Get the VCRs ready.
An appearance on ESPN was already scheduled. Now the Goodrich wrestling squad will also be featured on some statewide sports shows, thanks to their victory in the state finals last Saturday at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena.
‘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-ever 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. Weil escaped a near fall early in his match against Dundee’s Jarryd Gotts.
‘He wrestled a conservative match,? Turnbow said of Weil. ‘He possibly could have beaten that kid, but all he needed to do was not get pinned to win a state championship. He sacrificed, obviously, to get that.?
ESPN has been following the team the past few weeks, as profiled in a story in last week’s edition of The Citizen, for a piece on girls in wrestling. Turnbow said C.C. Weber (103) and Kristi Garr (112) were perfect candidates for the story. But with the national coverage came added pressure for the entire squad.
‘We’ve got a very solid team from top to bottom,? Turnbow said. ‘The whole team is to be congratulated for their performance.?
The coach earned victories 199, 200 and 201 over the two-day finals event.
‘It’s been a longtime coming,? Turnbow said. ‘This is my eighth year, and most of the kids started out with us in middle school. This is the hardest working group of kids I’ve ever been around.?
Prior to the finals, Goodrich beat Gladstone, 49-18, in Friday’s quarterfinals, and outlasted Allendale, 50-12, Saturday morning in a semifinal.
Goodrich won the last nine matches against Allendale (starting at the 103 weight class), 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.?
Against Gladstone, the team got off to a 35-0 start, by sweeping classes 135 through 189, and they never looked back.
The team has nine individual state qualifiers (which tied Dundee for most in Division 3) who will compete Thursday-Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
Among the qualifiers are regional champions Britton (125), Mark Weber (135), March (171) and Elsworth (189), as well as C.C. Weber (103), David Garr (119), Overcashier (130), Hopkins (140) and Gatchell (145).
Overcashier and Elsworth both earned their 60th victories of the season in the finals, against just one loss apiece.