Wrestlers capture tournament title

The Caribou wrestling team has been making the trip to Howland annually for the Penobscot Valley Holiday Tournament and for the first time in school history, the Vikings have walked away with the title.
On Friday, Caribou scored 115 points to defeat Hermon (76), Erskine Academy of South China (67), host PVHS (62), Mount Desert Island (62) and eight other schools. The team, which had 10 individuals competing, featured champions in three weight divisions, along with one runner-up, two third-place finishers and two fourth-place finishers.
Jake Bither in the 160-lb. division, Dustin DeMerchant in 182 and Matt Manter in 195 all came away with championships.
Bither defeated All-Penobscot Valley Conference wrestler Dylan Kruger of Stearns in triple overtime by a 7-5 decision to win the title.
Caribou coach Chico Hernandez said Bither led 5-3 with nine seconds left in the third period before Kruger scored on a reversal to send the match into OT.
“He had to win it the hard way and he showed very good focus, intensity and the will to win,” Hernandez said.
Manter defeated Andrew Rediker of Hermon, who had entered the match with a 16-1 mark, by fall in the finals. Manter led 17-5 before pinning Rediker with 15 seconds left.
In the semis, Bither pinned Patrick DeAmott of Class A Hampden Academy in 55 seconds.
Kyle Morris, in 120, was second, while Axios Gerakaris in 145 and Colton Conley in 220 were both third.
Noah Cousins in 106 and Eric Simon in 145 each placed fourth.
At the Mid-Maine Tournament at Mt. View High School in Thorndike the following day, five of Caribou’s eight wrestlers medaled to clinch a solid weekend.
Manter, Cousins and Gerakaris all took silvers, while Morris won a bronze and Conley came in fourth place.
Hernandez said Gerakaris and Conley were the team’s outstanding performers in the tourney as Gerakaris defeated Dexter’s Jacob Hesseline and Cony’s Steven Beland on his way to the finals and Conley defeated two seasoned wrestlers, Oceanside’s Reagan Billingsley and Dexter’s Josh Haskell, in the consolation bracket.
The Vikings finished sixth out of 12 teams, with Cony of Augusta taking the top spot with 209 points. Nokomis, Dexter, Medomak Valley and Mt. View were the other teams finishing ahead of Caribou, which totaled 76 points.
“None of the other teams had to travel and wrestle the day before like we did, so they were very well rested,” Hernandez said. “I think we wore out some, mentally and physically, but this was very good for the team and many lessons were learned.
“I am very proud of these kids and they keep surprising me all of the time,” he added.