The pursuit of excellence in any sport typically requires considerable effort long after the traditional “season” for that sport has ended.

For wrestlers Jeremiah Barkac and Chris Remsen, dedication to their sport during the summer months has led to All-American status.

Barkac and Remsen recently competed in the ASICS/Vaughan Cadet and Junior Wrestling Championships at the Fargo Dome on the campus of North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D.

Barkac, who will be a sophomore at Dexter Regional High this fall, finished fifth in the 98-pound freestyle Cadet (ages 15-16) division. Remsen, a recent graduate of Camden Hills High in Rockport who leaves for college at North Carolina State today, placed sixth in the 152-pound Junior (ages 19 and under) Greco-Roman division. The top eight finishers in each class attain All-American status.

The ASICS/Vaughan Cadet and Junior Wrestling Championships is considered the premier amateur youth wrestling meet in the country, with more than 4,000 participants competing in freestyle, Greco-Roman and girls’ divisions.

Barkac and Remsen are believed to be the first wrestlers from Maine to achieve All-American status at this meet.

Barkac, the reigning Class C high school state champion at 103 pounds, was among 64 wrestlers from throughout the United States in his weight class, and he won six of his eight matches to earn his fifth-place finish.

“Jeremiah is a pretty hard worker,” said Dexter coach Dave Gudroe. “He doesn’t let up, he’s driving all the time to be better.”

The All-American status caps off a busy summer for the 16-year-old Barkac. He also earned top finishes at the Mid-Atlantic Championships in Connecticut; the Brockport (N.Y.) Festival, where he won his weight class; and the Ironman Championships in Pennsylvania, where he placed second in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman divisions and was named the second overall Ironman for the meet.

Remsen, a four-time Class B state champion and reigning New England champion, also won six of his eight matches in Fargo to earn All-America honors.

Making his accomplishment all the more impressive was the fact Remsen has been dabbling with Greco-Roman wrestling for only a year. Unlike in high school or freestyle wrestling, in Greco-Roman competition the legs may not be used in any way to obtain a fall, and no holds may be taken below the waist.

“It’s a very different set of moves,” said Remsen. “It was a little frustrating at times, because a lot of the guys I wrestled had been wrestling Greco-Roman a lot longer than I have, but I just had to battle through it.”

Desjardins to guide Warriors

Tim Desjardins was an All-Maine striker during his soccer-playing days at Fort Kent High, helping the Warriors earn two trips to the Eastern Maine Class B final.

Now Desjardins is the school’s new boys varsity soccer coach, and while he believes in the importance of having an offensive game-breaker, his first priority is developing skills at every position on the field.

“I want to develop a team that can put the ball in the back of the net,” said Desjardins, a 1991 Fort Kent graduate. “Everyone has to be solid to do that, from the striker to the sweeper.”

Desjardins, a self-employed contractor, has been active as a junior high soccer coach for several years.

His first varsity team should be one of both experience and depth.

“We have quite a few seniors, but we’ve also got a lot of young talent,” Desjardins said. “We’re going to be deep this year.”

Fort Kent, which went 6-5-4 last year after finishing No. 4 in Eastern B and falling to Presque Isle 3-1 in a regional quarterfinal, opens its 2004 campaign on Aug. 25 at home against Van Buren.

“It’s hard work that’s going to pay off,” said Desjardins. “Rather than the most talent, a lot of times it’s the team with the most heart that wins.”

Berry replaces Maxcy at PI

Presque Isle’s boys cross country team will have a different look this fall.

Shawn Berry, a former PI distance standout who went on to help the University of Maine at Presque Isle men’s squad win the 2002 NAIA Region 10 championship, is the Wildcats’ new head coach.

Berry replaces longtime coach Dave Maxcy, who this summer retired from a 44-year career in education that included more than three decades in coaching.

“Dave contributed a lot to the program, not only as a coach but also as a teacher,” said Presque Isle athletic director Dave Heald. “He really dedicated himself to both.”

Maxcy coached at both the high school and junior high levels in Presque Isle, as well as a stint in the early 1980s as cross country coach at UMPI. He had been the head coach of both cross country and track and field at Presque Isle High since 1986.

Lori Googins, the Wildcats’ girls cross country coach, has been named the school’s new head track and field coach, Heald said.

Hink takes Mount View post

The Mount View of Thorndike boys soccer team struggled to a 3-11 finish last fall.

But new coach Chris Hink is optimistic that the Mustangs’ future is bright, given the recent successes of the school system’s junior varsity and local middle school squads.

“We’re going to be a very young team, but some of the younger players probably have more experience than some of the older players,” said Hink, a math teacher at Mount View.

“We’ve also got four seniors, and hopefully they will use their experience to lead the younger players.”

Hink, who played soccer at Sacopee Valley in South Hiram and the University of Maine at Farmington, hopes to install a ball-control attack that features a short passing game rather than a kick-and-run philosophy.

“”We want to be able to move the ball on the ground,” said Hink, a 2000 UMF graduate. “We’re going to work from the ground up, focus on the fundamentals and work to develop a possession-type of game.”