BATTLE CREEK — This page will keep you updated on wrestling state final action from Battle Creek all weekend. Just add it to your ‘favorites,? hit ‘refresh? every so often and leave the rest to us?
***
SATURDAY
6:00 p.m.-GOODRICH UPDATE
It’s all over from Kellogg Arena? The winners are Holt (Division 1), Greenville (Division 2), Goodrich (Division 3) and Hesperia (Division 4).
‘These are some great kids,? Goodrich Coach Matt Turnbow said after his team beat Dundee 30-27. ‘They outworked everybody. That’s why they won a state championship.?
With the victory, Goodrich ends their team season at 45-2. It’s the school’s first wrestling state title. They placed second nine years ago.
Dundee was the defending state champ, but an 18-point swing from 130-152, which included wins by Kirk Britton, Grant Overcashier, Mark Weber, Joe Hopkins and Nick Gatchell, was too much to overcome.
With a 30-21 lead, Kyle March and Drew Weil avoided pins at 160 and 171, respectively, to secure the state title.
Prior to the finals, Goodrich outlasted Allendale, 50-12, Saturday morning in a semifinal and beat Gladstone 49-18 in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Look for more on their success in next week’s edition of The Citizen.
***
3:05 p.m.-ORION UPDATE
Many tears were shed when Lake Orion’s team wrestling season came to a close Saturday afternoon, as the team fell 40-25 to Temperance Bedford in a Division 1 semifinal at Kellogg Arena.
‘They’ve gone through a lot this year and they deserved to be here,? Coach Doug Kline. ‘The fact that we didn’t get it done today doesn’t tarnish anything. We’ve accomplished so much this year.?
‘They’re a special group of kids,? Kline added, wiping away a tear of his own. ‘They’re a special group.?
Bedford opened the match with a pin at one of the swing weights. Mason Cole pinned Tyler Benson at heavyweight with less than a minute left in their match.
Kline said that was a key pin, as Benson had lost by just a point to Cole earlier in the season and their rematch was close throughout.
The Dragons voided the 103 weight-class and took tough pins at 119, 130 and 135. Justin Ruddy was leading his match 6-4 at 130 when he was pinned by Mike Peck. Billy Osborne took down A.J. Pratt 3:55 into their key match at 135.
‘You’ve got to give them all the credit,? Kline said of Bedford. ‘They were loaded for bear, or loaded for dragon I should say.?
‘They caught us in a couple of situations and got some pins,? Kline said. ‘That’s the big deal, the momentum. But none of our kids laid down. They fought everything they had.?
The Dragons scored a major decision from Joe Graffeo at 152, a comeback win from Morgan Maciejewski in overtime at 171 and pins from Phillip Antosh at 189 and Evan Gros at 215 to close out the match.
All of those victories, however, came after the Dragons had fallen behind by an insurmountable 37-6 deficit.
Jake Pratt, wrestling for the first time since injuring his knee at team regionals, scored a decision at 112 and Doug Mack bumped up to 125, where he got a decision as well.
The highlight match came at 160 between Jake Varilek (moved up from 152) and Alex Ortman. Both have over 50 wins on the season, with Varilek’s only loss coming to Ortman earlier this year at Adrian (when Bedford topped LO 36-33).
The match had no effect on the outcome of the team match, but was still a back and forth battle, with Ortman prevailing 4-3.
‘Jake wanted a little revenge on Ortman today and he didn’t get it,? Kline said. ‘He lost by a point again.?
Kline quickly pointed out that the loss could provide motivation for Varilek with individual state finals starting Thursday at the Palace.
He’ll compete there at 152 and be joined by Mack (119), Ruddy (130), A.J. Pratt (135), Jeremy Peshl (140), Graffeo (160), and Gros (189).
‘You saw them all crying, this doesn’t sit well with them,? Kline said. ‘We’ve got another week with those seven and I’ve got a funny feeling that all 42 guys will be in that room next week.?
Kline said the experience was a positive won for all involved, as it was the team’s first trip to Battle Creek since they won the state title in 1990, before just about everyone on the current team was even born.
‘When we were walking around in the parade the kids were asking if we could get back here,? he said. ‘I said ‘of course we can.? That will be our goal, to get back here again.?
