Tradition, pride help fuel Ponies’ success as team

One benchmark of a successful athletic program is the ability to maintain success even as the names and faces of individual competitors change.

Jerod Rideout is just a junior at Foxcroft Academy, but he has lived through such change and seen the Ponies’ wrestling team continue to thrive.

As a freshman, he was the new kid on the mat, winning an individual state title and helping an otherwise veteran Foxcroft team win its second straight Class C state championship.

Several key wrestlers graduated from that team, but as a sophomore Rideout repeated his individual title and helped the Ponies remain the class of Eastern Maine Class C.

Now the 145-pound standout is one of his team’s elder statesmen and has joined seniors Colby Johnson and Bill Macomber in a leadership role while helping Foxcroft win its fourth consecutive regional championship.

“It’s a great experience to be on the other side of it, for sure,” said Rideout, “going from following great leaders to being a leader yourself. It’s definitely a great experience, and I love working with these guys.

“It’s a great team, a great family, and we’ve worked hard. I think the leaders did a lot for them, and the kids showed up [in winning the Eastern C crown] – and I shouldn’t be calling them kids, I should be calling them men.”

Rideout, Johnson and junior Jon Geiger each won an individual title last Saturday as Foxcroft held off Dexter and Penobscot Valley Conference champion Bucksport to win the Eastern C crown.

It’s a scenario a proud program demanded of itself as the season began, but one that wasn’t easy to predict.

The Ponies had several wrestlers to replace, including 2006 New England 275-pound champion Josh Pelletier, now competing at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. Injuries also diluted the returning Ponies’ depth in several weight classes.

“In the beginning of the year our team was scattered,” said Rideout. “No one was at the right weight classes.”

The Ponies’ four-year reign as PVC champion ended two weeks ago, as they finished third to Bucksport and Dexter, teams that also defeated Foxcroft during the dual-meet season.

But a week of challenging practices and motivational talk produced the team’s best performance of the year, with 10 Ponies earning top-four finishes at the regional to qualify for Saturday’s state championship meet at the Augusta Civic Center.

“We have our goals at the beginning of the year, and winning the PVCs was one of our goals,” said Foxcroft coach Luis Ayala. “But after we didn’t do that, we had to circle the wagons because now the kids may be doubting themselves. We just had to have positive reinforcement, telling the kids ‘We can do it. Everybody makes weight, everybody’s here, so don’t be denied. It’s three years in a row, let’s make it four.’ We were constantly talking about it to the kids, to let them know that it was possible.”

One move that aided the Ponies at the regional involved a considerable sacrifice made by Macomber. Expected to be one of the region’s top wrestlers at 189 pounds, he dropped to 171 relatively late in the season to replace injured Nick Lancisi because Foxcroft had another capable competitor at 189 in Tyler Weymouth.

Macomber and Weymouth each finished third in his weight class at the regional, and Macomber’s sacrifice has not been lost on anyone associated with Foxcroft’s program.

“The younger kids learn from the older kids, that’s the way it’s been for the last few years,” said Ayala. “The kids realize from watching the older guys what it takes to be on top, and Jared being a junior captain has stepped it up with Colby and Bill to really bring this team together.”

Warriors shine at regional

One wrestling program that has taken a modest step forward this year resides in Fort Kent, as the Warriors have qualified five wrestlers for Saturday’s Class C state championship meet.

That contingent is led by senior Khalil Lesaldo, who won the 171-pound Eastern Maine championship, and sophomore Curtis Lozier, who edged Dexter’s Ronnie Harvey 8-7 in the 125-pound final at the Penobscot Valley Conference championships before losing to Harvey by the same score last weekend at the Eastern C title match.

“Khalil was outstanding last weekend,” said Fort Kent coach Kevin Pelletier. “He’s only a second-year wrestler even though he’s a senior. He’s come a long way.

“Curtis is a sophomore with a lot to learn, but he’s also wrestling for just the second year. This is his first year of really winning, and he’s worked really hard to get there.”

Pelletier said his team’s experience at the PVCs a week earlier, where the Warriors had three top-four finishers, set the stage for an even better result at the regional.

“It made all the difference in the world,” he said. “We had one champion at the PVCs, and it motivated all the kids. Even the kids who lost at the regional wrestled well. Fort Kent has been down for a few years, but this is my third year and we’ve got some young kids, but we’ll keep building.”

Joining Lozier and Lesaldo at the states for Fort Kent will be Shayne Boutin, third in Eastern C at 119 pounds; Travis Jean, fourth at 130; and Trevor Gardner, fourth at 145.

“Our season overall was average,” said Pelletier, “but these last few weeks have been go, go, go, and we’ve done well. We’ve pushed really hard, and for us to do what we did [at the Eastern C meet] was exceptional.”