Caribou’s Evan Michaud and Dustin DeMerchant both won silver medals and Cory Jandreau took fourth place at Saturday’s wrestling tourney in Ellsworth.
Michaud, competing in the 106 lb. division, continued his fine season. He beat Brandon Weston of Foxcroft in the semifinals before losing to John Bapst’s Jacob Emery in the finals.
“Evan is starting to believe in himself and is learning what it takes to win in tough matches such as his 13-3 victory over Weston. He was staying mentally tough the entire match and he had the will to win over an opponent who pinned him the week before,” said his coach, Chico Hernandez. “If he can maintain this, he can go far into the post season.”
He now holds a 14-5 record on the season.
DeMerchant, the team captain who competes in the 195 lb. category, was defeated by Brandon Brock of Foxcroft Academy in the finals.
“Dustin needs to be more aggressive,” Hernandez said. “He needs to welcome the challenges of wrestling better opponents and make the mental improvements in these areas if he is going to take it to the next level.”
Placing fourth was Jandreau in 120. Hernandez said he continued to impress in a competitive division.
“Cory wrestled one of his best matches this year for that fourth-place medal,” Hernandez said. “He is wrestling with more intensity and is eliminating the bad wrestling mistakes.”
Captain Eric Simon (160 lbs.) and Jarred Jordan (285) each won a match but both were defeated twice in their tournament bids to win.
The Vikings’ final meet of the year will be at the Caribou Invitational this Saturday before the championship portion commences with the Penobscot Valley Conference tournament Jan. 31.
