By Kevin Sjoberg
Sports Reporter
AUGUSTA — Three Caribou Viking wrestlers placed among the top four at Saturday’s Class B state championship meet, held Saturday at the Augusta Civic Center. All three had to avenge earlier losses to opponents to make it into the consolation round.
Contributed photo/Mark Haskell/VillageSoup.com
Deion Caudill of the Caribou Vikings stays in control of an opponent during Saturday’s Class B state championship wrestling meet held at the Augusta Civic Center. Caudill came in fourth place in the 189-lb. weight division. Teammates Jason Case and Brendan Wood also turned in top-four performances in the state meet.
Brendan Wood, the team’s 125-lb. wrestler, finished third in his division, while Jason Case in 112 and Deion Caudill in 189 both ended up fourth.
Wood won by fall over Camden Hills’ Calan Bragg after losing to him at the regional meet the previous week.
Case pinned Dylan Harrington of Morse, who had beaten him at last year’s state meet, to earn his spot to place.
Caudill also bounced back from a loss at last week’s regional, pinning Peter Kelly of Belfast.
“It was good to see the kids step up and wrestle well at the state meet,” said Caribou coach Todd Albert. “There was plenty of good competition and the guys represented Caribou well.”
Michael Selander was Caribou’s other competitor at the state meet.
The Vikings scored 36 points, which was the eighth most in the tournament. Mountain Valley, a Western Maine school, won with 168.5 points. Camden Hills, the regional champion, scored 141 to finish as runners-up and Belfast was third with 105.
Caribou closed out a successful season on the mat. The team went 21-2 in dual meets, helped by the fact the team was able to fill all the weight classes with its large roster.
Contributed photo/Piscataquis Observer
Jason Case puts a hold on one of his opponents during Saturday’s state meet in Augusta. Case came in fourth place in his division.
The Vikings fell just five points short of winning the Penobscot Valley Conference championship Jan. 29 in Lincoln. Albert said he knew the team would finish behind Camden Hills and Belfast at the regionals in Bar Harbor, but Caribou rebounded for an improved effort on Saturday.
“In tournaments, it comes down to the performance of individuals earning points to add to the team score, so having three of the four that wrestled place on Saturday was a great showing,” Albert said.
He said since Case was the lone Viking senior among that group, the others have a good opportunity to get that far again next year and improve their standing.
Caudill and Case led Caribou in victories, with Caudill going 31-5 and Case 31-6 during the season. Wood ended up with a 29-10 mark. Other top individuals were Lance Jandreau (24-3), Selander (21-13), Colby Conroy (21-11), Jake Maher (20-8), Jake Michaud (19-9), Levi Bither (15-9) and Amber Kelley (13-7). Manager Chelsea Martin even picked up 11 forfeit wins.
“Continued team success will come down to getting numbers out and for wrestlers to work hard in practice,” said Albert, who was assisted this season by James “Chico” Hernandez. “Wrestling is a tough sport and in order to be successful, much time and effort have to be put in to get positive results.
“We are at a disadvantage geographically, because we have so much travel to get to matches, but it is very rewarding when all the hard work leads to winning matches.”
