WESTBROOK – While he didn’t win the individual championship in his weight class at the Nokomis Warrior Clash on Jan. 7, Westbrook wrestler Graham Strondak did reach a major milestone, winning his 100th career high school match.
Strondak finished in second place at 160 pounds at Saturday’s meet, but that finish was augmented by his big achievement. Strondak started out the day with a match against Nokomis’ John Wilson and quickly took care of the hometown favorite, pinning him in 1:11.
That win set Strondak up in a semifinal match with Dirigo’s Thomas Barnett. While Strondak didn’t get the pin in that match, he did prevail in a 9-3 decision, which sent him into the 160-pound championship match. In that contest, Skowhegan’s Christian Jackson bested Strondak, as he came up on the short end of a 5-3 decision.
Strondak wasn’t the only Blue Blazes’ grappler to make it to the championship match at the tournament. Westbrook’s Scott Kirkpatrick, who wrestled at 132 pounds, also posted a second-place finish at the meet.
Like Strondak, Kirkpatrick had to face a Nokomis wrestler in his first match. Once again it was a Westbrook win, as Kirkpatrick pinned the Warriors’ Matthew Martin at 1:35 of their bout. In his second match of the day, Kirkpatrick squared off against Edward Little’s Sheldon Bang, moving to the finals with a 6-2 win. In the final match, it was once again a wrestler from Dirigo that stopped the Blazes from claiming an individual title as Caleb Hall got a 15-3 major decision over Kirkpatrick to claim the 132-pound title.
The other top finisher for the Blue Blazes was Cal Randall, who came in fourth at 145 pounds. Randall topped Nokomis’ Jacob Richards (pinfall at 1:05) and Oxford Hills’ Brandon Gullickson (8-3 decision) before falling to Wells’ Teddy Durfee (pinfall at 3:49) to finish fourth.
Westbrook’s Graham Strondak, left, reached a big milestone on
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