Practice, practice, practice

High school wrestlers, by nature, are among the most dedicated athletes you’ll find. The hours of working out and making weight in preparation for one or two six-minute bouts every week are perhaps the most distant gap between the time investment and the tangible rewards of any sport.

Friday night’s scene at Mt. Blue High School might have taken that to a new level, though.

While Mt. Blue and Bangor played a basketball rivalry game, of sorts, in the gymnasium, fans and players could hear the faint sound of whistles and an occasional roar coming from an adjacent room during free throws and other quieter moments.

Turns out it was the Cougars’ wrestling team, practicing and rallying in cramped quarters, less than 12 hours before their bus would leave the school for the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference championship meet at Morse High School in Bath.

Athletes don’t often get credit for the stuff that spectators don’t see. And thanks in part to NBA star Allen Iverson, “practice” has become almost a punch line. So here’s a sincere salute to the Cougars, who Mt. Blue finished seventh the next day.

Hawaiian vacation

This March will mark only the second year that Maine will send up to a dozen cheerleading squads to the New England championship meet in Woburn, Mass., so it isn’t exactly the first thing teams see on their radar screen.

Conference, regional and state meets remain a much greater priority. Three local teams – Poland, Monmouth and St. Dom’s – qualified for the trip with their top-three finishes at Saturday’s state meet in Augusta, but at least a couple of those of schools could already be overheard weighing the physical, emotional and financial costs of committing another month to an already draining season.

One coach’s travel itinerary is already set in stone.

“It’s exciting, but if they do go to New Englands, they’ll be going with our assistant coach,” said Monmouth coach Leanne Yeaton Burnham.

Burnham has a good enough excuse, and one that should make anyone who’s struggled through about seven days of consecutive snowfall envious right about now. She’s taking a family vacation in Hawaii the week of March 15.

“We’ve been planning this trip for four years. But hey, if somebody wants to pay to fly me back and forth, that would be great,” Burnham said with a smile.

Packed powder

Local skiers dominated conference championship races Saturday across numerous hills and trails in Western Maine.

Kyle Cyr of Mt. Blue continued her season-long mastery of her home hill at Titcomb Mountain, winning the girls’ slalom.

Welly Ramsey and Shelby Aseltine made it a Mt. Blue sweep of the Nordic classical events. Ramsey edged Justin Fereshetian and Lauren Turner of Leavitt and Cougars teammates Adam Fissette and Brody Hines among the boys, while Aseltine topped fellow Mt. Blue skier Hannah Allen and McKinley Page of Oxford Hills for the girls’ title.

In Day 1 of Mountain Valley Conference competition, Noelle Lake topped her Mt. Abram teammates, sisters Erica and Emily Luce, for the girls’ slalom. Frank DelDuca of Telstar picked up the boys’ win.

Telstar’s Brianne Bailey was the girls’ classical champion, while Danny Soltan led a 1-2-3 Winthrop sweep in the boys’ cross-country event.