second overtime, Walsh chose the down position, but Pelletier earned the decisive point by not allowing him to escape.

That advanced Pelletier to the semifinals and a match against Massachusetts all-class champion Andrew Regan of Central Catholic in Lawrence. After holding Regan down for the entire second period, Pelletier earned an escape with about 1 minute, 15 seconds left in the third period to score the only point of his 1-0 victory.

This marked the second straight year Pelletier had placed at the New Englands. He finished sixth in the 215-pound division in 2005.

Loignon won three matches to reach the 160-pound final before dropping a 3-0 decision to Robert Hamlin of Mt. Mansfield, Vt.

Barkac, fifth at 103 pounds a year ago, won his first two matches to reach the semifinals undefeated before dropping a 5-4 decision to Massachusetts all-class champion Tim Rich of Chelmsford. Barkac, a three-time Maine champion, then won his next two matches, including a 7-5 decision over Shawn Giblin of Cranston West, R.I., in the consolation final.

McPhee finished 4-2 in the 215-pound division, rebounding from a loss in the quarterfinals to win three straight matches to reach the consolation final.

The performances of Pelletier, McPhee and sophomore Jerod Rideout, who went 1-2 at 140 pounds, enabled Foxcroft to score 40 points and finish fifth in the team standings, despite the fact Maine does not send full teams to the wrestling New Englands.