Belfast wins title; Lions end 13-year reign of ‘Jammers

ROCKPORT – The Belfast wrestling team has experienced its share of frustration in conference and regional championship meets during the last decade.

But frustration was replaced by satisfaction Saturday, as the Lions ended Camden Hills of Rockport’s 13-year reign as Eastern Maine Class B champion.

Belfast crowned five individual champions and had a meet-best 11 competitors qualify for next weekend’s state meet with top-four finishes while outscoring Camden Hills 194-138 on the Windjammers’ home mat.

“We’ve had a lot of good wrestlers in the past ,” said 140-pound champion Jimmy Spencer, one of just two seniors on the Belfast roster. “But as far as the overall team outlook it seems like the skill level is more evenly distributed among the wrestlers this year.”

Caribou, led by individual champions Carlin Dubay and Brian Vrieze, placed third with 91.5 points, with Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield (89) and Mount Desert Island (74) rounding out the top five in the 13-school regional meet.

Belfast’s victory did not come as a surprise, given that coach Ted Heroux’s Lions had earned a similar victory a week earlier at the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championships. But it was no less rewarding for a program that has been overshadowed by its midcoast rival since last winning a state championship in 1995.

“We’ve been so close for so many years, we’re just riding momentum right now,” said Belfast assistant coach Mike Cummings. “We’ve been having great practices, the kids are focused and we’re a pinning team this year, so we’re getting those bonus points.”

The Lions played to their strengths in the middle and upper weight classes, with six of their competitors between 140 and 189 pounds finishing no worse than second.

Spencer and classmate Mike Rolerson (171 pounds) each won his third straight Eastern Maine title, as did junior Travis Spencer at 189. Sophomore Kote Aldus (160) won a title for the second straight year, while junior Josh Robbins became a first-time regional champion at 119 while scoring his 100th career victory in the finals.

Belfast also got boosts from second-place finishers Jordan Young (103), Zach Shellabarger (145) and Matt Smith (215), thirds from Josh Wolfe (112) and Matt Sanderson (152) and a fourth from Kornealius Wood (135).

Camden Hills was led by senior Murphy McGowan (130), who won his fourth consecutive Eastern Maine title, and third-time champion Jacob Berry, who won the 145-pound crown. But the Windjammers simply couldn’t match Belfast’s strength in the upper weights.

Coach Levi Rollins’ club qualified eight wrestlers for the state meet at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, getting seconds from Zac Fields (119), Jacob Powers (125) and Jack Simpkins (135), a third from Kristi Pearse (103) and fourths from Logan Rich (112) and Allen Muir (285).

Caribou’s third-place finish was fueled by its strength in the lower weights.

Dubay, a two-time Class B state champion, required just 1 minute, 35 seconds to score three pins to earn his third straight regional championship at 103 pounds. Vrieze, a sophomore who didn’t place last year, used one pin and a technical fall to win the 112-pound title.

Caribou, which fielded wrestlers in just 10 weight classes, also got third-place finishes from Dan Saucier (125) and Corey Lajoie (160) and fourths from Lance Jandreau (119) and Jerry Ferszt (130).

“Everyone pretty much knew it was going to be Belfast and Camden or vice versa,” said Caribou coach Todd Albert. “I thought we’d be somewhere in the 3-4-5 mix depending on how things worked out, and we did just enough to get third, which is good.”

MCI was led by senior Cinjin Goewey, who upended Simpkins 9-2 in the 135-pound final to earn his first regional championship. Coach Mike Libby’s Huskies also got second-place finishes from Donald Russell at 112 and Chris Ouellet at 130.

MDI’s effort featured runner-up finishes from Danny Clossen at 189 and Perry Powell at 285.

Among the other individual champions crowned Saturday, Central of Corinth junior Mark Heathcote earned his second straight regional title in the 285-pound division, while senior P.J. Richards of Hermon not only won the 215-pound division, he earned his 150th career victory with a pin of Belfast’s Smith in the title match.

Other individual champions were Ellsworth senior John Gordon at 125 pounds and sophomore Tristen Ripley of Mount View of Thorndike, who outlasted Ellsworth’s Kidder 13-10 in the 152-pound final.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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