Foxcroft Academy wins PVC wrestling crown
By Ernie Clark
Staff Writer
ELLSWORTH — The Foxcroft Academy wrestling team enters Saturday’s Class B North regional coming off victory at the Penobscot Valley Conference championships.
BDN photo/Ashley L. Conti
FACE TIME — Bucksport’s Brody Boynton, left, tries to pin Foxcroft Academy’s Dustin Simmons during the 152-pound championship match at the Penobscot Valley Conference Wrestling Championship at Ellsworth on Saturday. Boynton would pick up a victory by technical fall but Foxcroft finished in first place.
Ten Ponies earned top-three finishes in their weight classes as coach Luis Ayala’s squad pulled away from defending state champion Ellsworth in the consolation and championship finals.
Foxcroft led the host Eagles just 133-129 entering the third-place matches but went 2-0 in the consolation finals compared to 0-2 for Ellsworth.
The Ponies — despite missing injured 285-pound competitor Connor Holmes — then won five of their eight championship finals compared to 3-3 for Ellsworth to finish with 171 points. Ellsworth was second in the 15-school event with 146 points, followed by Dexter (124), Bucksport (69.5) and fifth-place Piscataquis of Guilford (61).
“The majority of teams here we’re going to see at regionals and at states,” said Foxcroft senior Zach Caron, the PVC champion at 145 pounds. “A lot of the guys here you’re going to see in the state finals so a lot of it is preparation and another chance to figure out what works against an opponent and what doesn’t and what you need to improve on for each match.”
Joining Caron as individual champions for the Ponies were Antonio Ayala at 126 pounds, R.J. Nelson (132), Brandon Brock (195) and Michael Pendriss (220). Earning second-place finishes were Brandon Weston (106), Dustin Simmons (152) and Billy Brock (182) while Cameron Cookson (120) and Conner Johnson (138) each won his third-place match.
Perhaps none of the individual titles was more satisfying than Ayala’s run to his crown.
Finally freed from a face mask he had used throughout the winter to protect a broken nose, the senior scored a 6-3 decision over Ellsworth’s Logan Lord in the 126-pound final to avenge three earlier losses this season.
“It was tough with the mask,” said Ayala. “People would shoot on me and I had no idea where they were going. I had no peripheral vision, it felt very enclosed. It was not fun.”
The clear-visioned Ayala used his takedown skills to build a 6-2 lead by the end of the first period and then relied on strong defense to prevent Lord from coming back in one of three championship finals matching Foxcroft and Ellsworth wrestlers.
“I’m very strong on my takedowns,” said Ayala, son of the Foxcroft coach, “so the game plan was to take him down and let him up and take him down and let him up, and if I got back points to ride him there. But I wasn’t going to do anything crazy or silly and it all worked out in the end.”
Caron improved his record this winter to 42-0 by pinning his two opponents on the day, including a second-round stoppage of Ellsworth’s Josh Wright in the 145-pound final.
“We’ve wrestled two times this season,” said Caron, a two-time defending individual state champion. “I won both, but they were definitely close matches that could go either way.”
Ellsworth’s Trent Goodman won the third head-to-head final with Foxcroft, scoring a 10-0 major decision over Billy Brock at 182.
Ellsworth, which had defending state champion Connor Petros sidelined by injury, got additional weight-class victories from Peyton Cole (138 pounds) and Austin Smith (170) and another second from Andrew Brown at 160.
Jacob Hesseltine led Dexter by pinning Brown at 3:29 of their 160-pound final, with the Tigers also getting seconds from Tyler Beem (132), Isaiah Hesseltine (138), Bryce Sweet (170) and Tanner Hall (285), thirds from Caleb Weeks (106) and Daniel Wallace (182) and a fourth from David Kirshkain (195).
Piscataquis went 4-1 in its consolation finals with Ethan Moulton (113), Zach Wilson (145), Ethan Cooley (160) and Matthew Griffith (170) all placing third and Mitchell Nuite (182) finishing fourth.
The Class B North regional, to be held at Winslow High School, will be made up largely of PVC teams but will include six Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference schools in Belfast, Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield, Medomak Valley of Waldoboro, Mount View of Thorndike, Oceanside of Rockland-Thomaston and Winslow.
Winslow was the top-finishing Class B team at last weekend’s largely Class A KVAC championship meet, placing fifth overall with 96 points. Oceanside (eighth) and Belfast (10th) also scored top-10 finishes.
