Logan Rich of Hope, a senior at Camden Hills of Rockport, earned a third-place finish in her weight class at the U.S. Girls Wrestling Association championship meet at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich.
Rich, who was seeded fifth nationally in the USGWA rankings at 112 pounds entering the tournament, won three of her four matches to earn the bronze medal among 16 wrestlers in her division over the weekend.
She pinned Christina Reif of Wisconsin in 1:44 of her first match, then was pinned by Lauren Clark-Johnson of North Carolina — the eventual second-place finisher — in 3:42 to fall into the consolation bracket.
Rich then squared off against a familiar foe, Kelly Golek of Harpswell, a sophomore at Mount Ararat of Topsham, and advanced to the consolation championship match by pinning her fellow Mainer at 1:48.
That matched Rich up for a second time against Reif, and this time the Camden Hills standout won by default to earn her third-place finish.
Rich was one of seven Mainers who earned top-10 finishes at the USGWA nationals.
Kayleigh Longley of North Berwick, a sophomore at Noble High School, placed fifth at 98 pounds, while Golek was sixth at 112. Megan Wormwood of Oxford Hills of South Paris finished eighth at 120 pounts, while Shelby Vance of Mount Ararat was eighth and Kimberly Rogers of Massabesic of Waterboro 10th at 124.
Tierra Williams, a junior at the Hyde School of Bath, finished fifth at 128 pounds and Nikole Robbins of Gardiner placed seventh at 139.
All seven Maine representatives had won their weight classes at the second annual Maine Invitational Girls Wrestling Championships held in Farmington shortly after the state high school championships.
Rich placed third in the 103-pound class at this year’s Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference meet, then went on to win the Eastern Maine Class B championship.
Rich finished third at 103 pounds at the Class B state championship, one of two Maine schoolgirls to earn her way onto the state-meet medal stand. Longley placed second at 103 pounds in the Class A meet.
Rich then won her weight class for the second straight year at the USGWA New England championships, pinning all four of her opponents in the first round to claim the 112-pound title.
Prelim sites not yet determined
A decision on where preliminary-round contests in boys and girls basketball will be held next winter is not expected until this fall, according to Maine Principals’ Association executive director Dick Durost after a meeting of the association’s basketball committee in Augusta on Tuesday morning.
A suggestion to move those games from the home courts of higher-seeded teams to traditional tournament sites in Bangor, Augusta and Portland was introduced by last fall by an ad hoc committee of the MPA charged with recommending various cost-cutting measures in light of increased fuel costs and decreased state subsidy for education.
The MPA’s Interscholastic Management Committee subsequently voted in January to approve some of the ad hoc committee’s recommendations, including reducing the postseason fields in Heal point sports such as basketball from 66 percent to 50 percent of the teams in each class.
When the basketball committee discussed the issue of where to hold play-in games for its sport Tuesday, it decided to seek out more information before making a final recommendation.
Durost said the committee wanted to know about the availability of the current tournament sites for the preliminary-round contests, how preliminary-round play would have turned out at neutral sites based on the 2009 tournament fields, and how preliminary-round play for next year will be affected by school reclassification that will be voted on by the full MPA membership at its spring meeting on April 30.
Knight wins Gatorade award
Thomas Knight of Dirigo of Dixfield, the 2009 Mr. Maine Basketball, also has been named the state’s Gatorade Maine Boys Basketball Player of the Year for the 2008-09 season.
The award, which recognizes not only athletic excellence but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character on and off the court, makes the 6-foot-9 senior center a finalist for the national Gatorade player of the year award to be announced in late March.
Knight led Dirigo to a 20-2 record and the Western Maine Class C championship this season, averaging 22.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 3.5 blocks, 2.5 steals and 2.5 assists per game. Knight had 20 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots in the state final, where Dirigo fell to Calais 40-39.
“We don’t get many 6-foot-9 guys around here,” said I.J. Pinkham, coach of rival Boothbay High. “He presents a real challenge when you’re trying to defend him. He’s very skilled, and he’s pretty well rounded. For somebody who is 6-9, he can step outside to shoot the 3, he can put the ball on the floor and he’s strong in the post-up position. He’s definitely very rare.”
Knight has signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Notre Dame next fall.
Harbor House hosts 70 teams
One of the most popular undergrad basketball tournament in Eastern Maine drew 70 high school and junior high teams to Mount Desert Island over the weekend for the 17th annual Great Harbor House Shootout.
Action took place at five different gymnasiums in Bar Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Trenton and Southwest Harbor. The tourney began Friday night and continued through Sunday evening before teams from Camden Hills of Rockport, Mount Desert Island, Presque Isle and Hampden emerged as champions, according to Harbor House sports director Scott Phelps.
Camden Hills, featuring many of the players who will be back next winter from this year’s Class B state championship team, won the boys high school title, going undefeated in five games and rallying to defeat the Bangor Express in the championship game.
Mount Desert Island also went unbeaten in five games to win the girls’ high school title, coming from behind to edge the Snow Bears from Bangor 47-45 in its final.
Twenty-six high school boys teams competed in two divisions leading up to the final between Camden Hills and the Bangor Express, while 20 high school teams played in two divisions that set up the MDI-Bangor Snow Bears final.
Presque Isle emerged from a 10-team field to win the junior high girls championship, defeating the Bangor Y Storm in the championship game. Hampden won the 14-team junior high boys division, defeating MDI in the final.
