Seven wrestlers from eastern Maine will head to Colorado Springs, Colo., early next month to compete in the sixth State Games of America.

Three-time high school state champion Jerod Rideout and 2007 Class C state champ Colby Johnson, both of Dover-Foxcroft, will be joined on the trip by Ryan Botting of Hermon, Matt Cutrufello and Matt Karnas of Brewer, and Scott Carpenter and Spencer McCormick of Calais. All qualified for the State Games of America based on their top-three finishes at last month’s Maine Games competition.

The group has been practicing twice weekly in addition to participating in wrestling camps at Foxcroft Academy and Calais to prepare for the competition, which will be held Aug. 2-5.

The wrestlers will be joined by coaches Aaron James and David Botting.

The State Games of America is held every other year for athletes of all ages and abilities. The games feature various sports of the Olympic and Pan American Games as well as sports with regional popularity within each state.

Olympic aspirant pays visit

U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling hopeful Phillip Simpson was the featured clinician Thursday at the sixth annual Foxcroft Olympic Wrestling Camp at Foxcroft Academy.

The 24-year-old Nashville native currently is training full time in the Army’s World Class Athlete Program at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

“I definitely want to try to make the Olympics this coming year,” said Simpson, who competes at 145.5 pounds (60 kilograms). “My weight class is very tough, but I’m in the mix. I’m one of the young guys, so I’m learning and I just need a little more experience. I’ve just got to train hard this year to give myself the best chance in 2008.

“If 2008 doesn’t go the way I want it, 2012’s right there and I’ll still be plenty young for that.”

Simpson was a four-time Tennessee high school state champion. He compiled a 149-1 career record, losing only once during his sophomore season to a rival from Georgia – a loss he later avenged.

He then received an appointment to West Point, from where he graduated in 2005 as Army’s all-time leader in victories with a 134-19 record and as a three-time NCAA Division I All-American. Simpson won three Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association titles and was the runner-up at 149 pounds at the 2005 NCAA Division I championships.

Since graduating from West Point, Simpson has trained at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and competed in meets throughout the world while developing his freestyle skills.

“We spend our whole lives wrestling folkstyle, then we get out of college and change over to freestyle,” he said. “It takes the Americans a little longer to master that style of wrestling, and I’m still learning.”

Simpson, the son of a wrestling coach, aspires to be a teacher and coach once his competitive career ends. That goal motivates him when he speaks at wrestling camps like this week’s event in Dover-Foxcroft.

“I try to show them things that are basic but work on the highest level,” he said. “I think about if I could go back in time and teach myself when I was their age anything, this is what I would teach myself. You try to give them a good foundation and show them how to build off it.

“It’s fun watching them take those things and start figuring them out for themselves.”