FA grad to be a co-head coach of Bangor area wrestling team
By Sam Canfield, Bangor Daily News Staff
For the first time in a long time, high school wrestling is coming back to the Greater Bangor area.
Spearheaded by Calais native and longtime wrestling coach Aaron James, a cooperative team representing Bangor, Brewer, Hampden Academy, Hermon, John Bapst, and Orono is on track to begin this winter sports season.
There are at least 60 varsity wrestling teams represented in Maine, according to James. But a historical lack of local leadership, compounded by the pandemic, has taken a toll on the sport’s presence in Penobscot County.
The area’s largest high school, Bangor High, has never even had a wrestling team.
CO-HEAD COACH — Foxcroft Academy graduate Caleb Pelletier, pictured during a 2005 match on his home mat, will be one of four co-head coaches of a new cooperative team featuring a half dozen Bangor area high schools.
“There are no teams around here, which is a shame,” co-head coach and Foxcroft Academy alumnus Caleb Pelletier said. “It’s such an amazing sport that develops so many good qualities in people. Everyone should try it out at least once.”
Inspired by this collective belief in the value of wrestling, James was able to recruit four co-head coaches in Pelletier, Connor Winchenbach, Jeff Whalen and Jordan Fogg, and an athletic director to sponsor the team, in John Bapst’s Dan O’Connell.
Pelletier wrestled at the NCAA Division I level at West Point and Whalen at Maryland, while James and Winchenbach had key roles in starting the club teams at UMaine and Husson, respectively.
“I can’t think of a better coaching staff anywhere in the state of Maine than what this cooperative team is going to have,” James said. “These guys are all good people too.”
Starting this team was a passion project for James and his fellow coaches. They’ll be coaching practices without pay at the Hampden Grange, which James owns. All that’s left for them to do is receive authorization from the Maine Principals’ Association and to recruit a team. James is one meeting away with the MPA from getting this approval.
“Whether it’s five or 50 kids, it’s still going to be a successful season,” Winchenbach said. “It’s only going to grow exponentially from there. I know what wrestling did for me and my friends — it’s one giant community that this community right here is lacking.”
James believes that wrestling is a sport for everyone, not just because of how weight classes level the playing field.
“It doesn’t have to be the tallest, the shortest, the fastest or the strongest,” James said. “I take a shine to kids that work really hard. It’s not just for men either — I’m a huge advocate for women’s wrestling.”
Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports at the scholastic and collegiate levels, says James. According to the National Wrestling Coaches Association, the number of girls wrestling in high school has grown from 800 in 1994 to more than 50,000.
In Maine, high school girls are permitted to wrestle alongside boys, but can also compete for a girls state championship.
“We’re going to try to host our own women’s tournament here in Bangor,” James said. “O’Connell and I have already had that discussion.”
The number one thing the coaches look for in their potential wrestlers is toughness and a willingness to learn. They believe Bangor area schools have a surplus of this character.
“So many people that grow up in Maine have it born in them,” Pelletier said. “They just need a way to let it out. We’d love to see the area become a hotbed of wrestling activity.”
Reach out to Aaron James via the Hampden Grange Facebook page for more information.