Two others in the car -- an 18-year-old driver, and a 17-year-old passenger, were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.
Griffyn SmithA 2016 graduate of Dirigo High School, Smith won four state titles as a wrestler at the school located in Dixfield, Maine. Just last month, Smith graduated from Central Maine Community College in Auburn with an associate degree as a precision machinist. He was planning to join the Navy this fall.
After Griffyn Smith concluded his high school wrestling career, former Lewiston Sun Journal sportswriter Kalle Oakes wrote, "Smith achieved his perfection across three different weight classes and in two enrollment classifications."
"I'm so saddened to hear this news," Oakes told her former employer in an email. "Griffyn was a fierce competitor and a soft-spoken, unassuming kid. He was small in stature. To look at him in a crowd you would not have known he was one of the outstanding athletes in the area. He absolutely dominated his weight class in wrestling all four years at Dirigo. The wrestling community at that school is a proud, tight-knit group. I can only imagine how much they are hurting from this news."
Another Sun Journal sportswriter shared his recollections of Griffyn Smith.
"Griffyn … wasn't a showboater, he just went out and accomplished his goal … win," said Bob McPhee, who described the four-time state champ as being "a joy to speak with and extremely gracious."
"Griffyn was a competitor and was determined -- on the mat -- to achieve his goals," McPhee said. "Despite being small in stature, he was in control of his endeavors on (the) mat; proving that an individual doesn't need to be the biggest and strongest to succeed."
When he graduated from Dirigo, Smith became the school's winningest wrestler with 193 victories, and the program's first four-time state champ.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Griffyn Smith's family with funeral and burial expenses.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now