BAR HARBOR – During a meet in which 14 individual champions were spread among nine different schools, Foxcroft Academy used superior depth Saturday to win the Penobscot Valley Conference wrestling title.

The Ponies had a meet-best nine top-four finishers, and went on to defeat second-place Dexter 151.5-114 during the daylong event at Parady Gymnasium.

Bucksport was third with 110.5 points, with Penobscot Valley of Howland (104.5) and Caribou (86) rounding out the top five among the 17 participating schools.

Ellsworth senior John Gordon was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler after rallying from a 6-1 deficit to pin Dexter’s Brian O’Connor at 3 minutes, 47 seconds of the 125-pound final.

“[O’Connor] was on top, but he was off balance,” said Gordon, the PVC 119-pound champion as a sophomore who now has a 120-26 career record for the Eagles. “I could feel that his balance was off, so I just kept working his balance and it worked.”

Foxcroft was led by senior Jerod Rideout, who won the 160-pound division to claim his fourth straight PVC title, and classmate Tim Fogg, a first-time conference champion at 135.

“Tim’s waited his turn the last four years,” said Foxcroft coach Luis Ayala. “He’s wrestled behind some tough guys, but as a senior he’s really matured. He really wants it, and for him to step up and win this tournament is really great for him.”

Kaleb Mann (119), Ethan Whittemore (140) and first-year wrestler Andrew Larson (285) each added a second-place finish for the Ponies, while Marc Badeau (103) and Josh Boone (189) earned thirds and Stephanie Hasenfus (112) and Jarrod Boone (130) each finished fourth.

“We had some doubt coming in but we had some kids who really wrestled well,” Ayala said. “It takes a whole team effort.”

The Ponies also benefited from the presence of several Class B schools at the meet, as three of Dexter’s five finalists lost to wrestlers that won’t be competing at next Saturday’s Eastern Maine Class C regional.

The Tigers did get two individual titles from Josh Harvey (152) and Doug Richardson (189), while Michael O’Connor (112), Brian O’Connor (125) and Lee Morgan (215) each finished second. John Johnson (171) added a third-place finish.

“Some people stepped up today and others had a rough day,” said Dexter coach Adam Gudroe, whose team competed without standout Ronnie Harvey, sidelined with an injured wrist. “With the PVCs we’re wrestling with [Class] B’s, so next week at regionals it’s going to be a little different. The seedings are going to be a little different, so we’re looking at this as a practice round for regionals.”

Bucksport’s effort was led by individual champions Ray Wood (140) and Jon Pelletier (171), each who won a tight decision in his final. Wood edged Whittemore 6-4, while Pelletier outlasted John Bapst of Bangor’s Jeff Sanford 6-5.

“He came at me real aggressive, and I just waited for my opportunities,” said Pelletier, Bucksport’s school record holder with 147 career victories. “When they came I took them.”

Penobscot Valley and Caribou had two individual title winners apiece in the lower weight classes. Two-time defending state champion Carlin Dubay (103) and Brian Vrieze (112) earned championships for Caribou, while Aaron Gagnon (119) and Brandon King (130) won spots atop the podium for PVHS.

King won one of the meet’s most dramatic matches, a 7-5 overtime decision over Bucksport’s Bruce Rumney in his championship final.

“[Rumney] was pretty tall and lanky and I couldn’t really get a shot in on him because I didn’t want to give one up, so I was trying to play a little more defense than anything else,” said King, a junior in his second year of wrestling. “He shot in on me, and I just saw the opportunity and I stuffed his head down and I spun behind and got my two [points], and the match was over.”

Other individual PVC champions were Trevor Gardner (145) of Fort Kent, P.J. Richards (215) of Hermon and Mark Heathcote (285) of Central of Corinth.

Gardner earned a 7-1 decision over Nick Thibodeau of George Stevens Academy of Blue Hill in his final, while Richards pinned Dexter’s Morgan in 3:24 and Heathcote pinned Foxcroft’s Larson with 25 seconds left in their final.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

990-8045