The 20th annual Friendship Series is shaping up to be memorable event when a team from Maine travels to Nebraska this weekend. The cultural exchange between the two states is the longest in the nation.

“This is a great experience for wrestlers, coaches and hosts,” Maine team leader Dennis Walch said. “Seems like a good roster, but you never know. I have good feeling about this group. Always have a problem getting the wrestlers I want and never know if you make the right choices until you live with them for eight days.”

Area wrestlers include Justin Cornell and Derek Guisto of Lisbon; Seth McAlister of Oxford Hills and David Smith of Mountain Valley. Mark Stevens of Lisbon and Neil Wood of Belfast will serve as co-coaches.

The Mainers will compete at Creighton on Tuesday; at Hastings the 24; at Kearney on the 26 and June 28 at Millard South (Omaha). The visiting team will spend two days at each site with host families and wrestle every other day. The team will return to Portland on June 29.

“The team from Maine might be the best that has come to Nebraska,” Nebraska team leader Tom McCann said. “We have the Disney Duels, the USA Cadet Duels, and Jr. Duels about the same time, so getting real quality wrestlers has been tough in some weight classes. Dennis has a few guys around 155-160, so this is going to be interesting.”

McAlister won the Class A state championship as a freshman (2001) and last February. The Viking senior (49-2) compiled an 80-0 record in career duel meets. McAlister and Dekota Cotten of Noble each won a national ironman championship last month. Cornell was (23-0) in Maine en route to winning a Class C state championship at 112.

Giusto (33-4), a three-time Class C state champion, won over 100 matches during his Greyhound career. He earned All-American Honorable Mention after returning from an elbow injury last season to win his third state crown. Ironically, Giusto had suffered a elbow injury during the Maine Games last June and was unable to compete against Nebraska.

“I really hope (Derek) takes advantage of it this year,” Stevens said. “My feelings are the kids with the most guts will do well. Not always the ones with the best records, but we have several (quality) wrestlers who always wrestle one way. It is going to be fun getting to know these guys on a different level, while the experience and memories will be priceless.”

Smith (37-3) earned a solid reputation as a solid competitor throughout last winter on the Falcon wrestling team. The first-year varsity starter certainly made an impact en route to earning the tag as the best heavyweight wrestler in the entire state.

Smith swept through the regular season unbeaten in-state and then pinned opponents to win the Mid State League and regional crowns. This was capped off by winning a Class B state championship for a 34-0 record and he placed sixth in the New England championships.

The Maine roster is extremely talented and includes New England champions Chris Remsen (49-0) of Camden Hills and Cotten (61-0). Cotten, who also won a N.E. title in 2003, is an All-American. Remsen, a four-time state champion, also earned All-American honors. They are the winningest wrestlers in Maine with 180 career wins.

Ben Kinerson (36-6) won a national prep champ at Blair Academy in New Jersey. Other multiple state champions include Jake Rollins (37-8), Camden Hills; Norman Gilmore (29-6), Belfast; David Gregory (34-5), Lincoln Academy; Brooks Thompson (46-2), Skowhegan; Caleb Pelletier (34-2), Foxcroft Academy. Kyle Bonin (38-5), Belfast; Jarred Porper (46-6), Noble; Marshwood teammates Colby Lamson (45-3), Scott Holton (33-4) and Jon Brooks (49-4) and Chris Desrosiers (42-2), Winslow, complete the Mainers.

McCann isn’t fooling anyone because there is plenty of talent throughout the state. The Kearney roster includes approximately nine state champions led by four-time champion Jason Katusin. He wrestled at 119 last year, but might compete at 130 or higher next week.

“I think that the edge has turned to the traveling team for both states,” McCann said. “Maine did a really nice job out here two years ago. Nebraska may have the edge because we have more kids that wrestle and more schools that compete in the sport, giving us a larger group to select teams from.”

Maine has approximately 55 schools that offer wrestling, compared to 200 in Nebraska. A two-day training session in Westbrook will precede the trip.