In the 18 years of the Maine-Nebraska Friendship Series, it is estimated that almost 700 Maine high school wrestlers have competed against their counterparts from west of the Mississippi River.

The two states alternate years hosting the event which includes a series of wrestling meets. This year it’s Nebraska’s turn to host with the first night of the series taking place on June 25 at Bennington, Neb., and concluding on July 1 at Hastings, Neb.

Among the wrestlers traveling to Nebraska is Bucksport junior Adam Bourgon, a two-time state runner-up at 152 pounds.

While some of his teammates may be looking forward to the trip from a social perspective, Bourgon is in it for the chance to wrestle against what he considers top competition.

“It will be different going out there to see a whole different style. How everything is done out there. I feel Maine is behind the rest of the country as far as wrestling is concerned,” Bourgon said. “If you go down to the New Englands, you’ll see they are much faster and more technical than we are. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, it’s like that. We saw that when [Nebraska] came here last year,” Bourgon said.

Jerry Perkins, who retired last year from coaching the wrestling team at Mountain Valley High School in Rumford, agrees that the Nebraska wrestlers are generally better than Maine’s.

“Nebraska is a big state. When they come here, they pick the top 10-15 wrestlers in the state and we’re sometimes lucky to win a match,” the Brewer resident said. “When we go out there, we’ve done pretty well because when you travel to the different schools, you don’t always see the best in the state but the best from that school.”

The series, though, is about more than wrestling. While Nebraska’s wrestlers may hold an advantage in the win column, the Maine contingent has become the masters of the prank.

Mike Carter, the former Bucksport wrestling coach, was at least peripherally involved in some of them.

Carter said that in 1991 or ’92, the Nebraska squad had wrestled in Winslow and was on a bus headed to Bucksport.

“As they came down to the [Waldo-Hancock] bridge to cross over to Verona Island and then Bucksport, a Bucksport police car pulled them over. The police had a good sense of humor and supported it,” Carter said.

According to Carter, the bus came to a stop and Tom Sullivan, then the football coach and now principal at Bucksport High School, jumped out of the back seat of the police cruiser, playing the role of Sgt. Sullivan, Maine Agricultural Inspector.

“Tom climbed on the bus and said that he understood they were from Nebraska and that we have to be protective of our blueberry crop. He said, ‘We understand you’re bringing in insects that could harm our blueberries,'” Carter said.

Sullivan said he and a Bucksport police officer played tough cops against the coaches and kids.

“[The police officer] was yelling at them, ordering them off the bus. We were saying we were going to find the fruit flies,” Sullivan said.

The visitors protested that they had no such insects, but Sullivan ordered them to “assume the position” against the bus.

“I got right in the face of their heavyweight and he was mad, red in the face. I kept asking him if he’d seen fruit flies on the bus. I had rubber gloves and told them he was going to have to inspect them. I told them they weren’t going to come to Maine and ruin our blueberries,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said there were grownups in a van following the bus and they were taking video of the scene.

“I finally let the coach know that they’d been had,” Sullivan said.

The bus was escorted into Bucksport where the town was adorned with banners welcoming the Nebraskans.

Carter points out that the wrestlers chosen to compete in the series don’t automatically qualify by winning a state championship.

“You’re talking about the top kids. They are chosen more for their character than their wrestling ability,” Carter said.

Bourgon played host to a Nebraska wrestler during last year’s series. He is looking forward to traveling to the Great Plains.

“It should be pretty exciting. We have trees for miles. They have corn for miles. That should be something new.”

Maine team members

Team leader: Dennis Walch (Westbrook); coaches: Matt Rix (Marshwood), Shawn Guest (Morse); manager: Deanna Rix (Marshwood); 115 pounds: Nick Lavigne (Westbrook); 120: Mike Ames (Belfast); 123: Shoa Clarke (Portland); 130: Pat Howard (Marshwood), Levi Rollins (Camden Hills), 137: David McGuire (Bucksport); 140: Chris Remsen (Camden Hills), 145: Josh Pelletier (Bucksport); 152: Adam Bourgon (Bucksport); 158: Anthony Cincotta (Biddeford); 160: Brandon Hamilton (Skowhegan); 165: Ben Kinerson (Kennebunk); 182: James Cotton (Noble); 195: Cody Lightfoot (Marshwood); 205: Chris Tracy (Westbrook); 270: Adam Chase (Wells)

Don Perryman can be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or dperryman@bangordailynews.net