Staff Writer
LOWELL, Mass. – Caribou High School now boasts their first New England Wrestling Champion after senior Carlin Dubay defeated New Hampshire’s top-seeded Cam Sullivan in a 12-6 decision to take the 103-pound class title.
Staff photo/Meridith Paterson Caribou High School wrestlers proudly display their 2008 good sportsmanship award banner. Team members are, from the left, Corey Lajoie, Danielle MacDonald, Lance Jandreau, Brian Vrieze, Dan Saucier and Carlin Dubay.
The Viking improved his undefeated record to 54-0 taking down all four of his New England opponents during the two-day event. Twenty-two of the best wrestlers from the six New England states competed for the division title. Dubay adds his name to the six Maine wrestlers in the past 10 years who have attained a wrestling award at this level of competition.
On Friday, Dubay defeated Rhode Island’s Kyle Bousquet in a 13-5 decision, and Massachusetts wrestler Corey Melo, 7-2. Saturday, he went on to pin Chad Roberts (Mass.) at 1 minutes and 55 seconds to move on to the championship match.
Teammate Brian Vrieze has continued to assist Dubay in maintaining his fitness and flexibility for the event. He also prepared by continuing a balanced cardio and weightlifting regimen. “You can’t do too much because you’ll be too tired before the match,” explained Dubay. However, he stressed the importance of keeping up physical endurance, especially for the later rounds in a match. Dubay ends his high school wrestling career with a 162-12 record, and 18th for Caribou out of the 170 schools represented at the New England meet.
“I knew going down there that he had a good chance to win, and he stepped it up,” said head coach Todd Albert. “He was taken down twice in two of his matches, but he had an unmatched determination and came back to gain leads in the second period. Sometimes it doesn’t matter where you are from, it’s what you do. Carlin proved that being from Caribou doesn’t mean you can’t compete with the best from other states.”
Dubay’s individual victory adds to an already successful season for the Viking wrestling team. The behavior and attitude of the 2007-08 squad earned the 2007-08 Class B East Good Sportsmanship Award.
“You don’t shoot for it, you just act like you’re supposed to,” said Albert.
Albert expects his athletes to dress up on the day of a meet before changing into their uniforms. The students also know that if they vent frustration at losing in an inappropriate place they’ll have to do 50 pushups for each offense.
“We control our composure pretty well,” said senior Corey Lajoie. “A lot of wrestlers, when they lose they make a big fit about it, but we save that for a different place.”
CHS also received the honor in part for stopping to pick up the Camden Hills wrestling team after their bus broke down on the way to a meet.
The Vikings all agreed that keeping cool and respectful is important.
“It shows we respect our school when we go out in the community,” said Lajoie.
