WELLS, Maine — Cory Jandreau turned in a third-place performance at the Class B state championship wrestling meet, held Saturday, Feb. 17, at Wells High School.
Jandreau, a senior captain, defeated Anthony Mazza of Mountain Valley in the consolation finals by a 13-0 major decision in their 138-pound bout.
Prior to that, Jandreau defeated Riley Quatrano of Lisbon in the first round, 15-0, lost to eventual state champion Mark Ward of Mt. View, 14-8; and topped Jacob Ireland of Foxcroft Academy by pin in the consolation semis.
He finished his career with 118 lifetime victories, 88 of them coming on pins.
It is the first time Jandreau has placed at the state meet during his four-year career. He came in fifth last year.
“Cory was fantastic and it was the best I have ever seen him wrestle,” said Caribou coach James “Chico” Hernandez. “He was poised, confident and [after a great week of practice] I knew that he was going to perform excellent.”
All of the online polls and rankings claimed that Jandreau would finish fourth behind Mazza, according to Hernandez, “but I knew differently and before Cory went out there for his final bout, my pep talk to him was, ‘He is a freshman and a very good one but he is standing in your way of the medal which belongs to you, not him, so go out there and take it.’”
Caribou was the team winner of the Maine Principals’ Association Good Sportsmanship Award for Class B North, which was a welcome surprise to the coach.
“I think winning this for the first time as a wrestling team really means something to us as team, the school and the community we represent,” Hernandez said.
