Area wrestlers return after 3-1 record at Maine exchange

July 06--Sports often present more than just an opportunity to compete.

Last week's Maine-Nebraska Friendly Series is a perfect example of that.

Scotus Central Catholic head wrestling coach Tracy Dodson, along with two coaches and 15 area wrestlers just returned from a 10-day wrestling trip in Maine Tuesday.

"I've always had the philosophy that wrestling isn't always wrestling and this just proves it," Dodson said. "I know for me, wrestling has taken me to places I've never thought about going."

This time, wrestling took Dodson and the group of Nebraska wrestlers to Maine for the 30th annual Maine-Nebraska Friendly Series.

Dodson and his two selected coaches, Derek Garfield of Fairbury and Dan Lonowski of Adams Central, picked out 15 wrestlers throughout the state to match-up against some of Maine's best high school wrestlers.

Nebraska's selected wrestlers included Tyler Brandenburg, Layton Mullinix, Alec Foltz, Mason Brandenburg and Marcus Dodson from Scotus, Phillip Moomey of Kearney, Bryce Larsen of Gothenburg, Wyatt Allen of Wood River, Jonathan Fletcher and Jacob Johnson of Fairbury, Marc Zeckser of Adams Central, Ryan Malasek of Central City, Nate Moran of Auburn, Ben Stille of Ashland-Greenwood and Andrew Stowe of Norfolk.

The exchange was developed in 1984, when Wally McFountain, a wrestling referee from Maine and Mick Pierce, a coach at Lincoln Southeast met at a rules committee in Kansas City.

Since then, the two states have alternated hosting the exchange.

Coach Dodson, who had helped host the 2008 exchange as the head wrestling coach for Columbus High, was chosen to put together a group from around the area to take to Maine.

"I had a pretty good idea of what we needed to do as far as the ticketing and make sure all the kids have their insurance cards and all the little things that take a lot of time," he said.

Nebraska's squad made stops at four different sites throughout Maine on the trip, while recording a 3-1 dual record.

The first stop was in Skowhegan, Maine, a town of about 8,500 people in a secluded area, coach Dodson explained. There, after meeting with host families and having a feast of lobster and ribs, the team hiked and camped in the mountains of Maine.

"They told us, 'When you get here, you're not going to see another electric pole the whole day," coach Dodson said.

Nebraska defeated Skowhegan's team 37-27 before taking off for the second site in Dover Foxtrot, Maine, a town of a little more than 4,000 people in the middle of the state.

On top of beating Dover-Foxtrot 62-6, Nebraska's team enjoyed a game of paintball before soaking in one of Maine's massive lakes.

"They're beautiful, clean lakes," coach Dodson said. "They're unbelievable."

The wrestlers also found time for a festival in Dover-Foxtrot, before leaving for Ellsworth, Maine.

In Ellsworth, a house built in 1956 with no electricity awaited the group.

"We were way out there in the middle of nowhere," coach Dodson said. "That was a blast, because I'm old school."

The Nebraskan's left their mark on the site by carving their names in the cabin and left their mark on the mat by defeating Ellsworth 64-18.

But it wouldn't have been a trip to the east coast without seeing the ocean, which is where the team headed after the Ellsworth dual.

"They picked us up and we went to Bar Harbor and watched the whales come in," coach Dodson said. "A lot of cool things come through there. It's beautiful."

Finally, the team of wrestlers arrived in its final stop of Eliot, located at the bottom of Maine.

Eliot, the home of the reigning state champions, handed Nebraska it's first loss, 53-6.

That didn't keep the wrestlers from enjoying the trip.

"Every site we stayed at, we wished we had another day," coach Dodson said. "We're glad we got to do the whole experience."

Though coach Dodson was quite pleased with the wrestlers performance, the experience as a whole will stick out to him.

"It was totally different from Nebraska," he said. "It was really fun watching our guys explain to them what detasseling was and all about the beef and corn."

Perhaps some of those Maine wrestlers will get to experience that Nebraska culture first-hand, as Dodson was tasked with hosting the exchange next year in Nebraska.

"We said, 'What are we going to do when we get these kids back to Nebraska?' We talked about the all-star dual that Nebraska has for all the best wrestlers in the state," coach Dodson said. "We talked about the (Henry Doorly) Zoo."

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