Asbestos concern forces team off mat Old Town wrestlers practicing at Brewer

The Old Town High School wrestling team hasn’t had a mat to call home so far this season.

The issue involves where the mat was stored during the off-season, an area of the former Herbert Sargent School that has some asbestos-related issues, according to Old Town principal Joe Gallant.

As a result, there is no access to the mat until after air-quality tests are completed at that city-owned building.

Old Town has practiced with Brewer’s wrestling team during the early stages of the season, and the Coyotes’ first scheduled home meet of the season against Bucksport and Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln on Wednesday night was moved to Lincoln.

The Coyotes are scheduled to host one more regular-season meet, on Wednesday, Jan. 3, against Brewer and Calvary Chapel of Orrington.

Gallant said it is uncertain if the team would have access to its mat in time to host that meet.

Once air-quality tests are completed, the mat likely would have to be removed and cleaned before it could be used again by the high school team.

Lions, Rideout star at McDonald’s

Belfast placed third at last year’s Class B state wrestling meet, and early indications are that the Lions will battle reigning champion Mountain Valley of Rumford and 2006 runner-up Camden Hills of Rockport for top honors again this year.

Belfast used its depth to best a star-studded field last Saturday at the 22nd annual McDonald’s Invitational Tournament in Rumford.

The Lions had two individual champions in sophomores Josh Robbins (119 pounds) and Travis Spencer (189), but also placed seven other competitors among the top four in their weight classes. Winston Poole (103) placed second, while Jim Spencer (130), Zach Shellabarger (135), Kote Aldus (145) and Mike Rolerson (160) each finished third and Steve Joy (125) and Mark Smith (215) contributed fourth-place finishes.

Two-time Class C state champion Jerod Rideout, a junior from Foxcroft Academy, was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler. Competing at 145 pounds this winter after winning the state title at 140 last February, Rideout outlasted 2006 Class B runnerup Ben Matthews 10-8 in overtime to claim the 145-pound McDonald’s championship.

Belfast, coached by Ted Heroux, Tim Caldwell and Mike Cummings, finished with 150 points in the team competition to shade second-place Dirigo (139.5), the preseason favorite in Class C. Host Mountain Valley was third with 139, while Noble of North Berwick (123) and defending Class C champion Lisbon (82) completed the top five.

Noble, the eight-time defending Class A state champion, was without several wrestlers who were competing in the prestigious “Beast of the East” meet over the weekend at the the University of Delaware.

An upcoming clash

Among the multi-team meets on the schedule this Saturday is a five-team Class B event at Hermon High School involving Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield, Camden Hills of Rockport, Gardiner, Caribou and the host Hawks.

And one of the more interesting sub-plots to the meet comes in the 103-pound division and a potential rematch of the 2006 Class B state final between reigning champion Carlin Dubay of Caribou and Kristi Pearse of Camden Hills.

Dubay defeated Pearse twice during the postseason last winter to deny the Camden Hills junior the distinction of becoming the first girl in Maine – and just the second in the nation -to win an individual state wrestling title.

Dubay, also a junior, decisioned Pearse 5-2 at the Eastern Maine Class B meet, then won again a week later in the state final, this time by a 6-0 overtime decision.