Pony wrestling team finishes as Class B East runners-up

    WALDOBORO — Before each tournament there is a coaches’ meeting, at this meeting the meet director will go through the brackets and announce the scratches for the day with wrestlers not making weight or because of injuries. They will also do the random drawing of who will get a bye in the first round of the tournament due to odd numbers of wrestlers in a weight class.

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    CLASS B RUNNERS-UP — The Foxcroft Academy wrestling came team came away with a second-place finish at the 2014 Class B East championship on Feb. 7 at Medomak Valley High School in Waldoboro. The Ponies tallied 155 points, trailing only the 166 scored by first-place Ellsworth High School.
 

    “It felt like every time a number was called it was one of our wrestlers who had the bye.” Foxcroft Academy Head Coach Luis Ayala said about the session prior to the 2015 Class B East championship on Feb. 7 at Medomak Valley High School. “We ended up with seven byes the first round.”
    That meant that Foxcroft automatically lost two points per wrestler because they did not get to wrestle in the first round. “After the meeting we felt we were climbing up a steep mountain to start the tournament,” Ayala said. 
    Once the tournament began and the first round was over Foxcroft knew exactly how hard it was going to be. As the scores were announced, the Ponies found themselves in fifth place with Belfast leading the way with 28 points and Foxcroft with 10 points.
    “All day it seemed we were playing catch up.” Ayala said. By the time of the final round the Ponies had climbed into third place. Ellsworth was in first with 146 points, Belfast was second with 142 and Foxcroft sat in third with 128 points. It all came down to the last round.

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    FIVE CHAMPS — Five Foxcroft wrestlers captured Class B East individual titles, From left is Eli Olson, Brandon Brock, Michael Pendriss, Billy Brock, Antonio Ayala, Head Coach Luis Ayala and Assistant Coach Rico Ayala.

    “We knew it was going to be tough to catch Ellsworth because of who they had to wrestle in the finals,” Ayala said. “We had a better chance at catching Belfast, but things had to go our way.” The Ponies had seven in the finals to Ellsworth’s six and Belfast’s five.
    The coaches gathered the team for one last pep talk. The Ponies now knew exactly what they had to do to come back. Every match was crucial and getting the extra points was going to be needed to pull off this comeback.
    Antonio Ayala started it for Foxcroft Academy at 120 pounds. He went strong right from the start. Ayala was not only able to pin Chase Curry from Belfast but was able to get extra point with a 16-3 win — a major decision victory. 
    Next up was Eli Olson at 126 pounds and this was a going to be tough. Olson found himself down quickly, 8-3 with 30 seconds to go in the first period when he caught Ellsworth’s Robert Banner. Olson put him on his back when he countered the head and arm Banner threw on him and with three seconds to go the ref called the pin. The huge victory and the pin gave Foxcroft more extra team points. 
    Brooks Law at 152 pounds was not able to pull it off and lost in a close 7-5 decision. “Brooks has been under the weather all week,  he will be at a 100 percent for States next week,” Coach Ayala said. 
    Billy Brock took care of business in a dominating fashion and pinned his opponent Matt Smith of Belfast in the 170-pound finals. Brother Brandon Brock won a hard fought match in a 7-4 decision by defeating Jeff Weeks of Ellsworth in the 182 championship. Brandon Brock’s win pulled Foxcroft ahead of Belfast, 149 to 146. 

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    HARD WORK PAYS OFF — Best friends and wrestling partners Eli Olson, left, and Antonio Ayala. They push each other to do their best, and the pair won Class B East titles.

    The tournament came down to the last two matches of the night. Foxcroft had to win one of the two matches left. Michael Pendriss, at 220, found himself down 8-1, as he tried to stand up and escape. His opponent from Camden Hills Jared Gilbert lifted him up and slammed him to the mats. The ref called the match and awarded the win to Pendriss due to the illegal slam. 
    This sealed the comeback for Foxcroft, but the team had one last match. Connor Holmes wrestled Jared Hansen of Belfast at 285 pounds, an opponent he had lost to earlier in the year after getting pinned in the first period. The match was very physical as both opponents gave their all. 
    With Holmes down 3-2 with 20 seconds left he tried one last attempt for a takedown but was unsuccessful and ended up losing 5-2. “I am so proud of Connor he has come a long way this year.” said Ayala “He has just improved so much this year and to come in second at regionals after being seeded third puts him a good position at States.”
    Foxcroft came back to finish as the Class B East runners-up. The Ponies brought 12 wrestlers to regionals and are sending 10 to states. “A good example of what this team is all about is just to look at our 106-pound freshman Brandon Weston,” Ayala said. “He came in to the tournament seeded sixth. For him to qualify he had to finish top four in his weight class. That meant beating kids that he had lost to earlier in the year. He could have said this is impossible it can’t be done, but he took the approach that he would work hard all week and give his best at every match. That’s exactly what he did, we believed in him and he believed in himself and in his abilities. We came up with a game plan for him and he stuck to it. Pulling an upset win in the conci-semis and then winning the conci-finals for a third-place finish. Now he is going to States!”
    “I am so proud of this team and how they fought hard all day long to finish as Class B regional runners-up.” 

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    TWO TITLES FOR TWO BROTHERS — Brandon, left, and Billy Brock both won individual championships, at adjacent 182 and 170 pounds respectively.

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    ALL SMILES — Michael Pendriss stood atop the standings at 220 pounds when the Feb. 7 tournament concluded.

CLASS B EAST
CHAMPIONSHIP
1. Ellsworth 166,
2. Foxcroft 155,
3. Belfast 150
Finals   
120: Ayala MD 16-3 vs. Curry (Belfast). 126: Olson fall 3:24 vs. Banner (Ellsworth). 152: Petros (Ellsworth) Dec 7-5 vs. Law. 170: Brock fall 1:44 vs. Smith (Belfast). 182: Brock Dec 7-4 vs. Weeks (Ellsworth). 220: Pendriss DQ vs. Gilbert (Camden Hills). 285: Hansen (Belfast) Dec 5-2 vs. Holmes.
Consolation Finals
106: Weston Dec. 8-4 vs. Moss (MCI). 113: Merando (Belfast) fall 0:38 vs. Olson. 132: Thompson (Medomak) Dflt vs. Johnson.