The top four finishers in each weight class at the regional will advance to the Class B state meet set for Feb. 13 at Oceanside.
BDN photo/Ashley L. Conti
LOOKING TO TAKE HIM DOWN — Ellsworth’s Austin Smith, right, tries to take down Dexter’s Bryce Sweet during the 170-pound championship. Smith would end up with a pinfall victory.
BDN photo/Ashley L. Conti
TOP OF HIS WEIGHT CLASS — Foxcroft Academy’s Antonio Ayala tries to pin Ellsworth’s Logan Lord during the two grapplers’ 126-pound championship match on Saturday in Ellsworth. Ayala came out on top of the 6-3 decision.
BDN photo/Ashley L. Conti
195-POUND CHAMP — John Bapst’s Jared Smith tries to avoid a pin from Foxcroft Academy’s Brandon Brock during the 195-pound final. Brock won the match to join four teammates as 2016 PVC champions.
BDN photo/Ashley L. Conti
ESCAPE IS NEVER THE SAFEST PATH — Dexter’s Isaiah Hesseltine, right, tries to get out of a hold from Ellsworth’s Peyton Cole during the 138-pound championship match at the PVC finals on Saturday in Ellsworth. Dexter would finish in third place in the team standings.
BDN photo/Ashley L. Conti
BODY SLAM — Foxcroft Academy’s Zach Caron takes down Ellsworth’s Josh Wright on the way to a pinfall victory at the 2:45 mark of the 145-pound final.
PVC Wrestling Championship
Foxcroft 171, Ellsworth 146, Dexter 124 Bucksport 69.5, Piscataqus 61, Caribou 59, Penobscot Valley 49.5, Mattanawcook 42, John Bapst 30, Washington 26.5, Central 10, Bangor Christian 7, Hermon 3, George Stevens and Schenck no scores.
Championship finals
106: Codi Sirois (PV) pinned Brandon Weston (Fox) 1:50; 113: Foster Ashmore (Buck) dec. Jacob Emery (JB) 6-0; 120: Daegan Eastman (MA) pinned Ethan Minnick (Buck) 3:40; 126: Antonio Ayala (Fox) dec. Logan Lord (Ells) 6-3; 132: R.J. Nelson (Fox) dec. Tyler Beem (Dex) 3-1; 138: Peyton Cole (Ells) pinned Isaiah Hesseltine (Dex) 3:22; 145: Zach Caron (Fox) pinned Josh Wright (Ells) 2:45; 152: Brody Boynton (Buck) tech. fall Dustin Simmons (Fox) 17-1; 160: Jacob Hesseltine (Dex) pinned Andrew Brown (Ells) 3:29; 170: Austin Smith (Ells) pinned Bryce Sweet (Dex) 1:23; 182: Trent Goodman (Ells) maj. dec. Billy Brock (Fox) 10-0; 195: Brandon Brock (Fox) pinned Jared Smith (JB) 1:33; 220: Michael Pendriss (Fox) pinned Iziah Thayer (Car) 3:16; 285: Richard Woodward (PV) pinned Tanner Hall (Dex) 2:32.
Consolation finals
106: Caleb Weeks (Dex) dec. Oakley Dugan (BC) 16-11; 113: Ethan Moulton (Pisc) pinned Amber St. Peter (Ells); 120: Cameron Cookson (Fox) pinned Elijah Pearlman (WA) 3:46; 126: Jacob Wilson (Buck) pinned Calvin Mockler (Car) 1:01; 132: Cory Jandreau (Car) pinned Landan Scott (Ells) 2:26; 138: Conner Johnson (Fox) pinned Richard Perkins (Buck) 2:30; 145: Zach Wilson (Pisc) pinned Noah Larrabee (MA); 152: Devin Roy (Car) pinned Shawn McKechnie (Ells) 1:44; 160: Ethan Cooley (Pisc) pinned Elijah Ames (Cen) 2:47; 170: Matthew Griffith (Pisc) maj. dec. Lilly Wakeman (WA); 182: Daniel Wallace (Dex) pinned Mitchell Nuite (Pisc); 195: Dustin DeMerchant (Car) dec. David Kirshkain (Dex); 220: Wally Moon (Ells) via bye; 285: Vincent Tzeo (WA) pinned Colton Conley (Car) 1:57.