Neal Wood understands the value of the Maine-Nebraska Wrestling Exchange more than most.

In the summer of 1985, he represented Belfast Area High School and Maine in the inaugural event as a 167-pound wrestler.

Wood lost a close decision, but the impact of the exchange on him remains.

“I remember it being a great match and a great thing to have,” he said, “and it made me work harder the next season.”

Eighteen years later, Wood’s appreciation for this enduring event now comes from a different perspective – that of Belfast’s head wrestling coach.

This 19th annual event – the longest-running wrestling exchange of its type in the country – came to an end Monday night, with Nebraska sweeping the last of four dual meets against many of Maine’s best and winning 57 of 71 matches overall.

“It’s good for the Maine kids to get experience against the caliber of wrestlers they have in Nebraska,” said Wood, who served as host coach Saturday for one of the Maine-Nebraska meets held at the Troy Howard Middle School. “It gives them something to strive for, because some of those Nebraska wrestlers you’re going to hear about someday.”

Nebraska defeated Coastal Maine 11-5 at the Belfast meet, with Maine victories coming from Norman Gilmore of Belfast, Chris Barkac of Dexter, Chris Remsen of Camden Hills, Bryan Blackler of Medomak Valley and Chris Desrosiers of Winslow.

Other Maine-Nebraska meets were held at Noble High School in Berwick, Oxford Hills High School in South Paris, and on Monday at Lisbon High School.

The two states alternate hosting the event each year, with Nebraska scheduled to host the 2004 exchange.

It’s an uphill battle each year for the Maine contingent, given the popularity of the sport in Nebraska and availability of competitions.

“They have so many more teams and tournaments,” Wood said. “They’ll have 70 or 80 matches in a season. Here at Belfast we get 40 matches in a season, and we’re doing well to get those.”

Barkac, for one, works hard to defy those limitations.

The junior-to-be from Parkman has wrestling experience seemingly beyond his years. He’s won state Class C championships at 103 pounds in 2002 and 119 pounds last winter for Dexter. Before moving to Maine a few years ago, he grew up in wrestling-rich Pennsylvania, where he learned the ropes from the moment he took up the sport as a second-grader.

“It was a pretty good experience,” Barkac said of the Maine-Nebraska exchange. “But I was used to wrestling guys that good back in Pennsylvania, so that helped me.”

That experience showed at the outset of Barkac’s match Saturday against Nebraska’s Jay Sherer. Sherer immediately went on the attack, but it backfired as Barkac’s counterattack earned him an almost immediate near-fall that carried him to a 6-4 victory,

“He shot at me right at the start and I threw him on his back, and that gave me five points right there,” said Barkac, who next will compete at the national freestyle championships in Fargo, N.D., later this month.

But while the pursuit of victory is one focal point for the wrestlers, the Maine-Nebraska exchange is as much cultural and social as it is competitive. During their stay in Belfast, the Nebraska wrestlers experienced the basics of coastal Maine, a trip on a lobster boat with local fisherman Walt Wagner, and a lobster bake with their Maine counterparts after the meet.

“The kids mingled and were able to make some ties,” Wood said. “Take Chris Remsen, he stayed for a night with a kid he had met when he wrestled in Nebraska last year. They e-mailed each other all year long and really developed a friendship.”

Wood gives much of the credit for the longevity of the exchange to those who developed it during the mid-1980s, such as Wally LaFountain of Winslow, and those who have kept it alive for nearly two decades, such as Dennis Walch of Westbrook, coordinator of this year’s exchange.”

“It’s been a great thing,” he said, “and it’s all because of a lot of hard work by the organizers.”

Gomm memorial tourney slated

A special golf tournament to establish a scholarship fund at Old Town High School in memory of Stephen Gomm will be held at Whitetail Golf Course in Charleston on Saturday, July 19.

Gomm was one of four OTHS teenagers involved in an auto accident last December, and one of two who died.

The tournament will feature three-person teams and a scramble format. Shotgun starts are scheduled for 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Businesses may sponsor a hole for the tournament or may donate a gift certificate toward prizes.

Entry fee for the tournament is $25 per person, which includes a buffet lunch.

To make a donation or to sign up a team, call Whitetail Golf Course at 285-7730.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net