LINCOLN — The Bucksport Golden Bucks wrestled their way to the runner-up spot at Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference Championships and captured three individual titles in the process.

LINCOLN — The Bucksport Golden Bucks wrestled their way to the runner-up spot at Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference Championships and captured three individual titles in the process.

The Dexter Tigers won the team title with 177 points.

Bucksport finished with 145.5 points, edging the third-place Ellsworth Eagles by just five points, thanks to a pair of wins in the championship final bouts.

“It was fun,” said Bucksport coach Larry Clement. “It was great to have Ellsworth and Bucksport battling it out, and it came right down to the end.”

Clement said his young squad of mostly sophomores exceeded all expectations.

“I was floored at our finish,” he said. “We were realistically looking at trying to break into the top five.

“Our kids just kept responding round after round. We put the focus on the only thing they could control and that was the bout they had next.”

Several Golden Buck wrestlers had some personal best days, said Clement. “It all came together on Saturday.”

Two of Bucksport’s three individual champions lived up to their top seedings.

At 145 pounds, Jordan Fogg pinned Ellsworth’s Dakota Jewett in 3:29 to claim the title.

And at 171 pounds, River Robertson pinned Ellsworth’s Michael Philippon.

“Philippon gave him a good run,” said Ellsworth coach Travis Hardison, acknowledging that Robertson was the stronger wrestler.

“Michael went right after him and even put him on his back for a second.”

Jacob Stewart, seeded third at 140 pounds, was Bucksport’s third champion, scoring a 10-7 decision over Wesley Stinson of Foxcroft Academy.

“That was huge for us,” said Clement.

Bucksport’s Dale Sweet had the misfortune to match up against eventual champion Josiah Moore of the George Stevens Academy Eagles in the opening round of the 135-pound weight class.

“Moore came in with a 0-0 record,” said Clement, “and when we drew the byes, that put him down to number 16. He and Dale faced each other in the first round, and that really should have been the final.”

In what Clement said was Moore’s toughest bout of the day, he scored an 11-7 decision over Sweet “and it came right down to the end.”

That pushed Sweet into the consolation round where he pinned three opponents, including finalist Jeremy Voisine of Fort Kent, to earn a third place finish.

Moore went on to pin his quarterfinal and semifinal opponents and scored a 12-1 major decision over Lance Jandreau of Caribou for the championship.

In addition to Jewett and Philippon, Dakota Hellum reached the championship finals for Ellsworth, losing a 5-4 decision to Fred Lear of John Bapst when Lear came up with the winning point in the final seconds of the bout.

In the consolation finals:

Brandon Goncalves of Ellsworth scored a 3-1 decision over Forrest Law of Foxcroft Academy for third place at 112 pounds.

Jared Sargent of the Eagles pinned Damon Klinedinst of Bucksport in just 24 seconds to place third at 215 pounds.

Nate Tracy of Ellsworth pinned Levi Swan of Caribou in 2:34 for third place at 285 pounds.

Ben Wildes of the Eagles placed fourth in the 140-pound class, losing by a pin in 2:23 to Kalob Raymond of Penobscot Valley.

Bucksport’s Chris Powell placed third at 189 pounds with a forfeit win over Tony Jipson of Penobscot Valley.

Alex Brown of the Golden Bucks placed fourth at 103 pounds after being pinned in 34 seconds by Alex Petersen of Hermon.

Ryan Grover of the Sumner Tigers pinned opponents in his first two bouts of the day at 152 pounds.

But Grover was sidelined by a neck injury and forced to forfeit his semifinal bout against Lear, the eventual champion, when he was unable to continue wrestling.

Ellsworth and Mount Desert Island wrestlers will compete on Saturday, Feb. 6, at the Eastern Maine Class B Championships at Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield.

The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the Class B state championships on Saturday, Feb. 13, at Medomak Valley High School.

There is no Eastern Maine Class C championship this year.

Instead, Eastern Maine teams including Bucksport and GSA will compete with their Western Maine counterparts in a qualifying tournament starting at 9 a.m. Saturday at Jay High School.

The top eight wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the Class C state championships on Feb. 13 at Dexter High School.

For more sports news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.