By SCOTT NOVAK
Niles Daily Star

DOWAGIAC – It was an all Lakeland Conference final at the Division 3 Team District Wrestling Tournament on Wednesday.

Edwardsburg, coming off its league championship on Saturday, squared off against Buchanan for the championship at Dowagiac Union High School.

The Eddies (35-8) avenged an earlier 39-26 loss to the Bucks during the regular season by defeating Buchanan 40-30 to capture its third straight district championship.

“We are wrestling with a lot of different kids,” Edwardsburg coach John Rinehart said. “We are using 18, 19 kids to try to get it done. When it came down to it tonight, I had to put the seniors on the mat because of their experience.”

Those seniors came through too.

Cameron Warren and Josh Williams, both four-year wrestlers, both came up with pins.
“Somebody always comes through. Somebody that we’re not expecting comes through. Little things like that, not getting pinned and going the distance to slowing down momentum is huge,” he added.

Edwardsburg now advances to the regional tournament at Three Rivers on Wednesday.
The Eddies reached the championship match with a 52-19 win over Berrien Springs (26-7) in the semifinals.

Buchanan (27-5) reached the finals with a 48-20 win over the host Chieftains (8-16).

In a title match that went back and forth, the Eddies’ Wade Smous sealed the win at 152-pounds with a 12-4 major decision over the Bucks’ T.J. Miller.

Up until that point, Rinehart didn’t feel real comfortable watching his team battle Buchanan.

The Eddies had an early 18-6 lead on the Bucks, who came storming back following back-to-back wins at 112- and 119-pounds.

Following Ivan Shaw’s 13-11 win at 103 to give Edwardsburg its 12-point advantage, Buchanan’s Josh Johnson pinned Michael Kempton in 3:49 at 112-pounds, and Alex Eger defeated Caleb Watson 5-2 at 119 to close the gap to 18-15.

The Eddies got a big win at 125-pounds from Warren, who pinned John Querl in 1:50.
In fact, Edwardsburg went on a roll, picking up three pins, beginning with Warren, in the next four weight classes.

Also coming up with pins were Lane Smous at 130-pounds over Patrick Wheeler (1:51) and Alex Bendix, who pinned Jeff Mucha in 4:48 at 140-pounds.

Adam Byrdak’s 10-8 win over Edwardsburg’s Ryan Loupee kept the Bucks’ chances of winning the district title alive, but Smous ended that hope in the next bout.

“We got off to the rough start with the injury default (Jacob Ferris) and the tough match at 103,” Buchanan coach Frank Mucha said. “But the two freshmen at 112 and 119 gave us a shot. We just came up a little short. But congratulations to the Eddies. They were clearly the better team tonight.”

Division 3 Team
Wrestling Districts
Semifinals
Buchanan…48
Dowagiac…20
103: Taylor Glavin (B) p. Jacob Worthington 3:01
112: Josh Johnson (B) d. Tyler Cross 7-0
119: Alex Eger (B) d. Andrew Roden 5-1
125: Ryan Smit (D) p. John Querl 3:59
130: Ben Luth (D) t.f. John Lee 20-5
135: Jeff Mucha (B) wins by forfeit
140: Daniel Crandall (D) d. Alex Darmas 7-2
145: Adam Byrdak (B) wins by forfeit
152: Kasey Proshwitz (D) d. T.J. Miller 2-1 (OT)
160: GageHutchison (B) p. Logan Pellow 1:26
171: John Kuntz (B) wins by forfeit
189: Jacob Ferris (B) p. Ricky Roach 1:25
215: Mack Green (B) p. Steven Baylock 2:53
285: Sinjin Ownby (D) d. Jim DeVlaminck 9-4

Berrien Springs…19
Edwardsburg…52
103: Ivan Shaw (E) p. Yvonne Wells 1:12
112: Michael Kempton (E) d. Mike Huspen 12-2
119: Caleb Watson (E) wins by forfeit
125: Damon Davidson (BS) p. Ross Karaman :33
130: Josh Armstrong (E) wins by forfeit
135: Lane Smous (E) p. D.J. Walter :25
140: Alex Bendix (E) d. P.J. Holliday 11-6
145: Skylar Parsons (BS) d. Greg Hall 11-0
152: Austin Payne (E) p. Levi Davis 1:53
160: Juswtin Steinke (E) wins by forfeit
171: Dylan Devenney (E) p. Javier Martinez 3:00
189: Devin Bywaters (E) d. Johnny Moore 7-3
215: Josh Kruck (BS) p. Troy Duck 3:37
285: Joe Collard (E) d. Josh Williams 8-7

Championship
Edwardsburg…40
Buchanan…30
103: Ivan Shaw (E) d. Taylor Glavin 13-11
112: John Johnson (B) p. Mike Kempton 3:49
119: Alex Eger (B) d. Caleb Watson 5-2
125: Cameron Warren (E) p. John Querl 1:50
130: Lane Smous (E) p. Patrick Wheeler 1:51
135: Alex Darmos (B) p. Josh Armstrong 2:47
140: Alex Bendix (E) p. Jeff Mucha 4:48
145: Adam Byrdak (B) d. Ryan Loupee 10-8
152: Wade Smous (E) d. T.J. Miller 12-4
160: Gage Hutchison (E) p. Justin Steinke 4:50
171: Brad Brasfield (E) d. John Kuntz 8-4
189: Devin Bywaters (E) wins by forfeit
215: Mack Green (B) p. Troy Duck 3:11
285: Josh Williams (E) p. Dustan Craig 1:31