By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

FRYEBURG – Shawn Hoagland was an early arrival for practice Monday.

The senior wrestler at Fryeburg Academy didn’t know what to expect or what he’d find when he walked into the Livestock Show Arena at the Fryeburg Fairgrounds. He was excited to be starting the season, but begrudgingly trying to move on from the fire that destroyed Gibson Gymnasium last fall.

“I’m relieved that the mat is there and that means it’s going to happen,” said Hoagland. “But I’m still frustrated because we won’t have the gym again. It won’t be the same for any of us, specifically me because it’s my senior year. I was kind of looking forward to having the gym. Everything I did the last three years there, I can’t do this year.”

At one point, Hoagland, like many others, wondered whether there would be a season. When the gym burned, it put the athletic programs in limbo.

“I had no idea what was going to happen,” said sophomore basketball player Orion Winkler. “I thought we weren’t going to have a basketball team. I thought basketball was over and football was over, but people pulled through and helped us out.”

The wrestlers and the boys’ basketball team reported to practice Monday for the first day of preseason workouts. Both programs were using the facility at the fairgrounds. The girls’ basketball team will also practice there when not using the gym at the Molly Ockett Middle School.

“We’re lucky we have a facility as nice as this, especially on such short notice,” said boys’ coach Sedge Saunders. “It’s almost better than the old gym. It will almost be as good or better than it was because the light is better.”

The practice facility has a mat that was donated by Scarborough High School. When the team’s equipment was lost in the fire, there were a number of schools offering to help, and Scarborough had a mat available.

“That was pretty nice of them,” said wrestling coach Ron Pelkie. “That’s a big expense. It’s $800 for a mat. We’re happy. They’re not new mats, but at this point, it’s a lot better than the concrete.”

The basketball court is being rented from UNH’s Whittemore Center Arena. Saunders says talk about using the building at the Fairground began as soon after the fire.

“It’s like a throw-back, like Hoosiers,'” said Saunders. “That’s why I wish we could play games in here.”

Without locker room facilities or running water, the building doesn’t meet fire codes. The teams can practice, but can’t play games there.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Winkler. “I can’t even fathom it. There’s not much support at away games.”

The wrestling team will host two meets – at Lake Region and Massabesic – while the basketball teams will split home games between Kennett High School in Conway, N.H., Sacopee Valley and Bridgton Academy.

“Kennett is not too far away, and the Sacopee gym and Bridgton Academy are very similar to our old gym size-wise,” said Saunders. “So we can recreate the old environment that we had. It’s the best we can do.”

The wrestling practices and basketball practices may take place at the same time, creating some chaos.

“It’s going to be a lot different,” said Hoagland. “Guys are going to be distracted just by having the basketball going. They’re not going to be paying attention. That’s going to be a pain.”

Saunders says he typically schedules preseason road trips each season to create some adversity for his club. So a little distraction isn’t so bad, he says. It might even make them “battle tested” come February.

“I wouldn’t have scheduled so many had I known we were going to be on the road anyway,” he says. “I think we can handle it. We’re going to have to. I think they understand it’s not going to be a normal year. That’s the way it is. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’re going to have to go out and play as hard and as well as we can, and we can do that.”

Pelkie says its been nice to see the community rally around the plight of the athletic teams. Both basketball teams replenished uniforms through donations, while the wrestling team had already done significant fundraising last year for singlets. With the building of a new gymnasium in the planning stages, he’s already excited about the possibilities.

“I think when we get a gym, everyone will respect it a little more,” said Pelkie. “We couldn’t host a tournament before because it wasn’t big enough.

“With the new gym, it will be fun. That’s what we want eventually. The big meets, those are fun. The school gets some money, and we get to show them what we can do.”