Goodrich freshman Mark Weber provided a glimpse of things to come in his opening round match at the state individual wrestling finals March 10.
Before the coaches from both teams had a chance to get comfortable, Weber, competing in the Division 3 103-lb. bracket, pinned Roscommon’s Justin Bragg in 26 seconds.
Weber used that momentum to capture the Division 3 103-lb. state championship March 12 at The Palace of Auburn Hills, defeating Chesaning’s Chad Reiber by an 11-2 decision to capture the crown.
His state title was the second in as many years for Goodrich. Last year, Barrett Johnson won the Division 3 189-lb. championship as a Goodrich senior.
Weber, 15, capped off his freshman year with a 47-2 record. Heading into the tournament, he said he was ‘pretty confident? he could win the state title, but it was still a thrill when it actually happened.
‘It was my ultimate goal,? he said. ‘It’s been one of my goals my whole life.?
Weber is the son of Kim and Matt Weber of Goodrich, and has one sister, C.C., 14, who is in eighth grade at Goodrich Middle School.
He first started wrestling when he was eight years old, as a member of the Goodrich Wrestling Club, and stayed with that club for seven years until he entered Goodrich High School this year.
Despite being a freshman, Weber wrestled like a seasoned veteran during the tournament.
Following his opening-round win, Weber earned a 20-3 technical fall against Vassar’s Mike Endert, then captured a 16-3 decision against Caro’s Corey Robinson, catapulting Weber into the championship match.
Weber said Goodrich head wrestling coach Matt Turnbow and assistant coach Ken Sirignano (Weber’s cousin) have taught him a lot about wrestling and pushed him to be his best.
Now that Weber has one state title under his belt, he hopes to join a select group of wrestlers in Michigan history that have won four state championships. A total of 11 wrestlers in state history have won four state crowns, including two this year ? Davison’s Brent Metcalf and Lowell’s Joe Mendez.
Unfortunately for the Martians, none of their other three state qualifiers ? Garrett Higdon (112), Jason Fischer (119), or Kyle Fletcher (189), placed in their respective weight classes.
Higdon (46-12) lost a 10-3 decision to Corunna’s Kyle Rosser in his opening matchup, then defeated South Haven’s Tyler Dotson by forfeit in the first round of the consolation bracket. Higdon then dropped a 6-4 decision to Mitchell Reatini of Allendale.
Fischer (50-9) was stopped by Allendale’s Dave Otten in his first-round matchup, losing a 10-0 decision, then was pinned by Mason County Central’s Allen Mallison in 2:17.
Fletcher (41-16) lost an 18-10 decision to Robert Nottoli of Constantine in his opening matchup, then lost a 3-2 decision to Perry’s Ben Temple in the opening round of consolation action.