The wrestling team at Caribou High School are coming off a solid week of competition.
In a four-team meet held last Tuesday in Howland, the Vikes were able to defeat the host PVHS squad, 48-18, and also topped Mattanawcook Academy out of Lincoln, 48-30. The lone loss was to Ellsworth by a score of 41-33.
Tre Caudill, competing in the 138 lb. weight division, defeated Sophia Carson, a USA Wrestling Junior All-American, by fall to highlight the victory over PVHS.
Cory Jandreau starred against Mattanawcook. Wrestling in the 132 lb. division, he pinned Dom Libby after losing to him in the tourney Caribou hosted three days earlier.
In the loss to the Eagles, Caudill defeated a state medalist from last year, Noah Robideaux, by a 9-5 decision.
CHS coach Izaiah Thayer wrestled well by defeating Wally Moon in the 220-lb. category. Jared Jordan scored a pin over A.J. Palmer in 285.
Tre Caudill completed a 4-0 night by stopping Kyle Schwartz of Schenck and younger brother Marcus Caudill scored a victory over Bangor Christian’s Oakley Dugans in another match held that evening.
Saturday’s tourney included seven other teams beside the Vikings and Caribou wrestlers totaled 13 medals on the day.
Five of them were gold medals, won by Marcus Caudill, Axios Gerakaris, Carter Conley, Thayer and Dustin DeMerchant. Claiming silvers were Tre Caudill, Alton Pelletier and Evan Michaud, while bronze went to Devin Roy and Joey Cyr. Fourth-place medals were captured by Colton Conley, Jandreau and Josh Aston.
Hernandez said despite all the medals, he felt his Viking team came out flat in the tourney.
“We wrestled very well, but we had two or three bouts that we didn’t have intensity and focus that we lost,” Hernandez said. “I thought we’d be more dominating and show we were getting better, but that was not the case.”
He is hopeful his team will bounce back in dual meets against Bucksport and Dexter this week. Hernandez is gunning for a win over the Tigers, last year’s Class C state runner-up who the Vikes haven’t beaten in five years.
