Both Cory Jandreau in the 132 lb. division and Izaiah Thayer in 220 came in fourth place and earned berths in the state championships, set for this Saturday at Oceanside High School in Rockland.
Also wrestling in the state meet will be Colton Conley, a 285-lb. competitor who will be a fourth-seed as an alternate replacement, and both Evan Michaud in 120 and Carter Conley in 182, who qualified as alternates.
Jandreau won three fights to raise his victory total to a team-leading 28 on the season. The highlight was a victory over Chase Curry of Belfast, who placed third in last year’s state meet and led Jandreau 12-2 before the Caribou wrestler pinned Curry with 12 seconds left on the clock. In the consolation final, Jandreau was beaten by a score of 6-2 to Dexter’s Tyler Beem.
Thayer enjoyed a successful day, going 2-2 and upping his win total to 26, which is second on the Vikes.
Caribou placed ninth out of 20 teams by scoring 49 points.
“This was the toughest regional since 1989, when there were only two classes of wrestling,” said Viking coach “Chico” Hernandez, who noted Classes B and C were merged this year, “which made for 16-man brackets on two mats and a long day of wrestling.”
Foxcroft won the title with 205.5 points, followed by Ellsworth with 146 and Belfast with 141.5.
“[Jandreau and Thayer] did great and the other seven wrestlers pulled it all together, trying to get wins where we could and it all adds up in the team scoring,” Hernandez said.
Michaud, Carter Conley and Colton Conley all earned two wins on the day and Dustin DeMerchant (195) had one victory.
