Foxcroft, Camden Hills claim EM crowns 5 individuals win as ‘Jammers earn 13th straight title

WALDOBORO – Last week, the Camden Hills wrestling team did it with quantity.

This week, the Windjammers needed quality to win their 13th consecutive Eastern Maine Class B championship at Medomak Valley High School.

One week after placing just three wrestlers in the championship finals of their conference meet, the Windjammers placed nine in the regional championship finals and won five to make it look almost academic against longtime rival and runner-up Belfast.

Camden Hills scored 225.5 points to outpace Belfast by 20 and give head coach John Kelly a lot to smile about as his team readies for the state finals.

“I told the guys I’m wicked proud of them today,” Kelly said. “They’re wrestling with lots of confidence and poise and peaking at the right time.

“It says a lot for a team and a program to be able to come out and win anything 13 times. You’ve got to be a darn good system to do that.”

The Windjammers are pretty darn good. Just ask Belfast coach Mike Cummings.

“It’s been us and Camden since I’ve been here, like the Yankees and Red Sox,” Cummings said. “That’s the way it is. I thought our kids wrestled tough, but Camden is not only deep, they keep coming at you.”

Sophomore Alan Muir typified the resiliency demonstrated by the Windjammers Saturday as he went on to win his consolation finals match and finish third overall after losing his first match of the day via a one-point decision.

“Today, I feel like we had a number of guys step it up all through our lineup,” Kelly said. “Another big thing is we had guys like Muir who bounced back after tough early losses and got into the consolations, which really kind of set the tables and sent us into the finals with a lot of momentum.”

Rather than pack it in, Muir regrouped and won three straight matches via pins.

“I just shook it off and tried not to carry it into my next match,” said Muir, citing fear of becoming the first Camden Hills team in 13 years not to win a regional title as a strong motivator. “Nobody wants to be the team that ends the streak.”

Thanks to Muir; a freshman (Zach Fields) seeded sixth who finished third in the 112-pound weight class; and sophomore Chaz Guthrie, a lower seed who also finished third overall at 215, the Windjammers were able to improve as the meet wore on despite Kelly’s fears that Belfast would be able to catch up to them in the finals.

Belfast put five wrestlers in the championship finals last week to Camden’s three. A repeat Saturday would have likely left the Lions as the ones celebrating a team title.

Instead, the ‘Jammers improved markedly and rolled through the finals as junior Ivan Bragg jump-started Camden Hills with a 6-2 decision over Belfast’s Josh Robbins at 119. Classmate Murphy McGowan followed by winning 125 with a pin of Belfast’s Steve Joy.

“It’s almost always the stuff that happens prior to the finals,” Cummings said. “I can’t put my finger on any one match, but momentum is huge and when they beat Josh, that really started their momentum, at least in the finals.”

Four of Camden Hills’ five championship final victories came against Belfast wrestlers to not only preserve Camden Hill’ lead but to expand it slightly.

“The difference from one week to the next is winning the close matches,” Kelly said. “Today we had some buzzer-beaters, so to speak, with some great technique used at the end of matches to pull them out.”

The clincher came at 140. After sophomore Jack Simpkins won 135, senior Cody Laite made history by winning 140 with a pin of Belfast’s Brian Cross. The pin was the 108th of Laite’s career and established a school – and possibly state – record. Laite beat the old mark of 105 set by Chris Remsen.

“I think what I’m most proud of is setting the school record because my peers and friends can always see that, as opposed to just seeing a milestone number like 100,” said Laite, who won a regional title in 130 as a freshman and regionals and states in 140 as a sophomore.

Junior Jacob Berry was the Windjammers’ other individual champ with a pin of Belfast’s Justin Haver at 152.

The Lions also went 5-4 in the championship finals with titles won by junior Jimmy Spencer at 130, freshman Kote Aldus at 145, junior Mike Rollerson at 160, sophomore brother Travis Spencer at 189, and senior Logan Kelley at 215.

Other individual champs were Caribou’s Carlin Dubay at 103, Gardiner’s Matt DelGallo at 112, Hermon’s Eric Cole at 171, and Central of Corinth’s Mark Heathcoat at 285.

Cole’s win was a sweet reward for a lot of extra work.

“We wrestled almost all summer long and there were so many kids who were just whupping me, I knew I had to kick it up,” Cole explained. “I was unbeaten until two weeks before PVCs and then I got beaten, so I started working out even more and got more aggressive in my matches.”