Medomak Middle School wrestler Nathan Day is in full control on the way to a second place finish at the Pine Tree League state championships on Saturday, March 28 in Belfast. (Mic LeBel photo)
Three wrestlers from Medomak Middle School and one from Nobleboro placed in the top four at the Pine Tree League state championships on Saturday, March 28 at Belfast High School. The host team from Belfast, Troy Howard Middle School, scored 98.5 points to edge Mt. Blue (94.5) to earn the program’s first title since 2013.
The dozens of grapplers competing at the Pine Tree League championship had qualified by earning a top-four finish the previous week at their respective regional championship meets held at Monmouth High School (West), and Ellsworth High School (East).
Of the eight Medomak wrestlers that qualified for the championship meet in Belfast, three placed in the top four to boost the Riverhawks to ninth place out of the 29 schools participating at the state meet, with a team score of 51. The last time that Medomak won the Pine Tree League championship was in 2015.
Judson Henny, of Nobleboro, placed third in the 87 pound weight class to help the Somerhill Wrestling Club (SWC, Jefferson) earn a fifth place finish with 74.5 points.
The Troy Howard team clinched the title in front of a loud home crowd in one of the final two matches of the meet when Hunter Daly pinned Medomak’s Nathan Day in the championship match of the 170 pound weight class. Day had defeated Daly last weekend at the regional championship tournament. Day finished second in the state to earn the best finish of any Lincoln County-based wrestler.
Medomak wrestler Zach Korenkiewicz tries to escape during the Pine Tree League state championships on Saturday, March 28 in Belfast. (Mic LeBel photo)
Other Riverhawks who earned a spot on the podium for their top-four finish at the state championships included Jameson Michaud (4th, 87 pounds), and Mahsyn Ward (3rd, 145).
Individual match results for the Riverhawks, and Henny (SWC), are listed below by weight class.
75: Silas Genthner lost to Ryder Lufkin (Dirigo) 8-1, beat Blair Smith (Auburn) by technical fall 17-2, and lost to Dominic Poulin (Winslow) 6-4.
87: Jameson Michaud beat Anderson Pomerleau (Bath) 1-0, lost 6-3 to Jakobe Cummings (Troy Howard), beat Violet Engleright (Messalonskee) 10-0, and was pinned by Judson Henny (SWC) at 2:37 in the third place match to finish fourth. Henny, of Nobleboro, beat Blaine Moisan (Mt. Ararat) by technical fall 17-0, was pinned by eventual champion Declan Welch (Ellsworth), won by major decision 11-2 over Pomerleau (Bath), and beat Michaud (Medomak) in the third place match.
111: Pierce Achorn was pinned by Arthur White (Dir) at 3:41, pinned Eli Fraser (Nokomis) at 1:17, and was pinned by Daigen Botting (Mattawacook) at 1:05.
123: Gabe Cronk lost to Quinn Allen (Mt. Blue), beat Clayton Swan (Dir) by technical fall 19-2, and lost by major decision 12-0 to Colton Daigle (Gardiner).
130: Zack Korenkiewicz was pinned by Brock Buntin (MtB) at 1:22, and was pinned by Owen Jones (Mt. Valley) at 3:45.
145: Mahsyn Ward pinned William Mansir (Gar) at 4:15, was pinned by Liam Dowe (Win) at 1:57, pinned Paul Bertocchi (Warsaw) at 1:43, and defeated Oren Anderson (Skowhegan) 8-6 in the third place match to finish third.
170: Nathan Day pinned Cooper Theriault (Lisbon) at 1:46, pinned Joey Belanger (Cony) at 3:45, and was pinned by Hunter Daley (TH) at 0:52 in the championship match to finish second.
240: Philip Reed was pinned by Sam Dennett (Cony) at 3:45, pinned Leland Page (Mat) at 3:45, and was pinned by Jace Bourassa (Spruce Mountain) at 1:24.
Here are some more photos from the meet:
