There will be plenty of local flavor on the Maine team, which has been selected to participate in the 26th annual Friendship Series during the last week of June. The Mainers will travel to Nebraska on June 21 where they will compete in Norfolk, Central City , North Platte and Auburn.

Wrestlers include Ryan Burgess and Josh Thornton of Mountain Valley; Mike McNamara and Marcus Bubar, Lisbon; Craig Morrill and Keith Madore of Oak Hill. The prestigious exchange was created in 1985 and is the longest running high school wrestling event between two states in the country.

“I was flattered last year when (Maine team leader) Shawn (Guest) asked me to host a team,” said Oak Hill coach Shane Bouchard, who will coach the Maine wrestlers in Nebraska. “It was a lot of work, but worth every bit of it.”

Burgess and Thornton, both juniors, each won Class B state championships last February. It was Burgess’ second state crown. It was the third-straight week the duo faced each other in the finals. Burgess won the Mid States.

Falcon wrestlers who have traveled with the Maine team were Jesse Peterson in 2000 and David Smith in 2006. In 2004, Lisbon teammates Justin Cornell and David Guisto each went to the Cornhusker state. Bubar won a third Class C state title, placed fifth in New England and finished with a Greyhound career record 136 wins. McNamara, a junior, is a two-time state champion.

“I’m looking forward to the experience from the other side this year,” said Bouchard, who is a former Dirigo wrestler. “I think we have a great group of kids going; I think the wrestling will be great. I know I would like to see some revenge for what they did to us last year.”

Morrill and Madore competed last summer and Bouchard believes they are the first-ever Raider wrestlers to go to Nebraska.

Nebraska wrestlers have a unique style and are well-known for securing legs to control matches.

“It’s a way to get kids who may have never been outside of New England to experience the Mid Western style of living,” said Lisbon coach Mark Stevens, who traveled to Nebraska in 2004. “The four (venues) were all very different culture from one another, much like northern and southern Maine — farmlands, cities, and bedrooms communities in a very flatland.  The mid western dialect is a bit different, but once you shake hands with a cornhusker the language on the mat is the same as it is in Maine.”