ST. JOSEPH — Led by eight champions, the Niles wrestling team completely dismantled the field at the Greater Berrien County Invitational at St. Joseph High School Saturday.

The Vikings placed 16 out of 18 wrestlers in winning its third straight county title, the last of which came in 2013. The 2014 invitational was cancelled due to weather.

Winning titles for the No. 3-ranked Vikings were Andrew Flick (103), Brenden Hall (125), Mitchell Findeisen (130), Warren Smith (135), Noah Hall (145), Quintin Smith (152), Sean Craig (171) and Ted Jackowiak (215).

“It surprised me,” Niles coach Todd Hesson said about the big margin of victory. “I think back to those Lakeshore teams that had so many wrestlers in the finals. To have 12 is something.”

Finishing second for the Vikings were Josh Dayhuff (119), Fred Kemp (160), Wyatt Thornton (189) and Alex Bata (285).

Third place finishers were Cade Stephenson (112), Courtlan Lamberton (140), Cody Thornton (189) and Carter Rauch (285).

“The younger kids had a good day,” Hesson said. “You hate to say you expect some of your kids to win, but you count on them.

“We had a couple of disappointments. As a coach, and I don’t know why it is, but you can’t celebrate the eight champions we had. You worry about the ones that got away.”

Dowagiac had one champion in Tristan Howard, who defeated Niles’ Bata 5-2 in the 285-pound championship match.

 

GREATER BERRIEN COUNTY INVITATIONAL

At St. Joseph High School

Team Scores

Niles 312, Lakeshore 177, Edwardsburg 168, Watervliet 127, Dowagiac 98, South Haven 93, St. Joseph 79, Berrien Springs 74, Buchanan 71, Coloma 52, Cassopolis 44, Brandywine 39, Benton Harbor 14, River Valley 3

 

Championship Finals

103: Andrew Flick (N) t.f. over Garrett Cleveland (BS), 17-2; 112: Austin Franco (L) d. Michael Higley (E), 6-2; 119: Ramiro Williams (BS) d. Josh Dayhuff (N), 6-3; 125: Brenden Hall (N) d. Reese Jones (W), 9-1; 130: Mitchell Findeisen (N) m.d. Patrick Lynch (W) 20-10; 135: Warren Smith (N) p. Jake Speck (W), 1:52; 140: Noah Hanau (L) p. Dustin Vires (E), 4:44; 145: Noah Hall (N) p. Lucas Marks (E), 4:44;

152: Quintin Smith (N) m.d. Austin Cline (E), 15-7; 160: Connor Myers (SJ) d. Fred Kemp (N) 11-8; 171: Sean Craig (N) m.d. Zack Wilson (CA), 14-6; 189: Tyler Hill (L) d. Wyatt Thornton (N), 9-7; 215: Ted Jackowiak (N) d. Issac Wier (L), 4-3; 285: Tristan Howard (D) d. Alex Bata (N), 5-2

 

Consolation Finals

103: Dennis Rayford (SH) m.d. Michael Kachur, 9-1; 112: Cade Stephenson (N) d. Valentin Casiano (W), 3-0; 119: Tony Williams (L) d. Nick Bradley (E), 2-1; 125: Hunter Vargo (E) t.f. over Adam Eger (BU), 16-0; 130: Jesse Lochmondy (BW) d. Shawn Sirk (D), 6-5; 135: Nathanael Ward (D) d. Shane Pierce (L), 4-2; 140: Courtland Lamberton (N) m.d. Bradley Yatzel (W), 9-0; 145: Deandre Juarez (SH) p. Jacob Grham (BU), 3:12;

152: Edward Mozader (E) d. Alfred Banks (BS), 4-3; 160: Colton Toney (SH) d. Joe Hess (E), 8-1; 171: Jarrett Wood (E) d. Austin Hartz (BU), 4-2; 189: Cody Thornton (N) d. Matt Sweet (CO), 5-2; 215: Tymari Brown (CA) d, Charlie Rodriguez (BW), 3-1; 285: Carter Rauch (N) d. Robert Barringer (SH), 3-2