The coach added that it will be extremely difficult to replace a senior group that won 138 dual meets over their four years and never lost more than six in a season.
That group includes Antosh, Ryan Bertucci, Graffeo, Maciejewski, Miquel Mattsen, A.J. Pratt, Peshl, Garrett Roberts and Varilek.
***
2:40 p.m.- OXFORD UPDATE
Eaton Rapids won six straight matches, turning an 18-10 lead into a rout, as they beat Oxford 43-16 in a Division 2 semi-final.
‘It’s hard to take a loss, but we haven’t had this talk in a long time,? Oxford Coach Scott Couch said. ‘It’s been 26 dual meets.?
‘We’ve got nothing to hang our heads about,? he added. ‘We’re a top-four team in the state.?
Zach Line scored a pin in just 32 seconds at 215 for the Wildcats. Other victories included Mike Thomas (major at 103), Matt Frisch (112) and Kyle Brammer (135). But the highlights were just few and far between against Eaton Rapids, the state’s #2 team.
‘With the lineup they have, I don’t know if there’s anybody we could have moved around to make a difference,? Couch said. ‘We wrestled our horses and they wrestled their horses. We just came up on the short end this time.?
The team has five wrestlers that will compete at this weekend’s state meet at the Palace of Auburn Hills, including Frisch, Brammer, Line, Bo Cantera (140) and Dylan Smith (285).
***
2:05 p.m.- Divisions 1 & 2… Lake Orion fell 40-25 against Bedford, while Holt beat top-ranked Davison 34-22 in the Division 1 semifinals at Kellogg Arena Saturday afternoon.
Oxford lost 43-16 to Eaton Rapids, who advanced to take on Greenville in the finals. Look for more details shortly…
***
11:40 a.m.- Division 3 Semis… Goodrich outlasted Allendale, 50-12, Saturday morning, advancing to a much-anticipated final later today against Dundee.
‘We’ve been looking forward to it all year long,? said Coach Matt Turnbow. ‘I’m excited to see what happens.?
Goodrich won the last nine matches (starting at 103), which included one pin and five tech falls, to erase an early 12-9 deficit.
‘We really don’t have a weight class where we get pinned,? Turnbow noted. ‘We’re pretty solid all the way up.?
The team improved to 44-2 and will face a 25-3 Dundee squad at 4 p.m. here at Kellogg Arena.
Dundee is the defending Division 3 state champ.
‘They’ve got the experience in the finals,? Turnbow said. ‘But I’ve got a pretty mature squad and I think we’ll rise to the occasion. There are going to be a lot of swing matches, and we’ll have to win those matches to win it.?
The Grand March for Divisions 1 & 2 is about to begin… Another update shortly.
***
9:45 a.m.- We’re back… Goodrich just took to the mat vs. Allendale, and we’ll bring you results soon. Any questions/comments, e-mail Colin at lakeorionreview@sbcglobal.net.
***
FRIDAY
10 p.m.- Division 2’Oxford rolled into the semifinals with a 36-21 victory over Tecumseh. The Wildcats got three straight pins from Josh Villarreal (189, in the closing seconds), Zach Line (215, in just over a minute) and Dylan Smith (heavyweight, at 3:42), then another two matches later from Matt Frisch (112, at 1:19) to put the dual out of reach.
‘We look for pins out of those guys at the top,? said Coach Scott Couch. ‘I’m just happy they came through and we’re looking forward to tomorrow against Eaton Rapids.?
Eaton Rapids advanced by topping Mt. Pleasant 47-18.
‘They’re going to be tough,? Couch said. ‘Put your 14 against our 14 and see what happens. That’s about all I can say.?
The Wildcats improved to 26-3 on the season. Division 2 semifinals begin at 11:45 a.m.
Lots more action tomorrow — everybody made it! Looking forward to more updates throughout the day. Goodnight.
***
7:30 p.m.? Division 1? Lake Orion tops L’Anse Creuse 38-26, in a match that wasn’t really that close. The Dragons voided at 103 and 112 after the outcome was decided. They’ll take on Temperance Bedford tomorrow, after Bedford topped Rockford in a mild upset. Everything else in the division went according to plan, as Davision and Holt advance to face each other tomorrow morning on the other side of the bracket.
