Mt. Blue holds on, beats Oxford Hills by a point
By Randy Whitehouse
Staff Writer

BATH – Mt. Blue figured Saturday’s Eastern Class A wrestling championships at Bath Middle School would be close, but not “root for your school’s biggest rival with everything you’ve got left” close.

The Cougars found themselves in just such a position after Josh Haines’ pin-fall at 171 pounds put them up by a point over Oxford Hills with two Viking heavyweights yet to wrestle.

But competitors from Brewer and arch-rival Skowhegan came through for the Cougars, allowing them to reclaim the regional title they last held in 2002 with 162 points to the Vikings’ 161.

“We knew it was going to come down to within 10 points, but we didn’t think it was going to be within one,” said Mt. Blue coach Nate Platt.

“(The KVAC meet) was a big disappointment, and Monday and Tuesday we got it back together. To come back this week and really put the pressure on, it was a huge win for us.”

“We wrestled good as a team today,” said Haines, who pinned Mt. Ararat’s Mike Taylor in his final. “We wanted to come out as a team. That was our biggest goal.”

The Cougars trailed by 15 points heading into the consolation semifinals, but chipped away at the margin, sneaking five points closer to the Vikings in each round. “We just took it one step at a time. That’s all we could have done,” Platt said.

Consolation wins by Nate Childs (215) and Kyle Gilley (275) pulled the Cougars within five of the Vikings heading into the finals.

Gary Begin (112) tried to keep the momentum going, but lost 13-10 to Mt. Ararat’s Ben Cox.

The Cougars seized the next match, however, one of two head-to-head bouts with Oxford Hills in the finals, as Chris Embleton (119) pinned freshman Jack Pike at 5:25 to give Mt. Blue its first one-point lead.

Skowhegan’s Dylan Wentworth spoiled Shane Webber’s attempt to give the Cougars a bigger cushion with an 8-4 win at 130, but Seth Webber picked up the slack with a 4-0 win over Oxford Hills’ Josh Laird at 135.

Seth McAlister (140) put the Vikings back on top by a point with his pin of Bryan Blackler of Medomak Valley at 4:15. And Oxford Hills looked to be in good shape after freshman Tom Moulton edged Mt. Ararat’s Pat Downs in the 145 class to put the Vikes up five with four finalists left to Mt. Blue’s one.

But Brewer’s Chris Noyes pinned the Vikings’ John Sirmonopoulus at 160. Then Haines, the final Cougar to take the mat, pinned Taylor one minute into their bout.

“I was just fired up,” Haines said. “Before today, I’ve never really believed I could do it, but I came out today and I believed in myself. I didn’t expect (the match) to be that quick.”

Oxford Hills still had two shots to take the lead and the championship, but Vikings’ coach Mark Dolloff was worried.

“We didn’t match up well in the finals,” said Dolloff. “We had some pretty tough matches in the finals, take nothing away from Mt. Blue. The 160 final from Brewer was tough. We knew that we had to beat the No. 1 seed at 215.”

Skowhegan’s Chris Belyeu gave Cougar fans reason to believe after he rallied late in the 215 final to beat the Vikings’ Tyler Guerin, 7-4. Justin Bowen of Brewer then dashed Oxford Hills’ hopes in the 275 final with a pin of Matt Hess at 3:43.

The Cougars will send 10 wrestlers to next week’s state championships, as Katleen Robinson (103) Nick White (125) and Hazen Pingree (145) made the cut in addition to Childs, Gilley and the finalists. The Vikings will send 11 representatives, including Luke Guy (103), Willie Rolfe (112), Keith Brown (152) and Corey Smith (189).

“I couldn’t have been happier with our two freshmen in the finals,” Dolloff said.

“We’re taking 11 kids to the state meet and away we go.”

Skowhegan finished third with 145 points, followed by Mt. Ararat (97.5) and Brewer (93.5).

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