HERMON – On the surface, the benefits of regular-season wrestling meets aren’t overtly quantifiable.

Yes, team scores are kept, but there are no Heal points at stake nor are standings kept – conference titles are decided by an end-of-the-season meet.

But such competitions are invaluable for the wrestlers and their teams as they prepare for the conference, regional and state championships ahead.

“I just want to be on the mat as much as I can,” said Hermon senior P.J. Richards after a four-team meet hosted by his Hawks on Wednesday night. “You find things you know you need to work on, and you work on them.

“If you’re good at something, you don’t just go out and do that same thing over and over again. You’ve got to work on what you need to work on, not just what you already can do.”

For Foxcroft Academy, one goal of this meet was to build confidence after an ambitious early-season schedule that included two of the state’s toughest multi-team events, the Noble Invitational in North Berwick and the Redskin Invitational at Sanford.

“Going to those big tournaments against the out-of-state teams, you can kind of get discouraged,” said Foxcroft senior Ethan Whittemore. “But we always look at it as those guys are only making us better. Then when you come back here, it feels good to wrestle teams that are in our class on the Eastern [Maine] side.”

Foxcroft won the team competition at this meet, scoring victories over Ellsworth (60-24), Piscataquis of Guilford (66-18) and Hermon (54-18).

Whittemore won three matches on the mat in the 140-pound division, two by pin and one by injury default. Three-time individual state champion Jerod Rideout (152), Ben Macomber (160), Josh Boone (215) and Andrew Larson (285) each scored two wins by pin and one victory by forfeit.

“We’ve come along great,” said Rideout, who is working his way back into shape after being injured while helping Foxcroft to the 2007 Class C football state title. “We’re starting to see improvement now. We’re not quite where we need to be, but we still have the next half of the season, and we’ll be ready for the regionals.”

Hermon, despite not fielding wrestlers in six of the 14 weight classes, finished 2-1 on the night. In addition to the Foxcroft match, coach Richard Stark’s Hawks defeated Ellsworth 42-30 and Piscataquis 42-36. Freshman Bo Richards pinned two opponents at 171 pounds and a third at 189, while P.J. Richards (215) and Ryan Botting (145) had two pins and one forfeit win each.

Ellsworth earned a 54-30 victory over Piscataquis of Guilford in the other full dual match. Theresa Yizar (130 pounds), Blake Wilder (140) and Josh Abbott (189) each scored a pin against the Pirates.

John Gordon, Ellsworth’s 125-pound wrestler who earned his 100th career victory Saturday, won three matches by forfeit in this meet.

And Piscataquis, which is fielding a varsity team for the first time since the mid-1960s, used the competition as another step in its program-building effort.

“I break it down in little steps,” said Pirates’ coach Tom Cyr. “I have kids who don’t get through the first period, so we may set a small goal, to get through that first period. Or maybe this kid pinned me last time, so the goal is to not get pinned this time. We set our goals small and achievable, and just progress from there.”

Larry Cookson (285) won one match by pin and another by default on the evening, while Bryan Malo (119) also earned a pin for the Pirates.

“Basically these are freshmen and sophomores going up against a lot of kids who have wrestled for seven or eight years,” said Cyr, whose fledgling program evolved from an intramural team at the school.

“I’ve seen progress. I have a kid who hadn’t scored any points all year, and he scored four points tonight, two points in two different matches. That’s a huge step for him.”

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