SCROLL DOWN for a full recap of Lake Orion/L’Anse Creuse and a preview of LO/Bedford
***
5:20 p.m.? Division 3? Goodrich routs Gladstone to advance to tomorrow’s semi-finals, 49-18, getting off to a 35-0 start by sweeping 135 through 189. They’ll take on Allendale tomorrow in semifinal action, which gets underway at 9:30 a.m.
***
Story updated at 8:30?
Dragons advance to semis against familiar foe
Lake Orion wrestling coach Doug Kline said he wanted his team to prove they ‘could go the distance.?
By that, he meant wrestle a full six-minute match, not make it all the way to the state’s final day of team competition.
But they proved they could do both Friday, beating L’Anse Creuse 38-26 to advance to Saturday morning’s semifinals.
‘There were some comments made earlier this year that this team couldn’t wrestle six, and we wanted to make sure they knew we could,? Kline said.
The Dragons lost just two of the dual’s first 11 matches, building an insurmountable 38-9 lead. They voided the final two weight classes (103 and 112) in part to save 112-pounder Jake Pratt (injured knee) for tomorrow.
Among their winners were Bobby Harr, seeing his first action of the postseason team tourney at 189 (he’s usually in the 171 class), and Evan Gros, bumping up from 189 to 215.
Harr earned the team five points for his 23-8 victory and Gros won on a pin just 34 seconds into his match.
Prior to that, the Dragons did some moving, bumping Doug Mack from 119 to 125 (where he earned a major decision), and flopping Joe Graffeo (usually 160) and Jake Varilek (usually 152).
‘It’s just another illustration of the depth that this team has,? Kline said. ‘We can make those kinds of moves and we were kind of surprised that L’Anse Creuse didn’t do any more bumping than they did. We thought they were going to bump to avoid Jake (Varilek) with (Josh) Batkins.?
‘That was one of the pairing that we wanted to see,? he added.
And the Dragons won that match 6-0, while Graffeo earned a major decision in his contest.
Justin Ruddy (pin), A.J. Pratt (dec.), A.J. Fligger (dec.), and Morgan Maciejewski (maj. dec.) were also victorious for LO.
The Dragons advance to take on Temperance Bedford, a surprise winner over Rockford 36-32.
‘I was watching that one out of the corner of my eye and (Assistant Coach) Cory (Kuzinski) had to tell me we had a dual going on right here,? Kline joked of the Bedford/Rockford tilt.
Bedford beat Lake Orion 36-33 at Adrian earlier this season. A key match there was Alex Ortman moving down from 160 to 152 to beat Jake Varilek 1-0 (it was Varilek’s only loss of the season).
‘Bedford matched up well with Rockford, and a lot better than we did,? Kline noted. ‘But we match up pretty well with Bedford. So it should be an exciting dual in the semis.?
Kline hopes history will repeat itself a bit as the 1990 state championship team lost badly to Bedford in the regular season that year, only to get revenge in Battle Creek.
‘Last time we were here, we beat Bedford down in that corner in the quarterfinals 41-21 on March 7 at 7:45 p.m.,? Kline said recalling every detail of their 1990 run. ‘Now we’ll get to see our friends here again tomorrow morning.?
On the other side of the Division 1 draw, Davison beat Canton (41-21) and Holt topped Hartland (34-19), setting up a semifinal between the state’s top two ranked teams.
Semifinal action begins at 11:45 a.m.
Notes from Battle Creek?
*Kline said he was pleased to see Bobby Harr give the team a big boost at 189. ‘He’s one of the hardest workers in our room,? the coach noted. ‘I was excited for him.?
*Layne Upcott (215) faced an MHSAA-imposed suspension for actions at individual regionals last weekend, but is able to return for Saturday’s action. Kline said the team agreed with the suspension and added that he has not made a decision on whether Upcott, a transfer from Clarkston at mid-season, will wrestle on Saturday.
*’We’ve got a nice contingent from Orion here today,? Kline said, of his team’s followers. They’ll have to be on their best game tomorrow, when they see a Bedford contingent that can be described as anything but ‘unquiet.?